Why does US celebrate its independence day on July 4

Washington, July 4: Today is July 4, the 243rd independence day of the United States. People of the world's third largest country observe celebrations on this day - from holding parties to holding fireworks.

Why does the US celebrate its independence day on July 4 which is called "the Fourth of July"?

Much of the modern-day US was under European rule since Italian explorer Christopher Columbus led an expedition to discover the "new world" in 1492. The North and South American continents subsequently came under the rule of various European nations.

In the early 17th century, the king of England James I decided to set up permanent settlements in the Americas. Other European nations also had their own North American colonies but they all came under the English crown in the later stages.

In the 1730s, the Province of Georgia was established and it became the 13th colony under the British empire. The other 12 colonies were: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Carolina.

The British Empire exported resources in these colonies, such as tobacco and tea and they became part of the British trade network.

The population of these colonies grew between 1625 and 1775 as several immigrants moved there from other European states. With time, these colonies had in place their own local governments and they started resisting the rule from London.

Around the same time, Europe witnessed a period of conflict and the impact of the conflict spread to the colonies in the Americas as well. The French and Indian War took place across North America between 1754 and 1763 and after the conflict ended, more collision became imminent over who would bear its brunt. The British colonisers' efforts to restrict self-governance raised more tension between the patriots of the American colonies and the British loyalists and in 1775, the Thirteen Colonies of America declared a war of independence against the British Empire and stopped paying revenues to the colonial masters.

The colonisers sent troops to tame the rebels but other European powers like France, Spain and the Netherlands backed the colonies.

It was on July 4, 1776, that the colonies announced the US Declaration of Independence and considered themselves as 13 independent states that were beyond the British rule.

The majority of the declaration was penned by Thomas Jefferson while other individuals like Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert L Livingston were also present in the committee that drafted the declaration.

In 1782, the British parliament agreed to end the British operations in North America and in 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed whereby Great Britain recognised the sovereignty of the US and formally concluded the war.

John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay and Henry Laurens negotiated the treaty on behalf of the US.

On November 25, 1783, the last British troops left the shores of New York city, marking the end of the British rule in the US.