The Day Called Independence Day

Today was the Day Called Independence Day. Or The Fourth of July. This is what I learned:

Today was America's 235th birthday. She is very old! (Mom said America is a girl.) In 1700s, America was being bossed around by the country called England. England "owned" America and America was divided into colonies instead of states. The people that lived in the colonies were citizens of England. England, led by King George III, was being very unfair to the people in the colonies. In 1775, the American colonists began fighting with the English, or "British", people. They were having a war. It was a big war. Some brave and smart men were meeting at the same time to figure out what to do. A very smart man named Thomas Jefferson, with some help from some others, wrote a paper called the "Declaration of Independence". It said that the American colonists were not British citizens anymore and that America was a brand new country that was going to be ruled by Americans, not by the King. This paper was adopted by the group of smart men (Mom says to call them the "Continental Congress") on July 4, 1776. That is why this day is considered to be America's birthday.

Did you get all of that??

(Gosh, I hope that was right. Grandmom will make me fix it if it was wrong! Even if I am just a baby!)

Though it was a holiday, today was pretty normal. Mom and I hung out around the house most of the day. This afternoon, we went to Grandmom and Granddad's. I got to talk to Pete, Helena, and Uncle Brent on Mom's iPad. That was cool. I could see them and hear them! Aunt Deborah wasn't home. After our chat, the big people ate dinner. I had a little bit. (Fried squash, barbecue, and peach cobbler.) Mom and I came home after that.

Tonight, there have been lots and lots of very loud noises at my house. Mom says that some of the neighbors are shooting their own fireworks. That seems dangerous to me. It's very loud and I can't sleep. I hope it stops soon. For now, I'm watching Sesame Street in Mom's bed.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Independence Day!!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." --From the Declaration of Independence