II.

Early Independence Day Celebrations

The first celebration took place in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, four days after the Declaration of Independence was adopted. On that day the declaration was read aloud, city bells rang, and bands played. Within a few years the Fourth of July was observed throughout most of the new nation, although until 1783 the city of Boston, Massachusetts, commemorated Independence Day on March 5, the date of the Boston Massacre. An elaborate Fourth of July celebration was held in Philadelphia in 1788, following the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.

Several important U.S. projects were started on Independence Day. Work on the Erie Canal in New York state began on July 4, 1817. Construction of the first railroad in the United States, the Baltimore and Ohio, was started on July 4, 1828. July 4 was the date selected in 1848 for laying the cornerstone of the Washington Monument in the U.S. capital.