“America’s 250th Celebration” continues

Heritage Days, “America’s 250th Celebration,” are Wednesday, June 10 through Sunday, Flag Day, June 14, and the celebration continues through Saturday, the Fourth of July in Huntington. On Saturday, July 4, Mayor Richard Strick will read the Declaration of Independence at the Historic Forks of the Wabash celebration at 3011 W. Park Drive, 9:30 to 11 a.m.

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on the Fourth of July 1776 by congressional delegates in Philadelphia. They ordered that it be read widely and a printed version was carried to the colonies by couriers on horseback and by stagecoach.

The first public reading took place in Philadelphia and other town squares followed. It was also read aloud in taverns, courthouses, churches and more. Those who listened did not all agree with its words. Some were loyalists who were part of the Church of England, and did not agree with the spiritual and political foundations of the declaration. The declaration’s stance to defend the country made pacifist church members including Brethren, Mennonites and Quakers have choices to make.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin were among five delegates appointed by the Second Continental Congress to write the declaration. The main author was Jefferson with the remaining two offering their own ideas before it was sent to Congress for further revision. It explained the reasons for separation from England and had 27 complaints against King George III.

The declaration’s opening included the words “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” saying that humans should have equal status, and entitle Americans to dissolve “the political bands” with England. Franklin suggested that these rights were “endowed by their Creator,” and added to the declaration.

Our independence will also be celebrated through Huntington’s Independence Day Fireworks, which will take place on the Fourth of July evening with the best viewing on the campuses of the Parkview Huntington Family YMCA, Crestview Middle School and Parkview Huntington Hospital. Patriotic activities will also be a part of the event.

What we know fondly as the “Stars and Stripes” was adopted by the Continental Congress as the official American flag on June 14, 1777, during the Revolutionary War. Colonial troops fought under many different flags with various symbols like rattlesnakes, pine trees and eagles, and slogans such as “Don’t Tread on Me,” “Liberty or Death,” “Conquer or Die” and more.

The Declaration of Independence made the adoption of an American flag necessary. Prior, each colony or special interest had its own flag. On that June 14, Congress made the Flag Resolution of 1777, stating: “The flag of the United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white on a blue field …” Official announcement of the new flag was not made until September 3, 1777.

President Woodrow Wilson made the observance of “Flag Day” official on May 30, 1916, by a presidential proclamation. It has been celebrated as a patriotic occasion for many decades, but is not a national holiday.