Do most Americans think about freedom and independence, or is the 4th of July just another reason to party, get drunk, and shoot off fireworks?

I do. But I'm history buff. If not for our revolutionary founding fathers we'd be the divided provinces of Spain, Britain, France, Mexico, Japan, China, Canada and whatever country wants to bid on the New World. Instead, we're the divided States of America where we all get suckered into one extreme or the other with no room for reality. Just my two cents.