Changes

==Historic Patterns==

==Historic Patterns==

The first celebrations of the Fourth of July began in 1777, but it was not a major holiday until politics intruded.  By 1800, embittered partisanship in the [[First Party System]] made the celebrations Federalist occasions in Federalist Party strongholds like Boston. The Jeffersonian Republicans, believing the Federalists had misappropriated and misinterpreted the American Revolution and neglected the role of [[Thomas Jefferson]], staged their own, more democratic, celebrations. Disorder sometimes marred the festivities, but the public enjoyed both parties' observances. The War of 1812 saw the substitution of solemn observances for the noisy partisan celebrations.

The first celebrations of the Fourth of July began in 1777, but it was not a major holiday until politics intruded.  By 1800, partisanship had become bitter in the [[First Party System]]. The [[Federalist Party]], in its strongholds like Boston, turned the Fourth into a day of celebrating the party and denigrating the opposition. The Jeffersonian Republicans, believing the Federalists had misappropriated the American Revolution and neglected the role of [[Thomas Jefferson]], staged their own, more democratic, celebrations. Disorder sometimes marred the festivities, but the public enjoyed both parties' observances. The War of 1812 saw the substitution of solemn observances for the noisy partisan celebrations.

By the [[Era of Good Feelings]] after the War of 1812, the holiday became nonpartisan and was enthusiastically celebrated across the land. It encouraged national identity and unity with orations, dinners, militia musters, parades, and fireworks.  

By the [[Era of Good Feelings]] after the War of 1812, the holiday became nonpartisan and was enthusiastically celebrated across the land. It encouraged national identity and unity with orations, dinners, militia musters, parades, and fireworks.  

Before the Civil War free blacks found fault with the Declaration of Independence for inconsistency and the closely related grounds of hypocrisy and ineffectuality. They held negative attitudes toward Thomas Jefferson and dismissed the Fourth of July because it did not include freedom for blacks. Black leaders and white abolitionists fought to insure that the Declaration would remain an inescapable commitment.<ref> Benjamin Quarles, "Antebellum Free Blacks and the 'Spirit Of '76.'" ''Journal of Negro History'' 1976 61(3): 229-242. </ref>

Before the Civil War free blacks found fault with the Declaration of Independence for inconsistency and the closely related grounds of hypocrisy and ineffectuality. They held negative attitudes toward Thomas Jefferson and dismissed the Fourth of July because it did not include freedom for blacks. Black leaders and white abolitionists fought to insure that the Declaration would remain an inescapable commitment.<ref> Benjamin Quarles, "Antebellum Free Blacks and the 'Spirit Of '76.'" ''Journal of Negro History'' 1976 61(3): 229-242. </ref>

The Fourth is a celebration of freedom. African American celebration of the Fourth of July in southern cities such as Memphis, Tennessee, in the years following the Civil War featured a major parade with all the local black organizations marching or making floats, followed by picnics and a reading of the Declaration of Independence. At the same time, Fourth of July celebrations by the white community in Memphis tended to be much more subdued.

The Fourth is a celebration of freedom and no one had more cause to celebrate than the freed slaves. African American celebration of the Fourth of July in southern cities such as Memphis, Tennessee, in the years following the Civil War featured a major parade with all the local black organizations marching or making floats, followed by picnics and a reading of the Declaration of Independence. At the same time, Fourth of July celebrations by the white community tended to be much more subdued.

== Reagan: What July 4^th Means to Me ==

== Reagan: What July 4^th Means to Me ==