Every year on Independence Day, the portico and Constitution Avenue in front of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., fill with crowds to witness a celebratory reading ceremony of the Declaration of Independence. Festivities include performances of the National Anthem, America the Beautiful, and the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, projecting the spirit of America. This spectacle is followed by the National Independence Day Parade, concerts, and the grand fireworks display over the National Mall. Our Celebration Candle will let you live the festivities from afar, boasting scents of cotton candy, popcorn, and vanilla shakes. The image on the candle shows a painting by Carol Dyer that depicts the Fourth of July daytime celebrations. 

Drafted by 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty. It was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and announced that the 13 American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead, they formed a union that would become a new nation - the United States of America.