INDEPENDENCE DAY

Every year, Americans look forward to the Fourth of July. Independence Day is the birthday of our nation. Today, we celebrate and enjoy the freedom that comes with the event that made this day so special. And, we do so in a big way. There are parades and picnics. And of course, there are fireworks at night.

Thomas Jefferson is the leading author of the Declaration of Independence. He led a committee that crafted the declaration between June 11-28, 1776. Jefferson and other representatives from the thirteen colonies voted and approved it on July 4, 1776. The document declared freedom for the 13 colonies from British rule. It currently resides in the Exhibition Hall of the National Archive in Washington, D.C.