As you celebrate the 4th, Let us take a moment out for reflection and include:

The plight of slavery and its' descendants? "What to the slave is the Fourth of July?" --Frederick Douglas

The First Americans

Our Troops!

By the middle of the 1700s, the 13 colonies that made up part of England's empire in the New World were finding it difficult to be ruled by a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean and they were tired of the taxes imposed upon them. But independence was a gradual and painful process. The colonists could not forget that they were British citizens and that they owed allegiance to King George III.

Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 because that is the day when the Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. From July 8, 1776, until the next month, the document was read publicly and people celebrated whenever they heard it. The next year, in Philadelphia, bells rang and ships fired guns, candles and firecrackers were lighted. But the War of Independence dragged on until 1783, and in that year, Independence Day was made an official holiday. Ultimately, in 1941, Congress declared the 4th of July as a federal holiday and it has been celebrated as such ever since...

When was the last time you heard or read the Declaration of Independence?

All in that we may become truely united and a better nation.

.·:*¨¨*:·HAPPY 4TH OF JULY TO ALL OUR FREINDS AND FAMILY .·:*¨¨*:· Have a safe and wonderful holiday.

Art