I second this notion. It's time we start remembering what made this country the US of A.

 

I only call it Independence Day if I'm watching Independence Day.

Only problem I see is that if they call it "Independence Day", then they will make a 3 day weekend out of it. Look at Presidents day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, MLK Day.

It doesn't bother me at all.  I know that the Fourth of July is Independence Day.  I think this just reminds of "the war against Christmas" Bill O'Reilly stuff.  I think we should save our energy for things that are really significant not little things like whether stores call their sales Fourth of July sales or Independence Day sales.  I get your thought on loosing the meaning of the holiday but I think it has maintained it's meaning more than some of our other holidays.

I think everyone should join in a battle re-enactment so they don't forget the real meaning of the day.  Historically accurate uniform reproductions for everyone. 

Zubaz, I agree.  We are celebrating something far more important than the fourth day of the month named after Julius Caesar. It IS a special day, and should be marked as such, particularly in a society that celebrates at the drop of a hat.  We even have Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) celebrations here in Michigan, and that's the Mexican Independence Day!

Okay, gotta give a quick history lesson.

In America, we erroneously believe that the 5th of May is MexIndependence Day. (Like that word I just made up? I certainly do. Better get a trademark on that bad boy.) It's not. MexIndependence Day is the night of the 15th and the day of the 16th of September, when a priest effectively issued the Latin American equivalent of the Declaration of Independence (called the Grito de Dolores, or Cry of Pains (well, and Dolores, too, because that was also the name of the town the priest was from)). Father Manuel Hidalgo is basically their Thomas Jefferson. And it's the 15th and 16th.

The 5th of May isn't even really celebrated much in most of Mexico, only in the state of Puebla, where like forty years after their independence, the Mexicans fought a battle to expel Maximilian's (the puppet dictator from France) army. Most Mexicans don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo, only in Puebla do they actually do so. It would be like the equivalent if we celebrated the day old Stonewall Jackson kicked British ass in New Orleans during the war of 1812, and the rest of the world thought of that as our Independence Day.

Any way, common misconception that gets foisted on us by all the department stores and restaurants having Cinco de Mayo sales and specials. Meanwhile, all the Mexicans who AREN'T from Puebla are too busy trying to figure out why us Americans give a damn about it.

If everyone celebrated the day they kicked French Butt, then the whole world would be in a constant state of celebration!

That's probably one of the best lines I have read in a long time. As Obi Wan Kenobi once said "who's more foolish, the fool or the fool that follows?".

 

The 5th of May isn't even really celebrated much in most of Mexico, only in the state of Puebla, where like forty years after their independence, the Mexicans fought a battle to expel Maximilian's (the puppet dictator from France) army.

Actually, I did know that it was when Maximillian was kicked out, but I didn't know about the 15th and 16th of September.

It would be like the equivalent if we celebrated the day old Stonewall Jackson kicked British ass in New Orleans during the war of 1812, and the rest of the world thought of that as our Independence Day.

Actually, it was General Andrew Jackson.  Stonewall Jackson was a general in the American Civil War. 

 

Well, there you go. History lessons for the both of us.

I call it Independence Day if I have time, else I just call it the Fourth to save breath. End of discussion.

Anniversary bump.

Lest we forget.