The Independence Day Celebration

The Declaration of Independence

Approved by the Continental Congress, on July 4, 1776, this unique document set the 13 colonies on the road to freedom, as a sovereign nation.

This most American of holidays is marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues, across the country.

Buy Independence Day Stationery

In July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly independent nation was 2.5 million.

On July 4, 2008, the nation’s population will be 304 million.

Fourth of July Cookouts

The chance that the hot dogs and pork sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa are more than 1 in 4.
The Hawkeye State was home to 17.6 million market hogs and pigs on March 1, 2008.
This represents more than one-fourth of the nation’s total.
North Carolina (9 million) and Minnesota (6.7 million) were the runners-up.
The total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2007 is 6.8 billion pounds.
Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production.
If beef does not come from Texas, it very well may come from Nebraska (4.7 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.1 billion pounds).

There are six states in which the revenue from broiler chickens was $1 billion or greater between December 2006 and November 2007. There is a good chance that one of these states

Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas are the source of your barbecued chicken.

About 4 in 10 are the odds that your side dish of

Popular Fourth of July side dishes

Baked beans originated from North Dakota, which produced 42 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in 2007.

Corn on the cob. Florida, California, Georgia and New York together accounted for 60 percent of the sweet corn produced nationally in 2007.

Potato salad and potato chips are popular food items at Fourth of July barbecues. More than half (52 percent) of the nation’s spuds were produced in Idaho or Washington state in 2007.

More than three-fourths amount of the nation’s head lettuce production in 2007 that came from California. This lettuce may end up in your salad or on your burger.

Nearly 3 in 4 chances that the fresh tomatoes in your salad came from Florida or California, which combined accounted for 73 percent of U.S. tomato production last year. The ketchup on your burger or hot dog probably came from California, which accounted for 96 percent of processed tomato production in 2007.

Georgia is the state that led the nation in watermelon production last year (1 billion pounds). Other leading producers of this popular Fourth of July dessert included California, Florida and Texas, each with more than 400 million pounds.

More than 74 million Americans said they have taken part in a barbecue during the previous year. It’s probably safe to assume a lot of these events took place on Independence Day.