Urbasm Salutes America – 2021 Bikini Edition

Before the steaks, burgers, beer, fireworks, and bikinis, July 4th was simply a declaration of our Independence, authored by Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Robert Livingston. It did not even become recognized as a Federal Holiday until 1870. And if you like to start your patriot party a bit early, feel free, as truth be told, Independence Day should be celebrated on July 2, as that is the day Congress passed the vote to break ties with Great Britain once and for all.

We suppose that Independence Day could have also been celebrated on July 6th, the earliest that anyone outside of Congress heard about it. It was published for the Pennsylvania Evening Post on a Saturday in 1776. With that in mind, our great country once declared that Independence Day would be recognized on July 5th, simply because July 4th happened to fall on a Sunday that year. Or maybe we should have waited until August 2, as that is when the last of the signatures were laid down.

If you add it all up, that gives us an entire month of reasons to celebrate, from the first signature by John Hancock to the last. And since there have never been any official rules drawn up on what makes one American more patriotic than the other, we feel that the stars and stripes just feel a bit more inspiring when laid out over a beach, boat, or poolside, compared to that old flag pole. But… if you disagree, all we can say is to each his own.

As we near the end of our tribute, we feel it fitting to recognize two authors of the declaration who parted the nation on the very day from which they announced its independence. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4 of 1826 on the 50th Anniversary of our Independence.