How To Spend The Fourth Of July Inside

Since its inception, the Fourth of July has been a day of doing everything outside. Barbecuing? Outside! Beer drinking? Out of doors! Socializing? In nature, the way our founding fathers intended! But hey — sometimes it rains. Other times, a person just doesn't want to be away from their A/C for more than 20 minutes. That's OK. There are a bunch of ways to spend the Fourth of July 2017 inside.

Even before the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed, and Fourth of July was birthed, our first generation of politicians dreamed of a day dedicated to celebrating America's independence, complete with ringing bells and very loud fireworks. But although the first Fourth of July was celebrated in 1777, one year after Congress adopted the Declaration, it wasn't a federal holiday until 1870. Many politicians saw this as a sign of larger divisions throughout the fledgling country. Which, yeah, of course. The United States didn't spontaneously come into existence as soon as the 56 Declaration signers penned their names and said, "Bye, bitch" to Britain.

In an attempt to bring people together, politicians hitched their wagons to the national celebration of the Fourth of July. Throughout the South, they hosted barbecue rallies, because cooking meat outside and gathering around to eat it together meshed well with the agrarian values and belief in states' rights that Republican Democrats held dear.

So, uh, yeah, that annual cookout? It's a holdover political ploy. Hope that makes missing it feel a little better.