The explosions from the screaming agents of jet-propelled celebration cover the sky in radiant colors. The night is a clear canopy of endless, soft black, speckled by stars who oversee children roaming through sweaty grass with sparklers. It's America, raging in vivacious celebration of the day we became a nation.
Some of the methods we use for the celebration of Independence Day are exact representations and a few of them are a bit more symbolic, but the reasons why we even go about these activities are far more intriguing. Back around the beginning, 1777, it was the first Independence Day celebration and Bristol, Rhode Island was to set the bar at the very top. There were two sets of 13 shots fired in salute of the brave men who fought to deliver our newborn country, one in the morning and one in the evening. The 13 gun salute was used symbolically to launch our great wail of victory and freedom through a barrel that could quadruple the output of our vocal chords. This was done twice. Once it was done in the morning, to show our appreciation and adoration for the new country that has become our home and the guns were called upon again at night to howl their prayers and thanks to the new benefactor of the American people.
On that same day in 1777, there were the origins of many regular celebratory behaviors that we recognize today. There were prayers, speeches, feasts, red, white and blue decorations, troop reviews, music and parades. Rhode Island knew how to party far beyond its years. All of the derivations of Independence Day celebration have their roots in this state during the 1777th year on the 4th day of July, America's first birthday.