I don’t remember the nation’s bicentennial. This is probably because it occurred eight years prior to my birth. However, I’ve heard stories about it.
The bicentennial celebrations began on April 1, 1975, when the American Freedom Train left Wilmington, Delaware and began a 21-month tour of the 48 contiguous states. A couple weeks later, then-President Gerald Ford gave an address at Concord’s Old North Bridge to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the “shot heard ‘round the world.” At the end of the year, Ford signed Presidential Proclamation 4411 to affirm the United States principles of dignity, equality, and liberty.
The celebration hit full steam in 1976. An international fleet of historic tall-masted sailing ships gathered in New York City! Queen Elizabeth II came to Washington D.C.! George Washington was posthumously made the highest-ranking military officer in U.S. history! NASA landed the Viking 1 on Mars! The crossing of the Delaware was re-enacted! Paul Anka hosted a TV special! Bicentennial fever had struck the nation!
I’ve talked to people who remember the bicentennial. They say that the festivities weren’t limited to major cities; every town had their own bicentennial celebration. It was something that touched everyone. If you go to a vintage shop, you can still find items from the bicentennial. You still find bicentennial quarters in your change. I even briefly owned a “Spirit of ’76,” one of several bicentennial-themed pinball machines.
And now here we are, on the cusp of America’s 250th birthday, and no one seems to care.
Sure, you can go out and buy a bag of “America 250” branded Doritos, but there isn’t a sense of nationwide excitement like in 1976. And it’s not like 1976 was a particularly pride-filled year for our nation. America was in the midst of the double threat hangover from Vietnam and Watergate. The 1973 oil crisis was soon to be followed by the 1979 oil crisis. Disco was on the rise. A horror was actively occurring in Amityville. It was a troubled time for our nation.
I’m not just basing this feeling of a lack of patriotism on a hunch. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll said that one in five Americans do not plan on marking Independence Day this year. Additionally, two in five of the respondents polled said they doubted America would last another 250 years.
So what’s the difference between 1976 and 2026?
We all know the answer.
The sad thing is, there was a pretty good plan in place at one point. Back in 2016, the non-partisan United States Semiquincentennial Commission was formed, also known as America250. The commission, which was made up of both Republicans and Democrats, was promised $150 million by Congress for programming leading up to the anniversary.
America250 only ever received about $25 million of that promised $150 million. America250 was quickly overwhelmed by The White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday, also known as Freedom 250, President Donald Trump’s initiative to throw America (and himself) a big splashy birthday party.
America250’s proposed events were focused on civic engagement and our nation’s history. Freedom250’s events are things like the UFC fight on the White House lawn and the rolling embarrassment that is The Great American State Fair, an event which couldn’t even manage to secure Vanilla Ice, a man born for the state fair circuit.
America250 was intended to be a nonpartisan celebration of our nation’s history, an increasingly rare initiative that Democrats and Republicans could both support. Freedom 250 is a deeply partisan celebration of Trump.
Back in 1976, you couldn’t get a special bicentennial passport with Gerald Ford’s face on it. There wasn’t a proposed $1 commemorative coin from the US Mint to celebrate Gerald Ford. The bicentennial wasn’t about a man; it was about our nation and all the people from all walks of life who made it great.
For Trump, there is no cause greater than himself. A quarter millennium of American democracy is merely an annoying distraction from his own triumph.
Independence Day is about more than just America’s birthday; it’s about our Founding Fathers’ decision that our nation would no longer be subject to the whims of a king.
Well, there’s always the 300th. Maybe.
