By Raymart Escopel
A country takes pride because of the freedom it enjoys. A free country means the presence of democracy, the land of the free people.
Nations from all over the world engage in wars and the likes to obtain democracy against improper oppressors just to have the taste of freedom.
While the entire nation of Filipinos celebrate freedom during Independence Day every June 12, the United States of America counterparts the celebration every fourth of July.
The American Independence Day is a national holiday in the United States as every Americans commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence which took place on July 4, 1776 from the Kingdom of Great Britain, now called the United Kingdom.
Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors.
Americans have formulated a tradition of celebrating their independence through a series of parades, fireworks display, barbecues, carnivals, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and various public and private ceremonies all throughout the entire states to celebrate the freedom, traditions and the government of the nation.
Moreover, a salute of one gun in each state in the United States called a “salute to the union,” is fired on Independence Day at noon by any capable military base.
To fully emphasize the importance of the celebration, the Independence Day is considered the National Day of the United States.
The whole celebration would not be complete without the singing of a series of American patriotic songs like the nation’s “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “God Bless America,” “Stars and Stripes Forever,” “America the Beautiful,” and “This Land is your Land,” – all carrying a message of historic events during the Revolutionary War in 1812, and most of all freedom./PN
