Although Boston’s Fourth of July fireworks are a spectacle on their own, CBS decided to jazz them up with more exciting and historic settings.

In other words, CBS fabricated the settings of the fireworks for millions of viewers, putting them behind the State House, Quincy Market, Fenway Park and other places that they simply were not.

David Mugar, who has executive produced the airing of the fireworks for nine years, said this was the first time the fireworks were altered for television, but defended his decision because it is an entertainment show, not news.

“Absolutely, we’re proud to show scenes from our city,’’ Mugar said, according to the Boston Globe. “It’s often only shown in film or in sporting matches. We were able to highlight great places in Boston, historical places with direct ties to the Fourth. So we think it was a good thing.’’

CBS shot the footage several weeks ago.

“I’d say we shot from about 8 p.m. till 4 or 5 the next morning,’’ Mugar said. “Among other places, we got video of the Old North Church, the State House, Quincy Market, the statue of Paul Revere, Fenway Park, with the full cooperation of the Red Sox, who let us in and turned on certain lights for our shoot. And we did it all with the intention of superimposing the fireworks over the images. The technical process is called matting.’’

Many viewers were irked by the alterations, including Boston native Penny Thompson.

“I thought it looked fine,’’ Thompson told the Globe from a Shaw’s grocery store in Dorchester. “I just don’t like knowing it wasn’t real. I mean I know the fireworks were real, but I’m saying not real like they changed stuff. That’s not cool.’’

Eric Deggans, a Florida-based media critic and panelist on CNN’s media critique show “Reliable Sources,” brought up the issue of credibility after the alterations.

“It is an ethical issue, and to say it’s not because the show was aired through CBS Entertainment is to imply that the entertainment side of CBS has no ethics,’’ Deggans said. “I think – especially in today’s media environment – the most important commandment for media is to not mislead the viewer. . . . If you’re a viewer who doesn’t know Boston, you’re getting a picture of the layout of the city that doesn’t exist.’’

As some of the most famous an revered fireworks in the country, it seems that Boston’s dazzlers are fine on their own.

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. “" For many in search of the perfect Fourth of July holiday weekend, they make their way to Loudoun County, Virginia. Considered a part of the Washington D.C. metroplex, but removed enough not to be “city” Loudoun County is a poignant representation of our country’s beginnings and is the perfect weekend getaway for anyone who can appreciate a historical flair or at least a great glass of wine, a home-cooked meal and some good company.

In the first few years of this century, Loudoun County grew in population by 71 percent, growing in popularity due to its proximity to D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and for its unique charm. The residents of the county fight hard for its preservation and its identity as a mark on the Civil War Tour Map. The stone walls surrounding many of the plantations and farms still exist from the time of slavery, testaments to the lasting legacy of the darker corners of our nation’s history.

The sense of immersion in the history of the area is overwhelming, and one can feel a deep-seated nostalgia creeping in; the feeling of getting away to a secret place in simpler times, where the food tastes better, and the European-rooted charm and antiquity are palpable. Take a leisurely drive along roads that curve and bend like snakes, through the valleys of the fabled Shenandoah, and one can see placards which name the infamous locations of many of the Civil War’s fiercest battles. Loudoun County became an important stop on the Confederate Army’s route way to try to cut the heart out of the Union’s plans to take control of the South.

Its history, in fact, is unmatched by most weekend getaway locales “" the journey through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, a 175-mile corridor between Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia, places Loudoun County at the heart of it all. Because of the wealth of natural resources in the area, it was a popular spot for Union raids. Highways are still named after John Mosby, the leader of “Mosby’s Rangers” a group of cavalrymen who eventually carried the surrender orders to Appomattox Court House.

The Civil War wasn’t the only war in which Loudoun County played an integral part. The American Revolution, as well as the War of 1812, had their hand in shaping the local towns. John Mosby, Jackie Kennedy, George C. Marshall, and F. Scott Fitzgerald add to this history, as they often visited and vacationed here. Most of the old general stores are still in working order; the over-commercialization that has gripped the rest of the country has been slow to take hold here.

There is a strong agricultural presence, which allows the vistas to stretch into the horizon gracefully from the two-lane highways that stretch throughout the county. Hills that roll along lazily under big, white, puffy clouds, and the grain that waves in the wind “" it really is no doubt that when our forefathers wrote “America the Beautiful” they must have had Virginia in mind. But Loudoun County boasts far more than landscape to keep you occupied when visiting.

Loudoun County is a surprisingly sophisticated blend. Any sport related to horses is a popular pastime in the area, and you can often catch a fox hunt, polo game, or horse race and show in the right season. Many of the world’s jockeys are trained in the area, and national horse trials are held in the Morven Park International Equestrian Center. Olympic riders are trained there, the Kennedys rode there, and many Derby winners were trained and groomed there.

There is a kindness to the people, some would say typical of the South, that comes from this anchor in farming and equestrianism, as well as a commitment to protect and fight for their land. When you work hard, you get to play hard, and it’s easy to relax here after the race is over. Loudoun County boasts an amazing number of wineries for its square mileage; some host guests and provide outdoor cinema nights in the summer. There are four main clusters of boutique wineries spread throughout the county. Some have spas or bed and breakfasts, and the warmer months are filled with food, wine, and beer festivals.

Another way to experience some of the local flavor is to visit one of the many gourmet establishments peppered throughout the area. The Red Fox Inn holds the title of “America’s oldest continually operating Inn and Restaurant” having been open since the early 1700s, with an addition of 35 rooms and an expansive wine cellar in the late 1700s. Another popular stop is the French Hound, a cute eatery where passionate husband and wife duo John-Gustin and Marny Birkitt operate as chef and sommelier. Down the road is a local pub that is restaurant by day, music and pool hall by night “" The Red Horse Tavern. There is a little bit of everything to appease those mid-getaway cravings, and not only is the food amazing, it’s often grown close to home, prepared based on what is in season, and the staff well-informed and friendly, knowing most of the locals by name.

Virginia is for lovers, as the saying goes, and those that love excellent wine, great food, entertainment of yesteryear, and a historic charm will be reminded of the spirit that has carried us all forward to become the nation we are now. Visiting Loudoun County is a lesson in humility; the beauty of its land and the community of its people are awe-inspiring. Thanks to its location at the heart of many wars, the good soil, and some first-rate patriots, there are sights to see, gastronomical adventures to be had, and friends to be made.

Most of us spent this past Fourth of July with friends, booze, barbecue and fireworks. The holiday is anchored by gluttonous celebration: stuffing your face with hot dogs and drinking the extra beer (or ten) is completely customary. As young people feverishly enjoyed our day off from work, rarely do we consider the deep historical meaning behind our partying.

Historic New England owns and operates 36 historic homes and landscapes spanning five states.

Carl Nold, President and CEO of the regional heritage organization, Historic New England, thinks that although we may not have considered it in depth this past Saturday, we should think about what the celebration was truly about.

“At a time when there are so many controversies around the world it is important to recognize how important our freedom is” he said in a recent interview with Blast.‚  “Too often we take that for granted, because it’s always been there. But it was hard fought.”

Nold runs an entire organization dedicated to bringing the people of New England an understanding of our history. It was founded 99 years ago to help preserve buildings that were being destroyed by rapid development.‚  Currently, they have 36 historic site museums in the five New England states, ranging from 17^th century buildings to the Walter Gropius house of 1938.‚  They have more than 1.2 million books in their library and archive as well as the largest collection of domestic items anywhere.

Finding history undyingly fascinating, Nold is bothered that people associate history with stodgy school lessons.

“History truly is everything that has happened even up to a minute ago” he said. “If you think of it that way, it becomes more personal.‚  It is about you and your life. It isn’t just out there in the past.”‚  Seeing history from this perspective, Nold urges young people to get more involved in learning about the past, especially in New England, where the foundations of this country were built. He sees an understanding of our history as not only beneficial but completely essential, especially in this trying economic time. “It can bring us a better understanding of why things are the way they are” he siad.

One interesting site to check out is the exhibit on New England kitchens at the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, which chronicles the importance of kitchens in American culture, by exhibiting domestic items from the colonial times to the present.

You might not have been thinking of the Revolutionary War as you prepared your burgers for the grill last Saturday, but perhaps now you should revisit the kitchen, this time to learn something.

For more information about Historic New England visit their website at http://www.historicnewengland.org/ or follow them on twitter @HistoricNE.

Blast has a story in the works next week about whether people think the history surrounding The Fourth of July still matters. For now, here’s the document that started it all…

WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the People.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States, for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

What is the best Fourth of July film of all time? Easy: “Independence Day.” What better way to celebrate our nation’s birth than by an alien invasion? What other way to show the true sense of the American spirit than with a global threat?

Seems like Funny or Die thought so too. Check out this shout-out to the sci-fi classic below, and happy Fourth of July from Blast!