Get a front row seat at the 4th of July parade...

The 4th of July celebration in D.C. is one of the biggest events the city puts on every year. It attracts people from all over the country and world, with a parade down Constitution Avenue being one of the biggest attractions besides “A Capitol 4th” and the fireworks show that follows the show. Although, before we proceed, I must say that the parade is not my favorite part of the 4th on the Mall, but rather hearing the recitation of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives is the highlight of the day for me.

Being a huge history nerd, I get really excited when three people acting as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin (the author and contributors of the Declaration) stand up and read the list of grievances we have against King George III. It’s like having Festivus in July - that’s for you Seinfeld kids out there. Wouldn’t that be great if one the Founding Fathers went to the Court of St. James on the eve of Revolution and stood up in the style of Frank Costanza and said, “I got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you’re going to hear about it.” But anyway, as TJ, John and Ben everyone boos the heinous actions of the King and how he has “obstructed the Administration of Justice … made Judges dependent on his Will alone …” and “for quartering large bodies of troops among us … for cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world”, and most of all “for imposing Taxes on us without our Consent …” We certainly didn’t vote for that. Make note: The actor who plays John Adams, in giving accurate representation of our 2nd President, is the most spirited of the three speakers, which is why everyone booed him the loudest. He made us REALLY angry with King George. Then at the end of the reading of the Declaration, everyone is supposed to yell “Huzzah!”, a word which I believe we should use more often. I don’t think everyone was as excited to say Huzzah as I was though, as I felt like the only one who was yelling it. Get excited about your history people!

The parade immediately follows the reading of the Declaration, and one of the other interns in my office, Heidi, and I carried “feather flags”, which are the largest and most difficult pieces in the parade to handle. They are these 20 feet tall flags that you carry down Constitution Avenue for 11 blocks, making you feel like you’re in an eternal wind tunnel. But it was really fun to be in the parade, and we got to see most of the floats pass by us as we waited to be waved into the parade. We were able to be in the parade through The Washington Center, and I really recommend taking advantage of it, despite the fact that carrying the flag was really difficult. It was really neat to be part of the National Parade, and seeing the reading of the Declaration, as well as seeing the Founding Father’s and Abraham Lincoln arrive at the parade grounds in a golf cart made the parade that much better.

Photo of Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin reading the Declaration, taken by Tom McQueeny.