For activities and resources for this book and others in the HOLIDAYS HEROES series visit www kanepress com holidays-and-heroes Text copyright 2016 by Barbara deRubertis Photographs images copyrights Cover franckreporter iStock pages 1 29 top wavebreakmedia Shutterstock com page 3 top Geoffrey Kuchera Shutterstock com page 3 bottom Joseph Sohm Shutterstock com pages 4 5 6 North Wind Picture Archives All rights reserved page 7 top Ken Brown iStock page 7 bottom North Wind Picture Archives All rights reserved page 8 Library of Congress Prints Photographs Division LC-USZC2-2243 page 9 left North Wind Picture Archives All rights reserved page 9 right Library of Congress Manuscript Division page 10 Victorian Traditions Shutterstock com page 11 The White House Historical Association White House Collection pages 12 13 US Capitol page 14 top Everett Historical Shutterstock com page 14 bottom left Tatiana Belova iStock page 14 bottom right Everett Historical Shutterstock com page 15 top North Wind Picture Archives All rights reserved page 15 bottom Mark R Shutterstock com pages 16 17 North Wind Picture Archives All rights reserved page 18 top Library of Congress Prints Photographs Division LC-DIG-highsm-15716 page 18 bottom Susan Law Cain Shutterstock com page 19 Architect of the Capitol page 20 javarman Shutterstock com page 20 inset David Smart Shutterstock com page 21 left The White House Historical Association page 21 right US Navy Photo pages 22 23 24 25 North Wind Picture Archives All rights reserved page 26 top Joseph Sohm Shutterstock com page 26 middle Cory A Ulrich Shutterstock com page 26 bottom cdrin Shutterstock com page 27 top Susan Chiang iStock page 27 bottom left JMichl iStock page 27 bottom right ktaylorg iStock page 28 top Valentina Proskurina Shutterstock com page 28 bottom The Blade Amy E Voigt page 29 bottom Jani Bryson iStock page 30 MivPiv iStock page 31 Steve Heap Shutterstock com page 32 M_a_y_a iStock All due diligence has been conducted in identifying copyright holders and obtaining permissions All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher For information regarding permission contact the publisher through its website www kanepress com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data deRubertis Barbara author Let’s celebrate Independence Day by Barbara deRubertis pages cm Holidays heroes Audience Ages 6-10 ISBN 978-1-57565-830-8 library reinforced binding alk paper ISBN 978-1-57565-747-9 pbk alk paper 1 Fourth of July Juvenile literature 2 Fourth of July celebrations Juvenile literature I Title E286 A1268 2016 394 2634 dc23 2015028191 eISBN 978-1-57565-748-6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 First published in the United States of America in 2016 by Kane Press Inc Book Design Edward Miller Photograph Image Research Poyee Oster Visit us online at www kanepress com Like us on Facebook facebook com kanepress Follow us on Twitter KanePress
When we think of the Fourth of July we think of fireworks flags parades and picnics America has been celebrating Independence Day with gusto since July 4 1776 It is one of our country’s most important national holidays But what are the reasons for all this excitement
In 1773 the 13 American colonies belonged To get the whole story we have to go back to the years before American independence to Great Britain and were ruled by King George III But people living in these colonies were unhappy Why They were not being treated fairly Angry colonists in Boston Massachusetts protest high taxes
One big problem was that colonists were being asked to pay more and more taxes to the British government on basic things like sugar and tea And they had no say in the matter whatsoever So the colonists resisted paying the taxes Some even protested by dumping a shipment of British tea into the waters of Boston’s harbor The British government passed harsh laws to punish the colonists The dumping of British tea in Boston’s harbor became known as The Boston Tea Party
