Independence Day is celebrated, brings families together

The Fourth of July is a day that Americans across the nation celebrate their independence. Back on July 4, 1776, the founding fathers of the Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence, but no one started to really celebrate the date until after the War of 1812 according to Constitutionfacts.com. It was not until the year 1870 that Congress first declared the Fourth of July to be a national holiday, almost a full century later.

Since then, The Fourth of July has been celebrated by generations of Americans. July Fourth is a federal holiday, or a holiday that is recognized by the United States government, so people take advantage of this holiday to take off and not work. Some use this holiday to go camping with their families.

“It’s awesome. We can come here and have some fun and be away from civilization for a while,” said David Rodriguez.

Parks are also very busy during the federal holiday as people go to spend time in the lakes, pools, and listen to music.

“Oh, it’s great,” says Raquel Cavistan. “Sometimes in the city you don’t have time to spend with the family, and here it’s a place where we can all be together.”

Rose Gallagher said, “We discovered this [park] about 10 years ago, and we have been coming every summer, and it’s just great. You can’t beat this with the sand and the weather and the water is beautiful here. It’s just a really nice place to go and take advantage of what you have in your neighborhood. We tried to be here yesterday, but it was packed and we got turned away, so we tried one more time and luckily we made it in today.”

People in Hartland got to celebrate days before the national Independence Day.  On June 30th through July 2nd, the City of Hartland held Hartland’s Hometown Celebration where people could go to an Arts & Crafts venue, listen to the Hartland Community Band, enjoy the live music by Andrea & the Mods, take part in the Hartland Hometown Celebration Parade, dance in the Hartland Street Dance, and watch fireworks in Nixon Park according to Lake County Now reporter Christopher Kuhagen. Nixon Park happens to be 1.4 miles away from Arrowhead Union High School and is closer to other stores and places in Downtown Hartland. In the end, people across the nation were able to enjoy themselves during America’s Independence Day.

“We celebrate the Declaration of Independence for two reasons. It represents an official severing of ties between the original 13 colonies and the rule of Great Britain, but it also represents the core of our beliefs, the very makeup of our identity as citizens of the U.S.,” says the National Archives of Military.com.

President Donald Trump gave a speech on the Fourth of July, honoring the men and women that have defended the United States so that Americans can continue to celebrate their independence.

“Not only has God bestowed on us the gift of freedom,” said President Donald Trump, “he’s also given us the gift of heroes willing to give their lives to defend that freedom.”