MIS
LadyBs Pages
"I know not what course others may
take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."
Patrick Henry
Independence Day
is the birthday of the United States of America. It is celebrated on July 4 each year in
the United States. It is the anniversary of the day on which the Declaration of
Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress July 4, 1776.
Independence Day was first observed in Philadelphia
on July 8, 1776. In 1941, Congress declared July 4 a federal legal holiday.
In early days, Independence Days were
occasions for shows, games, sports, military music, and fireworks. Fireworks and firing of
guns and cannon caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries each year. In the
early 1900's, many people began to plead for a "safe and sane Fourth." As a
result, many cities and states passed laws forbidding the sale of fireworks.
National
Council on Fireworks Safety Home Page
Cosmic
Fireworks Safety Guide
Fun 4th of July Sites
PC Int
A cool Happy
4th of July is at Disney world
Lady Liberty the changing face of freedom
Standing at the entrance to New York
harbor is a 151-foot statue of a woman holding a book and a torch on-high. "Liberty
Enlightening the World"was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the
United States to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American independence. After
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi prefabricated the figure in Paris by molding sheets of cooper
over a stainless-steel framework, it was shipped to the United States in 241 crates in
1885. Some of the money to erect the statue was contributed by American school children.
The sculptor intended his work to be an immense and impressive symbol of human liberty. It
was certainly that for millions of immigrants who came to America in the 19th century
seeking freedom and fulfillment of their dreams. It has continued to inspire people across
the world, as in 1989 when the Chinese students at Tianammen Square made a model of the
Statue of Liberty to symbolize their revolution.
STATUE OF LIBERTY NATIONAL MONUMENT
NEW YORK NY
MAIN BUILDING
BUILT 1900 - 1906 by BORING & TILTON
ALTERED 1904
ALTERED 1907 - 1923
REHABILITATED 1984 - 1990 by BBB/ANF
Description
MAJESTIC 3-STORY BLDG. CLAD w/ BRICK (FLEMISH BOND);
EXUBERANTLY
ORNAM'D. w/ LIMESTONE, GRANITE TRIM. CENTR. PAVILION w/ COLOSSAL
ARCHES @ S ELEV., BRACKETED CORNICE, ATTIC FLANKED w/
COPPER-ROOFED TOWERS. STL. FRAME. FLAT-ROOFED SIDE PAVILIONS.
THE MAIN BUILDING WAS ELLIS ISLAND'S PRIMARY PROCESSING CENTER;
IN ITS GREAT HALL (REGISTRY ROOM), AS MANY AS 5,000 NEWCOMERS
UNDERWENT QUESTIONING AND OBSERVATION EACH DAY AND WERE EITHER
GIVEN PERMISSION TO LAND OR DENIED ENTRY INTO THE COUNTRY.
FORT WOOD WALLS
BUILT 1808 - 1811
ALTERED 1844
ALTERED 1886
ALTERED 1930 - 1965
Description
24' HIGH BATTERED WALLS (20' THICK @ BASE) FORM
11-POINTED STAR;
CONSTR'D. OF QUARRY-FACED GRANITE ASHLARS. BATTERED WATER TABLE;
PROJECTING PARAPET/COPING; DEFENSIVE SLOTS @ INSIDE CORNERS.
MASSIVE IRON DOORS @ SALLY PORT ENTRANCE. NAMED FOR ELEAZER
WOOD; CONSTR'D. 1808-1811 AS PART OF NY HARBOR DEFENSE, i.e., TO
PROTECT BATTERY, ETC. ON ELLIS ISLAND; 30 24-POUNDERS MOUNTED "EN
BARBETTE." CONTAINED STONE MAGAZINE, BRICK ARSENAL. SELECTED AS
SITE FOR STATUE OF LIBERTY IN 1877.
STATUE OF LIBERTY
BUILT 1875 - 1886 by:
FREDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI
BUILT 1883 - 1886 by RICHARD MORRIS HUNT
ALTERED 1888 - 1972
RESTORED 1980 - 1986 by NPS
Description
152' LIBERTY FIGURE CONSTR'D. OF 452 HAMMERED 3/32"
COPPER SHEETS
ATT. TO ST. STL. (ORIG. IRON) ARMATURE BARS; IRON FRAME BY
EIFFEL. TORCH HELD HIGH IN R HAND; TABLETS INSCR. "JULY IV
MDCCLXXVI." 150' GRANITE PEDESTAL HAS REINF. CONC. FOUND'N.
ONE OF THE COLOSSAL SCULPTURES OF WORLD HISTORY; STATUE HAS
GREETED MILLIONS FROM OTHER LANDS WHO CROSSED THE OCEAN IN SEARCH OF FREEDOM, OPPORTUNITY;
SYMBOL TO THE WORLD OF THOSE IDEALS OF LIBERTY UPON WHICH OUR NATION & FORM OF GOV'T.
WERE FOUNDED.
Buy your own Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
Cast in Fiberglass. A wonderful reproduction.
Cat#Y316
Height 8 1/2 feet
Price: $1100.00 Painted
Statue of Liberty Arm with Torch
Cat#Y316A
Price: $365.00 Painted
Statue of Liberty Bust
Cat#Y316B
Price: $650.00 Painted
Email props@themeprops.com
Statue of Liberty Gets Nod for Coin
Americans prefer the Statue of Liberty for the new
dollar coin planned for next year, according to a survey conducted for the General
Accounting Office. ``We believe once a design is finalized ... the public will embrace it
and be proud of the depiction on the coin,'' said Assistant Treasury Secretary Howard
Schloss. ``More people around the world associate America with the Statue of Liberty than
anything I know.''
The
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell weighs 2, 080 pounds. The
circumference around the lip (bottom) of the Bell is 12 feet and the circumference around
the crown (top) is 7 feet 6 inches. From the lip to the crown measures 3 feet and the
height over the crown measures 2 feet 3 inches. The thickness of the Liberty Bell's metal
at the lip is 3 inches and, at the crown, the thickness is 1 1/4 inches. The length of the
clapper is 3 feet 2 inches and weighs 44 1/2 pounds. The yoke weighs 200 pounds and its
wood is Slippery elm.
A metallurgical analysis on the Liberty Bell shows the composition to be approximately 70%
copper, 25% tin, 2% lead, 1% zinc, .25% arsenic, and .20% silver with trace amounts of
gold, magnesium, nickel and antimony. The elements are found in differing ratios
throughout the Liberty Bell suggesting that the casters, Pass and Stow,did not have a
large enough furnace to melt down all the pieces of the Bell at one time during recasting,
but used small crucibles to complete the project.
The making of the State House Bell was first commissioned to the Whitechapel Bell Foundry
in England under the direction of master founder, Thomas Lester, on November 1, 1751. The
bell arrived in America in late August, 1752, nearly one year later. The bell was set up
in Independence Square to be tested where it cracked on the first try.
The Liberty Bell is owned by the City of Philadelphia - not the National Park Service
"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all
men are created equal."
Thomas Jefferson
History
of the American Flag
I
pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for
which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Changes that Old Glory has gone
through for over 200 years
Revolutionary Flags
The Culpepper and Gadsden Flags featured
the rattlesnake with a resounding warning for those who would mess with the colonists.
Interestingly enough, the snake has made quite a comeback within the last 50 years or so,
seeing that every department of government is infested with them.
Guilford Flag
Join or Die Flag
Serapis Flag
Washington Flag
Betsy Ross Flag
Flag Carried at the Battle of Bennington
The Grand Union Flag
Official United States of America
Flags
13
Star Flag 1776
15 Star Flag 1795
Fort McHenry Flag 1812
20 Star Flag 1818
21 Star Flag 1819
24 Star Flag 1822
31 Star Flag 1851
Civil War 35 Star Flag
Carried by Union Troops
37 Star Flag 1867
44 Star Flag 1891
45 Star Flag 1896
48 Star Flag 1912
49 Star Flag 1959
50 Star Flag 1959
HOW TO CARE FOR AND FOLD YOUR U.S.
FLAG
Did you know that how you treat the
flag of the United States of America is regulated by law? From proper placement, to where
and when to display, to half-staff honors, Title 4, Section 1 of the United States Code
("the flag code") regulates proper treatment of the national symbol of the
United States of America.
While the flag code imparts much with regard to the dos and don'ts of flag ownership (i.e.
don't let it touch the ground or anything beneath it, don't display with the union (the
stars) down except in an emergency), it doesn't cover storage or cleaning, except that the
flag should not be stored in such a way as to permit it to be torn or soiled and that it
may be washed or dry cleaned.
By following these easy instructions, your flag will not have to be "destroyed in a
dignified way" (burning is preferred)
1. Only display when weather permits.
2. If the flag gets wet but is not soiled, simply dry thoroughly before folding and
storage.
3. If the flag becomes heavily soiled, dry clean for best results.
4. If the flag is only slightly soiled, try using a spray-on carpet cleaning product. Test
a small inconspicuous spot to assure color fastness. Follow manufacturer's directions on
the product.
5. Once your flag is clean and dry, fold
as follows. So that the flag does not touch the ground while folding, you'll need a
partner. For those of you who played "football" with a piece of paper folded
into a triangle when you were young (or even when you weren't young), you'll have no
trouble folding a flag. And just like in "paper football" the flag cannot touch
the ground!
Step 1
You and your partner should each be
holding a short end of the flag, holding it parallel to the ground (but never letting it
touch the ground). Now fold the flag widthwise twice, first by raising the bottom (the
side with all the stripes and no stars) up over the union side and second by folding the
creased side up over the open side. You will now have a long rectangle with the union on
both sides, half facing the sky or ceiling and half facing the ground or floor.
Step 2
The person holding the union side will be waiting patiently until the final step, but he
or she gets to do the final tuck. The person on the field side (the stripes) will now
begin to corner the flag by creating a series of triangles. Start by folding up from the
creased or "closed" side with the closed corner being folded toward the open
side. (This is where all those years of folding footballs comes in handy.) You should now
have a triangle of stripes which are perpendicular to the long stripes. Continue cornering
until one square of stars and one triangle of stars can be viewed from above.
Step 3
Finally, the person holding the union end of the flag gets to do his or her part! He or
she will then create a triangle from the leftover square simply by folding the open end
toward the closed end. What you should now have is a large triangle of stars made up of
two smaller triangles, the union side being once folded and the field side being
five-fold. The union-side triangle will now be tucked into the folds of the thicker
triangle. You now have a perfect triangle of stars which can't easily unravel and which
should fit into the box your flag came in.
Flag
Trivia
A. What do the flag's colors
represent?
B. How about the stars?
C. When did Congress create the first official flag?
D. What is the correct way to carry the flag?
E. Which six countries' basic flags are the only ones older than the flag of the United
States?
(answers
at the bottom of this page......)
CLICK HERE for
a printable copy of just the Word Search
THE DECLARATION
of INDEPENDENCE
Action of Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
WHEN in the
Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political
Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth,
the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle
them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the
causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - That to secure these Rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation
on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and
accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while
Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is
their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
Security, Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the
Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History
of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations,
all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To
prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless
suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he
has utterly neglected to attend to them.
HE has refused to pass other Laws of the Accommodation of large Districts of People,
unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a
Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant
from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into
Compliance with his Measures.
HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his
Invasions on the Rights of the People.
HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected;
whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at
large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all Dangers of
Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for Purpose obstructing the
Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their
Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for
establishing Judiciary Powers.
HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the
Amount of Payment of their Salaries.
HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass
our People, and eat out their Substance.
HE has kept us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our
Legislatures.
HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution,
and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
FOR protecting them, by a mock Trail, from Punishment for any Murders which they should
commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trail by Jury:
FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offenses:
FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province,
establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to
render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule
into these Colonies:
FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering
fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to
legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War
against us.
HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of
our People.
HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the
Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and
perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of
a civilized Nation.
HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against
their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.
HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us , and has endeavoured to bring on the
Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare,
is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble
Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered on only by repeated Injury. A Prince,
whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the
Ruler of a free People.
NOR have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from
Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over
us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We
have appealed to tier native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the
Ties of our common Kindred to disavow the Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt
our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of
Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace,
Friends.
WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS,
Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our
Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies,
solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right out to be, FREE
AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,
and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and
ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full
Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all
other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES amyl of right do. And for the support of
this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually
pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
With
Friends Like You In My Life,
It's
Like Celebrating The Fourth Of July Every Day.
Because You
know Just How To Make Me Smile.
Have a SAFE & HAPPY 4th of July! =o}
Darla
Answers
A. White for purity and innocence, red for hardiness and valor, and blue for vigilance,
perseverance and justice.
B. The stars represent a "new constellation" (the 13 states).
C. June 14, 1777.
D. Aloft and free as in a parade.
E. In alphabetical order, Austria, Denmark, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Sweden and
Switzerland.
Click
here for answers to States Word Search
|