Fourth of July vs. Independence Day vs. Cinco de Mayo

[Bidah]

Fourth of July vs. Independence Day vs. Cinco de Mayo
by Dan Hendrickson on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 7:24pm

Fourth of July vs. Independence Day vs. Cinco de Mayo

Well I posted an article on a forum yesterday, and one of the replies got me thinking a bit. It was a simple “I never celebrate the 4th of July, I celebrate Independence Day!”

That got the wheels turning a bit more. How long ago did the simple and totally neutral title “Fourth of July” replace a proud and patriotic title “Independence Day”? Secondly, how rampant is this, and thirdly, how does Independence Day rate with Cinco de Mayo???

Well in the modern computer age this should be easy….almost.

I used the Search Engine Google and compared the number of “results”. The first Phrases that I searched were a bit general.

Fourth of July Celebrations = 81,000,000
Independence Day Celebrations = 19,000,000
Cinco de Mayo Celebrations = 11,400,000

While I was disappointed with the difference between the Fourth of July and Independence Day, at least Independence Day beat out Cinco de Mayo (not really, but more on that later).

But what if I got a bit more specific I thought, how about a specific Year? The next search phrases were…….

Fourth of July 2009 = 99,400,000
Independence Day 2009 = 21,200,000
Cinco de Mayo 2009 = 25,800,000

Well that isn’t good, maybe it was just 2009……

Fourth of July 2004 = 49,800,000
Independence Day 2004 = 4,650,000
Cinco de Mayo 2004 = 7,760,000

Fourth of July 2001 = 19,300,000
Independence Day 2001 = 3,690,000
Cinco de Mayo 2001 = 34,100,000

What the heck was with 2001! Were we that pathetic prior to September 11th??? Almost twice the results for Cinco de Mayo over Fourth of July and nearly 10X Independence day!! Yes I triple checked those results and it blows my mind. Was this Country that disinterested in the founding of our Nation in 2001, no wonder Al-Qaeda thought we were weak enough to attack on 9/11/01.

But that isn’t the worst of it. I didn’t use “American Independence Day” in the search, I only used Independence day……

American Independence Day 2001 = 964,000

And to rub salt into the wound, 4 out of the 10 results on the first page dealt with African Independence Day and Greek Independence Day, even though I specifically searched for American Independence Day! Of course there is a ton of other countries that celebrate their Independence Day, so that feeble number 964,000 (in comparison to 34,100,000 for Cinco de Mayo the same year), is actually far less.

How about trying “4th of July cancelled due to lack of funding” = 7,170 results

Just on the first page of results I see the following Cities Have cancelled their 4th of July 2009 festivities.

San Jose, CA
Gainesville, FL
Mesa, AZ
California State University
Colorado Springs, CO
Niceville, FL
Garland, TX

Gee I have to wonder, did any of these towns celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

San Jose, CA certainly did….

“The economy hasn't put a damper on plans for San Jose's 27th annual Cinco de Mayo celebration, with a parade and festival set for Sunday”

Gainesville FL? Yep

Mesa, AZ? Absolutely

Colorado Springs, Co? Yep

Niceville, Fl? Probably

Garland TX? Of Course, why not

What about California State University?

Well you may or may not know the facts about Cinco de Mayo, but it’s celebration didn’t start in Mexico, nope not at all. It began in 1967 in the good ole’ US of A, at the University of California.

“The first US Cinco de Mayo celebration took place in 1967. A group of California State University students started commemorating the holiday to recapture Chicano history (there was no Chicano holiday at the time).”

You can see more fun Cinco de Mayo facts here……

http://www.businesspundit.com/5-little-known-facts-about-cinco-de-mayo/


Wow, have we sunk this low??? Has this Nation got the to point, that a Holiday made up by a bunch of stoned college kids in 1967, has replaced Independence Day?

This is America and American Heritage MUST BE PRESERVED, if you expect to preserve the integrity of America. I want you all to think real hard here, whose fault is this?? It is our faults for letting this happen, just as it is our faults for letting a myriad of other un-patriotic PC BS to creep into our lives.

The only way it will ever be stopped is if you get off the couch and stop it.

How? Become a Proud American and quit making excuses. Contact your local media and tell them you are not happy about them constantly referring to America’s Independence Day as merely the 4th of July. Contact your favorite Beverage Distributors and explain to them that it very disappointing to you that Cities across the Country have been canceling Independence Day Celebrations due to lack of funding, yet there is plenty of funding from the beer companies/distributors to sponsor Cinco de Mayo celebrations. How about your Mayor? How about the President when the white House has a Cinco de Mayo fest on their schedule?

Tell them to start celebrating America and it achievements, not a made up drunk fest.

How about your personal actions? Stop calling it The 4th of July now, and correct those who do, IT’S INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! Have you read the Declaration of Independence since High School? And of course, personally help in any way you can, to restore American Traditions and Values. Join the Revolutionary War Veterans Assoc. That is what they are all about, teaching Americanism through Marksmanship, to preserve our Heritage and save our country.

How about our Veteran’s, when was the last time you stopped by the Local Veteran’s Club for a Fish Fry or Steak Dinner? Have you volunteered to visit a VA? American Veteran’s not only made the first Independence Day possible, they have made every one since possible, THANK THEM FOR IT!!!

It is only when WE take our Independence Day back that the road returning us to our American Values can be repaved.

Dan Hendrickson
Illinois State Coordinator
RWVA
www.appleseedinfo.org

[2HOW]

Well I live close to Rogersville Tn. And since I moved up here the 4th of July celebration isnt held on the 4th so I guess its the Independence day celebration. This year was the biggest ever, over 40000 people showed yesterday, hundreds of cars lined up on the 4 lane, it was amazing. OBTW the population of the county is about 60000. So we aint slackin round here.

[Hazcat]

The problem with simple Boolean searches like that is you get results from all over the world and you are trying to relate them to the US exclusively.

[Pathfinder]

Not to mention the fact that Google has been found to game many of its searches, so factor that in as well.

Still, coming from an uber-liberal town, Cinco de Mayo was crammed down the school kids throats in the interest of "diversity", while the American flag was pushed way back and to the side during the Cinco festivities (and most of the rest of the time as well). So I would say yes, we were that lame in 2001.

[fightingquaker13]

I appreciate what the post was trying to say, but it sounds like PC bs to me. Who cares whether its called the Fourth of July or Independence Day as long as we celebrate it, and know why  we are doing so. Sorry, I have limited tolerance for PC whether its on the left or right.
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

do they have a 4th of July in England?

Of course they do.  It falls between the 3rd and the 5th.


Do they have a 4th of July in Denmark?

Yes they do...and it means the about the same there as it does here

http://www.visitdenmark.com/international/en-gb/menu/turist/oplevelser/begivenheder/produktside/gdk008246/fourth-of-july-in-rebild-bakker-denmark.htm?CallerUrl=1

[twyacht]

This transition has happened over time, exactly according to plan. This "PC" stuff has already crept into "Winter Holiday" instead of those terrible words like like Christmas.

We won't even need to mention Easter.

Presidents Day, instead of Washington and Lincoln separated, like it used to be,.......Yet we have MLK day...Hmmmmm.

Sadly many so-called American folks look at Memorial Day, Veterans Day, (formerly Armistice Day), Thanksgiving,etc,.. as something totally different than what it was intended to be.

The recent man on the street interview(s), shows most "younger folks" can't even name the country we declared Independence FROM!. That's from illustrious universities like UCLA, Penn State, Dartmouth, and UConn. AND others....

Berkley Doesn't count,....

Very tragic that they will probably vote for BHO again as an American....

[Solus]

This transition has happened over time, exactly according to plan. This "PC" stuff has already crept into "Winter Holiday" instead of those terrible words like like Christmas.

We won't even need to mention Easter.

Presidents Day, instead of Washington and Lincoln separated, like it used to be,.......Yet we have MLK day...Hmmmmm.

Sadly many so-called American folks look at Memorial Day, Veterans Day, (formerly Armistice Day), Thanksgiving,etc,.. as something totally different than what it was intended to be.

The recent man on the street interview(s), shows most "younger folks" can't even name the country we declared Independence FROM!. That's from illustrious universities like UCLA, Penn State, Dartmouth, and UConn. AND others....

Berkley Doesn't count,....

Very tragic that they will probably vote for BHO again as an American....

By the time folks get to college, it's too late.

Kids should be taught the importance of Independence Day and what made our country unique at and since it's founding, in the 1st grade or before.  It is never to early to teach kids how important it is to be an American Citizen and to have pride it the concepts upon which this country was founded.

They should know the importance of "The shot heard 'round the world" fired in Lexington in 1775 on April 19.  

Even though the phrase has been applied to other events over the years, that is the one each American kid should know and remember.