As per John Adams, July 4th was meant to be celebrated with pomp and an all-out display of fireworks and the boom of cannons.
On July 3, 1776, Adams wrote in a letter to his wife Abigail Adams, “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
