American Independence Day is observed on July 4 and is also called the Fourth of July. The date marks the annual celebration of nationhood in the United States. This year marks the 245th anniversary of the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from British colonial rule.
The day commemorates the passage of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress in 1776, according to Britannica.
The Congress had approved independence from Great Britain on July 2 but the process of revising the Declaration of Independence was completed two days later. The declaration was originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson in consultation with fellow committee members John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and William Livingston, as per the Britannica.
The first days of independence during the summer of 1776 in many towns took the form of a mock funeral for King George III, whose “death” symbolized the rebirth of liberty, and the end of monarchy and tyranny, in contrast to the pre-revolutionary years when annual celebrations were held for his birthday.