Response

July 4^th

                July 4^th, a war that originally started out as a war for the citizens of the English colonies, and eventually turned into a war for independence showed the American people what they could do when they all worked together.  However, July 4^th still has effects on normal every day present American life, just as it had an impact on American life back in the 1900’s, 1800’s and late 18^th century.  One of the largest ideas of this holiday is the idea of community unity.

               Initially, this unity started back in the 1600’s, with the Navigation Acts, where Britain made it illegal for the colonists to trade with any other country other than Britain.  These Navigation Acts made the colonists interdependent on one another, and in many ways, the holiday of July 4^th really hasn’t changed in many respects, as it is still a holiday in which people in a community are interdependent upon one another.  However, when the colonists were battling Britain in the Revolutionary War, the colonists trusted one another to make what they needed to in order to survive.  Later on in the war, the colonists had their battle cry, so to speak, on a flag, which was ‘join or die’, and it showed a snake chopped up into 13 pieces, and each piece of the snake represented a colony.

                Today, on July 4^th, there are many annual traditions.  One of the most famous of the July 4^th traditions are fireworks, in which a lot of people from within a town all gather at one spot to watch the fireworks, thereby showing a town connection to everyone else in the town.  The fireworks may be a connection to the national anthem, since the national anthem says that the American army during the war of 1812 saw the rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air.  This is similar to fireworks because a lot of fireworks have a red glare to them when initially lit, and most, if not all of the fireworks burst while they are in the air.

                Another famous tradition of July 4^th is that nearly everybody is off of work.  This may be because after the American Revolution, all of the former colonists were just glad to be out of the reign of Britain that they took a couple of days off from their occupations to celebrate their freedom from the British.  Another possible reason for this is so, once again, all of the people in the communities across America are able to be together all day long, still showing one another how committed they are to each other. It is important for these people in these communities to show that they are still committed to one another, because it was teamwork and commitment that eventually defeated the British back in 1776 to 1783.

                Likewise, another famous July 4^th tradition are the July 4^th parades.  In most cities across the United States, on July 4^th, there are parades.  These parades usually include people dressed up as the Patriots, and the British, and a lot of people attend the parades.  Some of the time, a parade on July 4^th from one of the American cities in which a parade is being held, gets televised on the television.  These parades get televised so that not only can anybody in the world watch them, but they also create another sense of unity, as all Americans could hypothetically be watching the same parade at the same time.  Another possible reason for these parades in most of the American cities on July 4^th is the fact that after the Revolutionary War with Britain, many of the colonists probably celebrated within their own communities, much like we do today with the July 4^th parades.      

                Another famous American tradition of July 4^th is the multiple July 4^th baseball games.  One of the newer traditions of this tradition is that the home team, usually tries to tie in the American flag into their jerseys somehow.  The July 4^th baseball game is a super important tradition, because not only does this sporting event create, yet again a sense of unity in the community, as a lot of people all go to the game and root for the same team, but baseball was also America’s favorite past time in the early 1900’s until football took over as America’s favorite past time.  During the time period of which baseball was America’s favorite past time, the economy was not doing so well, and the American military was fighting in both World War 1 and World War 2, as a result of being directly attacked on both occasions.  Since baseball got the American people at home to take their minds a little bit off of the war, then it is possible that baseball is also a patriotic event, thereby allowing there to be many professional and minor league baseball games on July 4^th every year.

                I am going to give you one more example of how the American holiday of July 4^th is a holiday about more than just being independent from Britain.  One of the better known traditions around the world of July 4^th, much like the fireworks, is the July 4^th picnic.  During these picnics, most people spend time with their families and don’t really worry about everything in their life that is going wrong, and they are just thankful to be with their families.  One possible reason for this is that it may have been possible that after the Revolutionary War, the former colonists did not really worry about how their country would be run, and were just happy to be free of the British Empire’s control.  Another similar American tradition that is like the July 4^th picnic, is the July 4^th cookout.  These cookouts are usually held by a small group of friends in a community.  During these cookouts, one person usually brings a food or a drink item along with them, communicating with each other so that no two people bring the same item to the same cookout.  Just as with the fireworks, this cookout resembles the coming together and cooperation of a community to feed one another and help one another, thereby creating a sense of unity.