Independence Day

Independence Day, in the United States, falls on the 4th of July, and is observed as a legal holiday. Public meetings are held, orations are delivered, and the general patriotism finds vent in processions and in salvos of artillery, the explosion of crackers, and in displays of fireworks. In the large cities accidents have been not unfrequent, and the reckless discharge of firearms is now kept in check. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was reported to the continental congress by the chairman; it was read and proclaimed at the state-house on July 8; but it was not signed by all the delegates until August 2, some of them having to wait for instructions from their respective colonies.