July 4th

• 
• 7/3/2020
  

  Of Steamboats and Fireworks: The Great Mississippi River Race of 1870

  by Eric Simanek

  On the 4th of July of 1870, a 1,200 mile race between two steamboats on the Mississippi River was decided. The race attracted global interest. Reporters wrote about it. Gamblers wagered on it. People gathered and cheered for it.

• 
• SOURCE: NPR
  7/4/2019
  

  NPR's Cokie Roberts and Rachel Martin Answer Listener Questions About Women And American Independence

  Cokie Roberts answers listener questions and talks with NPR's Rachel Martin about the role women played in America's fight for independence from Great Britain.

• 
• SOURCE: Time
  7/3/2019
  

  'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?': The History of Frederick Douglass' Searing Independence Day Oration

  Douglass’ message — about America struggling to live up to the lofty goals it set for itself at the founding — continues to be relevant.

• 
• SOURCE: History
  7/3/2019
  

  Why Do We Celebrate July 4 With Fireworks?

  The Independence Day tradition dates nearly as far back as the country's beginning and was proposed by one of the Founding Fathers.

• 
• SOURCE: The Root
  7-4-16
  

  Story of the Week: The Hidden Racist History of the National Anthem

  by Jason Johnson

  In the third, forgotten stanza, Francis Scott Key refers darkly to the members of the Colonial Marines, a battalion of runaway slaves who joined with the British Royal Army in exchange for their freedom. 

• 
• 6-28-15
  

  This July 4th Let’s Begin to Change the Way We Think about America’s Past

  by Thomas Fleming

  In our colleges and universities, too many people, from professors to students, are taking a moral approach to the past.