Fourth of July 2024: When is Independence Day, why do we celebrate?

Certain days on the calendar just bring out the little kid in all of us.

Along with Christmas, Independence Day is one of those days that makes us giddy.

Whether it's the cookouts, a day at the beach, ball games or the oooohs and aaaahs of fireworks, Independence Day is just special.

When is Independence Day 2024?

Thursday, July 4.

Why do we celebrate Independence Day?

Independence Day celebrates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress in 1776. It announced to King George our political separation from Great Britain.

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

The writers were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston.

What did the Declaration of Independence say?

The preamble of the Declaration of Independence announced the intentions of the 13 colonies to become independent.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

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The remainder of the document listed the grievances the colonists had with Great Britain. Here's a look at the entire document.

Did the Declaration of Independence give us our freedom?

It declared our intent to establish an independent country. However, there was still a war to be fought with Great Britain for our freedom The Revolutionary War ended on September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was ratified separating the newly formed United States from England.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Fourth of July 2024: When is Independence Day, why we celebrate