A majority of you will gather with family and friends, frolic under the flag, fill up on fried food, and ooohhh and aaahhh as you watch fireworks light up the sky.

Others will just ooohhh and oooyyy from having way too many hot sausages and peppers. Generally speaking, a fun time will be had by all. But do you know why?

You’d be amazed at how many don’t.

It seems a good number of folks will enjoy the day off without having a basic understanding of what it is they are celebrating.

When Americans were asked in a recent survey what specific historical event is celebrated on this holiday, nearly half of those polled had no idea.

“July Fourth? Haven’t a clue.”

Some said, “family get-togethers.” It should be noted that those folks also gave the same answer to why people celebrate Thanksgiving. At least they didn’t say, “To eat turkey.”

The brain freeze thickened when people were asked from what country did America gain its independence following the Revolutionary War?

This time, nearly a quarter of those polled had no answer or the wrong answer,

While 76 percent correctly cite Great Britain, 19 percent are unsure, and 5 percent mention another country. Some thought France. Others said Mexico. You remember, the famous Boston Corona Party. That was followed by Patrick Henry’s famous speech, “Give me liberty – or at least, a few great fajitas.”

And yes, some polls said America had gained its independence from the United States. Ponder that for a while.

Now, a few of you will say this is no big deal. Shrug it off as ancient history. Actually, it’s not that ancient – it happened 249 years ago. Folks in Italy have cannoli older than that.

We don’t embrace our history, because it’s just that – history. It’s the past, and we’re worried about tomorrow without ever trying to figure out how we got here today.

We really shouldn’t be surprised that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. If it did, it might have knocked some sense into our kids – the next generation with an apathy to history.

Another study found that a good number of high school students in America don’t really know anything about their past.

For 14 percent of U.S. teens, the Fourth of July marks the historic day we declared independence from France.

You think we have an aversion to France? A Napoleon complex? Sacre bleu!

Our anger might just not be with France, but with French-speaking countries. You see, another 5 percent think we rose up against the tyrannous Canadians.

I don’t mean to rain on your July Fourth parade, but 17 percent of our teens didn’t know there were 13 original colonies.

“It means more than 5 million U.S. teenagers don’t understand the true meaning of Independence Day,” said Coling Campbell, head of the Colonial Williamsburg Federation, which sponsored one of the studies.

More than a quarter of those surveyed also didn’t know the two sides fighting in the Civil War. And 13 percent said the great conflict was between the United States and Great Britain.

At least the teens knew we fought the British for something. Hope they don’t think it was over turkeys.

Happy Independence Day.

Barry Lewis is a longtime journalist and author who lives with his wife Bonnie in the Town of Neversink. He can be reached at      barrylewisscdemocrat@gmail.com.