This Fourth of July week will feature the picnics, parades and fireworks that Americans love. But with just two years left until the 250th anniversary of our independence, it’s important to look at how our nation’s birthday has evolved and how the White House’s role on this holiday has contributed to our national identity.

We should begin by remembering how audacious it was for revolutionaries to break away from their mother country – and to pledge “our lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” to one another.

“That was more than rhetoric,” President Ronald Reagan reminded Americans on July 4, 1986, with the Statue of Liberty in the background. “Each of those men knew the penalty for high treason to the crown.”

If our second president, John Adams, had his way, we’d celebrate on July 2 – the day in 1776 that the Continental Congress in Philadelphia officially declared freedom from Great Britain. But the Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed for two more days, and it was Adams’ successor, Thomas Jefferson, who began the tradition of observing the Fourth of July at the White House in 1801.

On that day, President Jefferson opened the White House to diplomats, civil and military officers, citizens and Cherokee chiefs in what was known as the Oval Saloon (today’s Blue Room). The Marine Band played in the Entrance Hall, and a festival on the north grounds featured horse races and parades, along with cakes, wine and punch for the revelers.

The celebration on July 4, 1803, featured a history-making reveal, when Jefferson stood on the front steps to announce news of the Louisiana Purchase, which had just reached the White House.

As annual receptions and other commemorations became customary, the national symbolism of Independence Day grew stronger in 1826, when Adams and Jefferson both died........

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