Why Do Americans Celebrate the Fourth of July with Fireworks?

John Adams had the notion that fireworks should be used to celebrate Independence Day. In a letter to his wife Abigail dated July 3, 1776 he told her that Americans should celebrate the anniversary of the country’s independence “with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” The first fireworks set off for the fourth of July were in 1777, and it has been a great American tradition ever since.