In the United States (US), Independence Day is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The Day is also known as the Fourth of July, The Glorious Fourth, The Fourth.

The legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

It is a national holiday for American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands.

A salute of one gun for each state in the United States, called a salute to the union, is fired only on Independence Day at noon.