The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. Trumbull painted many of the figures in the picture from life and visited Independence Hall as well to depict the chamber where the Second Continental Congress met.

Congress led the way for the encouragement of fireworks on the Fourth of July by authorizing a display on July 4, 1777, in Philadelphia, a year after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. At night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks, which began and concluded with thirteen rockets on the commons.

The Great Rapprochement, the convergence of diplomatic, political, military and economic objectives between the United States and Great Britain in 1895–1915, the two decades up to and including the beginning of World War I. ​

Old Glory, the weather-beaten 17- by 10-foot banner that has long been a primary artifact, is second only to Francis Scott Key’s Star-Spangled Banner as a patriotic symbol, and is the source of the term now applied generically to all American flags.

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The American flag is also known as "The Stars and Stripes," "Red, White and Blue," "Old Glory" and "The Star-Spangled Banner."

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