The 4th of July or Independence Day Index

A young American from the turn
of the 20th Century.

       Independence Day is the national holiday most dear to the hearts of the American people. It commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776. On the fourth of each July this great event is celebrated throughout the Union with patriotic exercises of varied nature and noisy demonstrations, in which firecrackers and other explosives have a prominent part.

• Search the Index for President's Day Artifacts
• 4rth of July Coloring Pages at Crayon Palace: American Patriot Coloring Pages

The Celebration of American Independence:

1. The Great American Holiday
2. The Nation's Birthday by Mary E. Vandyne  
3. How The Fourth of July Should Be Celebrated by Julia Ward Howe 

The Spirit and Significance of July 4th:

1. England and America by James Bryce 
2. The Birthday of the Nation by Daniel Webster
3. The Fourth of July by Charles Leonard Moore
4. Lift Up Your Hearts
5. England and the Fourth of July by W. T. Stead 
6. Address of Joel Barlow, 1787
   
7. Address of John Quincy Adams, 1793
8. Address of John Lathrop, 1796, Extract
   
9. The Fourth of July by Charles Sprague
10. Our National Anniversary by H. Rice
11. America's Natal Day by James Gillespie Blaine
12. Crises of Nations by Dr. Foss
13. The Fourth of July in Westminster Abbey by Phillips Brooks
14. Patriot Sons by Samuel F. Smith 
15. The Flag Day Poem by Lydia Coonley Ward
    

Before The Dawn of Independence:

1. America Resents British Dictation by Henry B. Carrington
2. Speech of James Otis 
3. Independence a Solemn Duty 
4. An Appeal for America by William Pitt 
5. Conciliation or War
6. "War is Actually Begun" by Patrick Henry 
7. Emancipation from British Dependence by Philip Freneau 
8. True Heroism 
   

The Declaration of Independence:

1. The Origin of the Declaration by Sydney George Fisher 
2. The Declaration of Independence by John D. Long
3. The Signing of the Declaration by George Lippard 
4. Supposed Speech of John Adams by Daniel Webster 
5. The Liberty Bell by J T. Headley
6. Independence Bell, Philadelphia
7. The Declaration of Independence
8. Independence Explained by Samuel Adams
9. The Dignity of Our Nation's Founders by William T, Evarts
10. The Character of the Declaration of Independence by George Bancroft 
11. The Declaration of Independence by Henry T. Randall 
12. The Declaration of Independence by John Quincy Adams 
13. The Declaration of Independence by Tudor Jenks 
14. The Declaration of Independence in the Light of Modern Criticism by Moses Coit Tyler

The Struggle for Independence:

1. The Principles of the Revolution
2. The Song of the Cannon by Sam Walter Foss
3. Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 
4. Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. A Song for Lexington by Robert Kelly Weeks 
6. The Revolutionary Alarm by George Bancroft 
7. The Volunteer by Eldridge Jefferson Cutler 
8. Ticonderoga by V, B. Wilson 
9. Warren's Address by John Pierpont 
10. "The Lonely Bugle Grieves" by Grenville Mellen
11. The Battle of Bunker Hill
12. The Maryland Battalion by John Williamson Palmer
13. The Battle of Trenton
14. Columbia  by Timothy Dwight
15. The Fighting Parson by Henry Ames Blood 
16. The Saratoga Lesson by George William Curtis 
17. The Surrender of Burgoyne by James Watts De Peyster 
18. The Saratoga Monument Begun by Horatio Seymour 
19. Molly Maguire at Monmouth by William Collins 
20. The South in the Revolution by Robert Young Hayne 
21. The Song of Marion's Men by William Cullen Bryant 
22. Our Country Saved by James Russell Lowell 
23. New England and Virginia by Robert Charles Winthrop

Sweet Land of Liberty:

1. America by S, F. Smith
2. The Republic by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
3. The Antiquity of Freedom by William Cullen Bryant
4. America by William Cullen Bryant
5. Ode by Ralph Waldo Emerson
6. America First 
7. Liberty for All by William Lloyd Garrison 
8. Hymn
9. The Dawning Future by William Preston Johnson
10. Liberty
11. Freedom
12. A Rhapsody by Cassius Marcellus Clay
13. Columbia by Frederick Lawrence Knowles 
14. A Renaissance of Patriotism by George I, Manson
15. Centennial Poems by John Greenleaf Whittier
16. Welcome to the Nation by Oliver Wendell Holmes 
17. Liberty's Latest Daughter by Bayard Tayhir
18. "Scum of the Earth" by Robert Haven Schauffler
19. Liberty and Union One and Inseparable by Daniel Webster
20. Address to Liberty by William Cowper 
21. The Torch of Liberty by Thomas Moore 
22. Horologue of Liberty 
23. The American Republic by George Bancroft 
24. A New National Hymn by Francis Marion Crawford  
25. "Dear Old Uncle Sam"  
26. Under The Washington Elm, Cambridge

Fictional Stories:

• Jim's Aunt Frances by Bent Dillingham

The New Fourth of July:

1. Our Barbarous Fourth by Mrs, Isaac L. Rice
2. A Safe and Sane Fourth of July by Henry Litchdeld West 
3. The New Independence Day by Henry B. F. MacFarland and Richard B. Waltrous
4. New Fourths for Old by Mrs. Isaac L. Rice
5. Americanizing the Fourth by Robert Haven Schauffler 
6. The Fourth of July by Aunt Fanny 
7. His Wish
   
8. The Feathered Patriot

Patriotic Puzzles for Kids:

• Find Columbia Puzzle

Bee

      The bee a common insect of which the honeybee and bumblebee are the best known species. There are probably not less than 5,000 species scattered over all parts of the world, but they are especially numerous in the tropics. Bees naturally divide themselves into two classes: solitary bees, which live in pairs, and those which live in colonies or societies. The carpenter bee and mason bee are good representatives of the first class.

6 Important Facts About The Honeybee:

1. The honeybee has always been regarded as the most intelligent of insects, and it has been partially domesticated from the earliest times.
2. Honeybees live in large colonies or societies, numbering from 10,000 to 60,000 individuals.
3. In bee culture such a colony is known as a swarm.
4. In every swarm there are three kinds of bees: the queen, which is the female bee that lays the eggs from which the colony is born; the males or drones, so called because of the low humming sound which they make, and the workers, which are by far the largest number.
5. There is only one queen to a swarm.
6. The males may number several hundred, but at a certain season every year most of these are stung to death by the workers, who with the queen are provided with stings.

       It is upon leaf-cutting bees, the workers, that the real strength of the swarm depends. They are the smallest, strongest and most active of the three classes. The queen during the season may lay as many as 300 eggs in a single day, but in cold weather, the number is much less. From the eggs first laid come the workers, and from the later ones, drones. The eggs are deposited in cells prepared by the workers, one to each cell. One set of cells is constructed for workers and another for drones and the queen never makes a mistake in depositing the eggs. The eggs which are to develop into queens are laid in cells much larger than the others, but they will not differ from those laid in the other cells, and the queen is developed by feeding the larva on a special food.

       The eggs are about one-twelfth of an inch long, of a bluish color and oblong in shape. They hatch in about three days. The larvae are fed by the workers for about five days, the food consisting of honey and pollen, called beebread. When the larva has grown so as to fill the cell, the workers seal it up and leave it for about two weeks, when the bee comes forth in the adult state. As the swarm becomes too large for the home in which it lives, a new queen is allowed to appear, and in a short time after this, on a bright, warm day, the old queen leaves the hive with a large portion of the swarm and seeks a new home for herself or enters one that the bees have found beforehand. In one season as many as three successive swarms may leave the same colony. During the winter the bees remain asleep, move about but little and eat little food.

       Bees obtain their food by entering flowers and sucking up and swallowing the nectar, which is stored in the stomach-like honey bag. The hind legs are also provided with little cavities, called baskets, in which the bees store pollen for transit to the home. The bee, after gathering what pollen and honey it can carry, rises into the air, flies in a circle for a few times around, then, having found its bearings, flies home in a perfectly straight line; hence the expression bee line. Bee hunters take advantage of this habit to locate swarms and stores of honey.

       On entering and leaving the flowers, bees get dusted with pollen, and as it is their habit to work but one species of flower at a time, they are important agents in the cross- fertilization of flowers; in fact, such plants as clover cannot be successfully grown with- out the aid of bees.

       Bees are liable to be destroyed by the larvae of a moth which enters the hives at night and lays its eggs. The larvae bun-ow out through the cells and sometime kill an entire swarm. Occasionally in winter mice find their way into the hives and feed upon the bees and honey. Lice and several species of flies and birds also destroy bees.

Leaf cutter bee video by ResonatingBodies

Domestic Cats

       Cat, the name of the commonest of the household pet animals, is also applied to the family to which the cat belongs. This family includes the fiercest wild animals known, including the lion, tiger and panther. 

8 Fast Facts About House Cats:

1. It is believed that tho cat was originally domesticated in Egypt, where it was loved and venerated. The domestic cat belongs to a genus better armed for destruction of animal life.
2. Among the various breeds or races of cats, the tailless cat of the Isle of Man, and the Persian cat, with its long, silky fur, are among the most curious. 
3. The tortoise shell, with its color a mixture of black, white and brownish or fawn color, the large Angora and the blue, or Carthusian, and Maltese cats, with long, soft, grayish-blue fur, are other well-known species. 
4.  The short and powerful jaw, sharp, pointed teeth, sharp claws and strong muscles make it a fierce enemy of birds and other small animals.
5. Birds have no greater enemy, and one cat often drives the beautiful, friendly singing birds from a whole neighborhood. 
6. The cat is usually regarded as less intelligent than the dog, but possibly it has equal intelligence of another kind. 
7. It seems to have little real affection for mankind, though it enjoys being petted and shows signs of jealousy if neglected. 
8. It does become strongly attached to places, and it often will desert its friends who have removed, and return to the strangers who occupy its old home.

More About House Cats:

• Domestic cat information from big cat rescue
• Where do domestic cats come from?
• Craft a Cat Scratching Post for Your Dolls
• Color the things that are black, including a cat...
• The Naughty Kitten-Cat Poem
• Paint a peppermint striped kitty for the Christmas tree
• Raggedy Ann and The Kittens
• Color-by-number: Beware of Cat

Pole Cat

A pole cat is a small animal .of the weasel family. The common polecat is found in most parts of Europe, except the extreme south. It is about seventeen inches long, with long, coarse brown fur, which grows blackish on the feet and tail. A superior kind of artists' brush is made from the hairs. The polecat possesses an odor something like that of the American skunk, and hence in the United States the skunk is often called the polecat. It is very destructive to poultry, rabbits, rats and mice, and also feeds on snakes, frogs, fish and eggs.

• What is a polecat?
• Discover Wildlife: European polecat guide

Pointer

A pointer is a hunting dog, so called because it stops short at the sight of game and points toward it with its nose. It has a smooth coat of short hair, and is marked, usually black and white, like the fox hound. The tail is slender and stiff; the ears, large and drooping. The dogs have a very keen sense of smell and are unerring in locating game.

• Loyal, Hardworking, Even-Tempered
• The Cutest German Shorthaired Pointer Puppies

Centipede

       The centipede is a creature which has many feet and a body consisting of numerous similar rings or segments, each of which bears a pair of legs. The common centipede, found in the United States, is quite harmless, but some species of tropical countries inflict severe and often dangerous bites. Some of the latter species grow to a length of eighteen inches. They are savage animals and defend themselves energetically. The name means having a hundred feet, but in reality no species known has more than thirty-one pairs of legs.

Nothing says "Nope, Nope, Nope" like a Centipede!

Billy Basso Bull Frog

Billy Basso
Bull Frog
by Florence M. Pettee

Billy Basso Bullfrog
A-rumbling in the dark,
A-tuning up his viol,
While all the swamp fold hark.

With a pinky and a panky,
And a ga-lum, ga-lum, ga-LUM!
Billy Basso's found his fiddle,
While all the frog folks hum.

With a pinky and a panky,
All the swamp's a lullaby,
With the big bass viol strumming
'Way down where the tadpoles lie.

How Mother Nature Cleans

How Mother Nature Cleans
by Oscar H. Roesner

When Mother Nature cleans the sky
And makes it shiny blue,
So all the stars may twinkle bright,
The sun and moon shine through;
She sprinkles it with showers first,
Next scours with whitest snow,
And then with rough old wind for broom
She sweeps it clean you know.

Grandmother's Garden

 

Grandmother's Garden
by Marjorie Barrows

Amaryllis and I heard a fairy
In grandmother's garden today,
When the wind in the roses was calling
The birds and the blossoms to play.

Amaryllis stooped down by bluebell
And listened there ever so hard;
But I, in my little white apron,
Caught the rose-fairy's calling card!

Caterpillar On The Wall

 

Caterpillar On The Wall
by Marion Ryan

Caterpillar on the wall,
Fuzzy, furry yellow ball!

Don't I wish that I could spy
You turning to a butterfly!

Will you be a yellow one,
Sparkling, golden, in the sun,

Or a dusky tan and brown,
Fluttering lightly up and down,

In and out among the flowers
All the warm sweet summer hours?

Caterpillar, please don't go
Till you've told me how you grow.

A Rainy Day Game

A Rainy-Day Game

by K. G. Buffman

A little soap and water

And a little pipe of clay

Will make the time go faster

On a rainy day.

Bubbles in the bowl of water

Bubbles in the air,

Bubbles on the mantelpiece,

Floating everywhere.

Molly had a clay pipe,

Richard had another;

Nothing could be better for

A sister and a brother.

Transportation Index

Far left, The Chiva Bus Parade. Left Center, Mother Goose Auto Parade.
Center Right, Road Sign Graphics. Far Right, one of the first airplanes.

       Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations. Transport is important because it enables trade between people, which is essential for the development of civilizations.

       Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations) and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance.

Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters, watercraft, spacecraft and aircraft.

       Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including financing, legalities, and policies. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode.

       Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, or private. Freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in economic growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution and use large amounts of land. While it is heavily subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow and restrain urban sprawl.

• Visit Our Transportation Coloring Index at Crayon Palace

Our Transportation Artifacts:

• The Proud Miss O'Haggin
• Mother Goose Auto Parade - mini book
• United States Road Sign Graphics - printable
• The Chiva Bus Parade
• The Train by C. H. Crandall
• Craft a Paper Monoplane
• Color and Shade Vintage Racing Cars
• Coloring Pages of Antique Automobiles
• How to Draw: Old Fashioned Airplanes
• "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines"
• Design a Superior Paper Airplane 
• Air Transportation Silhouettes
  

Visit Transportation Museums Online:

• The National Museum of Transportation
• New York Transit Museum
• Explore St. Louis' Museum of Transportation