The First Americans to Observe the 4th Were Moravian Pacifists

Moravian settlers in NC were the first Americans to officially celebrate the 4th of July. But they weren’t partying in honor of military victory. They were thanking God for peace. At the nation’s first official Independence Day celebration, there were no fireworks, no sparklers, and no rowdy parties. The parade was solemn, with reverent music and the call-and-response singing of two choirs. Songs were sung in German. Those marking the nation’s hard-won independence at that first celebration had not participated in the long and bloody war, and they were not celebrating the newly free nation’s victory over the British oppressors at Yorktown. They were thanking God for peace. That subdued celebration was on July 4, 1783, in the Moravian village of Salem, now part of the hyphenated city of Winston-Salem in Piedmont North Carolina. Read the complete article at -- http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/04/the-first-americans-to-observe-the-4th-were-moravian-pacifists.html