Today you probably woke up thinking, "I can't wait to watch (insert name of Saturday morning cartoon)!!!". But then you realized, "It's Independence Day, that's right."

On this day 223 years ago, we (the 13 colonies in particular) were in a war with Britain that was started over taxes. (What else is new?) Several men had met to discuss these things, and on this day (redundant, I know) they adopted a declaration of our independence from Britain, and we became a country. (Believe it or not, it was signed two days earlier!)

I was going to end this post kind of like this:

"They wanted this day to be celebrated with parades and such. These days, we have barbecues, watch baseball games (depending on where you live), and shoot potentially dangerous explosives that result in pretty lights.

The Founding Fathers would be proud."

But looking up Independence Day on Wikipedia (my choice as a primary source of research (anyone who thinks Wikipedia is entirely unreliable can suck it)), I found out that the day before, John Adams had sent a letter to his wife, Abigail. Here is an excerpt:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

How about THAT?

Happy Fourth of July, everybody.