{"id":951,"date":"2020-07-04T15:38:32","date_gmt":"2020-07-04T15:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/?p=951"},"modified":"2021-05-25T18:32:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T18:32:48","slug":"july-4th-celebrating-americas-fight-for-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/july-4th-celebrating-americas-fight-for-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"July 4th \u2013 Celebrating America\u2019s Fight for Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 4<sup>th<\/sup> of July is a celebration of the birth of American independence when, on July 4, 1776, delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Declaration of Independence explained why the 13\ncolonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New\nYork, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South\nCarolina, and Georgia) no longer considered themselves under British rule.&nbsp; It listed 27 colonial grievances against King\nGeorge III, and asserted various rights, including the right to revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The American Revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">American colonists first started protesting British rule\nwith the Stamp Act Congress (\u201cno taxation without representation\u201d) in 1765.\nThis event was followed by the Boston Massacre in 1770, the burning of the\nGaspee in 1772 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hostilities broke out when the British tried to destroy\nAmerican military supplies in 1775. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/opa\/publications\/factsheets\/fs_americas_wars.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approximately\n217,000 colonists fought in the war<\/a>, which ended in 1783. &nbsp;An estimated 4,500 colonists were wounded\nduring the conflict, and 4,435 died in battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Pensions&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The colonies had been providing pensions for disabled\nsoldiers and sailors for more than a century before the American Revolution,\nstarting with Plymouth in 1636.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On August 26, 1776, a month and half after the signing of\nthe Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress adopted the first\npension legislation. It provided half pay for disabled military veterans who\ncould no longer earn a living, for as long as they were disabled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two years later, on May 17, 1778, another resolution was\npassed to encourage military officers to stay until the end of the war, by\nproviding them with half pay for 7 years once the conflict had ended.&nbsp; Enlisted men who stayed received an $80\nstipend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first widow\u2019s pension was approved by the Continental\nCongress on August 24, 1780. It provided half-pay to the widows and orphans of\nofficers for 7 years according to the terms of the May 17, 1778 resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 200 years have passed since the colonies freed\nthemselves from British rule. Today, July 4<sup>th<\/sup> is celebrated with\nfireworks, parades, barbecues, and many other festivities. And the VA continues\nto provide pensions to veterans, spouses, and dependents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you would like to learn more about the VA\u2019s Aid and Attendance benefit for veterans and spouses who need long-term care, call one of our Benefit Consultants today at <strong>877-427-8065<\/strong>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/aid-attendance-benefit-see-if-you-qualify\/\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 4th of July is a celebration of the birth of American independence when, on July 4, 1776, delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[294,293,295],"class_list":["post-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-veterans","tag-4th-of-july","tag-independence-day","tag-july-4th"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1119,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions\/1119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}