fourth of july books

Our Head of Adult Services, Bill, has some Fourth of July facts for you:

The Fourth of July – also known as Independence Day – is the day we celebrate our country’s birthday. Think you know all there is to know about it? The library’s here to help you celebrate with some fun facts and other ways to learn about democracy and the founding of our nation!

Did you know?

“Yankee Doodle” is a well-known American song, the early versions of which date to before the Seven Years’ War and the American War for Independence. It is the official state anthem of Connecticut. The melody can be traced back to folk songs of Medieval Europe.

In a bizarre coincidence, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826 — the nation’s 50th birthday. The two founding fathers and political adversaries died within five hours of each other.

Americans consume roughly 150 million hot dogs on the Fourth of July — enough to stretch from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles five times!

More Fourth Fun Facts:

The Declaration of Independence:

The Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed on July 4, 1776.

On July 4, 1776, Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, and as a result the date is celebrated as Independence Day. Nearly a month would go by, however, before the actual signing of the document took place. Most of the delegates signed on August 2, but several signed on a later date. (Two others, John Dickinson and Robert R. Livingston, never signed at all.)

One signer of the Declaration of Independence later recanted. On November 30, 1776, delegate Richard Stockton from Princeton, New Jersey was captured by the British and thrown in jail. After months of brutal treatment, a broken and sickly Stockton renounced his signature on the Declaration of Independence and swore his allegiance to King George III.

There is something written on the back of the Declaration of Independence.

In the movie “National Treasure,” Nicholas Cage’s character claims that the back of the Declaration contains a treasure map with encrypted instructions from the founding fathers, written in invisible ink. Unfortunately, this is not the case. There is, however, a simpler message, written upside-down across the bottom of the signed document: “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776.” It’s thought that the text was added as a label.

Read more about it!

ADULTS:

An Empire on the Edge : How Britain Came to Fight America by Nick Bunker
The Expanding Blaze : How the American Revolution Ignited the World, 1775-1848 by Jonathan Israel
Friends Divided : John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood
In the Hurricane’s Eye : The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick
Bunker Hill : A City, a Siege, a Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
Revolution Song : A Story of American Freedom by Russell Shorto
Valley Forge by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution : A Fully Annotated Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Amendments, and Selections from the Federalist Papers by Richard Beeman
The American Spirit : Who We Are and What We Stand For ; Speeches by David McCullough
Democracy : A Case Study by David A. Moss
This America : The Case for the Nation by Jill Lepore
The Patriot’s Handbook : Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love selected and introduced by Caroline Kennedy

KIDS:

The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution : A Handbook for Time Travelers by Jonathan W. Stokes
In 1776 by by Jean Marzollo
The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh
I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
One Dead Spy : The Life, Times, and Last Words of Nathan Hale, America’s Most Famous Spy [text and illustrations by Nathan Hale]
Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne
American Revolution : A Nonfiction Companion to Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
The American Revolution, 1763-1783 by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier
Liberty or Death : The American Revolution, 1763-1783 by Betsy Maestro
The American Revolution for Kids : A History with 21 Activities by Janis Herbert

Cap off your Independence Day celebration with some fireworks! Here’s where to find them:

Summer & July 4th and Fireworks. A listing of CT fireworks displays

Patriotism comes in many forms. Some people express it by joining the military and defending their country, both home and abroad. Some rally citizens through songs, speeches, writing, and art. And others instill patriotic values in their families, workplaces, places of worship, and in their own lives.

However you take pride in your country, here are a few books to celebrate your inner patriot.

A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches
A Patriot’s Handbook by Caroline Kennedy

Celebrating the Land We Love by Caroline Kennedy. This collection of more than 200 selections has themes like “The Flag”, “Freedom of Speech”, and “The Individual”. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are rewritten in full, along with presidential speeches, farewell addresses, and decisions from landmark Supreme court cases. Poems and selections from fiction, including authors like Alice Walker, Stephen Crane, and F. Scott Fitzgerald are included, along with popular patriotic songs. Kennedy also includes dissenting voices such as Thoreau, Oscar Wilde, and Frederick Douglass, reminding us that while we are the land of the free and the home of the brave, we still have much to do to make it so.
Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War: America’s First Couple and the
Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War by Hugh Howard

Second War of Independence by Hugh Howard. Perhaps the most forgotten war, the War of 1812 celebrated it’s 200th anniversary last year. This conflict was truly our second war of independence, as Great Britain was looking to assert her dominance over us on both land and water. Author Hugh Howard presents this important war as James and Dolley experienced it. More came out of this war than Dolley running from the White House with the portrait of George Washington.
Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American
Revolutionary Summer by Joseph Ellis

Independence by Joseph Ellis. Joseph Ellis is the master of taking a large subject like the American Revolution and paring it down to the nitty gritty. His latest in his canon of American Revolution titles is Revolutionary Summer, where he examines the summer of 1776 and how it changed not only our history, but history across the world. Influential figures from both sides, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, General William Howe, and Admiral Lord Richard, help tell the story of one of the most important summers in human history.
Patriot’s History of the United State: From Columbus’s Great
A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart

Discovery to the War on Terror by Larry Schweikart. Schweikart believes that American history has been distorted by intellectuals searching for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history and seeks to right those wrongs by telling the history as it happened. He argues that more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than George Washington, and more on the Japanese internment during WWII than D-Day or Iwo Jima. I can’t say I entirely agree with this statement, as American history is full of those problems and “oversights”, but for the right person who appreciates reading about “old dead white men” this book is for you.
Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. MacPherson. I would be
Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. MacPherson

completely remiss if I didn’t include something from the Civil War. During this 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, it is important to remember what led us to our nation’s greatest conflict, what happened, and what we can learn. MacPherson, a well-known Civil War scholar, makes the topic readable, approachable, and entertaining for readers of all ages, reading abilities, and knowledge. The most important lesson we today can learn from that terrible war is that divided horrific things happen, but together we can accomplish anything.