WASHINGTON – As the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary, Americans are once again debating the meaning of the nation’s founding and what direction the country should take in the years ahead.

From the celebrations honoring the nation’s founders in 1826 to the industrial optimism of 1876, the nationalism of 1926 and the post-Watergate soul-searching of 1976, each major commemoration has reflected the concerns of its era. 

That’s certainly true for this semiquincentennial, as political polarization, disputes over race and history and competing visions of patriotism simmer.

“These commemorations are largely about collective memory rather than analytic history,” said James Wertsch, professor emeritus of sociocultural anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis. “Collective memory tends to preserve a preferred narrative at the expense of evidence.”

The tension is seen in the two commemorations: America 250, the commission created by Congress a decade ago – and Freedom 250, launched in December by President Donald Trump to put his own stamp on the festivities.

Trump’s initiative has largely taken over while also injecting a more partisan tone, with events tailored to his tastes and those of his political base.

On Monday, Freedom 250 announced a Trump-led rally on the National Mall on the Fourth of July – a plan his political adversaries don’t exactly see as unifying.

Details unveiled Tuesday for the “Salute to America” include performances by more than 300 military musicians and ceremonial personnel, flyovers by the Air Force Thunderbirds and Navy Blue Angels and what organizers describe as “the largest fireworks display in history.”

Trump’s initiative includes a national prayer event; the Ultimate Fighting Championship cage fights on the White House lawn Sunday night; and the high octane drama of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, an IndyCar race on the streets of the capital in late August.  

Trump’s celebration puts greater emphasis on MAGA-style patriotism and American toughness. It leans heavily into spectacle, competition and displays of strength, projecting American exceptionalism and an image of the U.S. as dominant, resilient and unmatched on the world stage. 

At a February hearing, Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., accused the administration of seeking to “hijack the country’s 250th anniversary and sell access, hide his donors and rewrite history.”

The Great American State Fair that starts June 25 will bring a combination of Americana and MAGA to the National Mall. Theme days include MAHA Mondays, referring to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and its emphasis on natural food and aversion to childhood vaccination. 

The congressionally authorized commission, America 250, has approached the milestone as an opportunity for education, engagement and reflection on the nation’s history. 

The more traditional approach includes a commemorative ball drop in New York. There’s also a time capsule in Philadelphia – where the Declaration of Independence was signed – to be opened at the quincentennial in 2276, and a national day of reflection on July 5. 

“National celebrations of the founding of the U.S. are efforts to represent the nation and encourage patriotism and unity,” said Arlene Stein, a sociology professor at Rutgers University.

Pageants, fireworks and mythology

Major anniversaries of the signing of the Declaration of Independence have never been just about remembering 1776 or national unity, Wertsch and others say. 

They’re also, often, a time when conflicts intensify over what the nation does and should stand for, as competing groups wrestle to define and redefine the nation’s story.

When the nation turned 50 in 1826, the semicentennial celebration helped transform the American Revolution from living memory into national mythology, cemented by the deaths just hours apart on July Fourth of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

Celebrations centered on them and other founders, reinforcing their status as symbols of national unity and civic virtue.

The Marquis de Lafayette toured the young nation in 1824 and 1825. Crowds flocked to see one of the last surviving major figures of the War of Independence, creating a link between the momentous events of 1776 and younger generations.

The Civil War ended just 11 years before the celebrations of 1876. 

The war had cost up to 750,000 lives, and racial tensions remained unresolved. 

But rather than focusing on the unfinished promises of liberty, democracy and union, the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia showcased American industry and economic opportunity.

“The focus of the 1876 centennial on technological innovations was a way to avoid the deep bitterness of the Civil War and Reconstruction,” said University of Richmond historian Edward Ayers.

Rapid social change, rising nationalism and anxiety about growing diversity hung over the sesquicentennial. The Immigration Act of 1924 set strict limits on how many people could move to America, favoring Western Europe while banning immigrants from Asia.

Events in 1926, including a World’s Fair in Philadelphia, marked the nation’s birthday while reinforcing nativist ideas about citizenship, assimilation and belonging.

Exhibits, pageants and educational programs promoted a vision of American identity rooted in shared values and loyalty to the nation. 

The Postal Service issued a 2 cent stamp depicting the Liberty Bell. The U.S. Mint issued a commemorative half-dollar coin with the images of George Washington and Calvin Coolidge, marking the first and only time that U.S. currency depicted a living president. 

The Coolidge half-dollar has remained a historic outlier, though Trump has pushed to add his own likeness to currency. The Treasury has been moving ahead with plans for a $1 Trump coin and a 1 oz, 24-karat gold coin with a face value of $250, about 1/16th the price of gold. 

Political appointees forced out the director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing after she resisted creation of a $250 banknote featuring Trump’s portrait, according to news accounts in late May.

Congress outlawed the depiction of a living person on currency in 1866.

The bicentennial

The bicentennial arrived in the aftermath of Watergate and the Vietnam war. Americans were disillusioned and 8% were out of work in a grim era of stagflation.

Cities across the country staged especially grand fireworks displays on the Fourth. 

But, Ayers said, “1976 seemed hollow to many people after the shameful acts of Richard Nixon and the struggling economy.” 

As in other years, organizers in 1976 staged several major events intended to revive national pride.

The American Freedom Train traveled more that 25,000 miles across the U.S., carrying George Washington’s personal copy of the Constitution, Judy Garland’s blue and white gingham dress from “The Wizard of Oz” and other artifacts.

In New York Harbor, Operation Sail brought more than 200 ships from 30 countries together in one of the largest maritime celebrations ever. The government also issued commemorative quarters, half-dollars and dollar coins. 

On top of these spectacles, organizers encouraged local parades, festivals and heritage projects that allowed communities to celebrate in their own way.

In Arizona, special events included the dedication of restoration work at the historical Yuma Crossing and a painted bicentennial logo across the roof of Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. 

In Tucson, residents celebrated the bicentennials of both the nation and their city with a time capsule that was opened in 2025. 

“A small-town parade with veterans who are also neighbors seems more meaningful than national celebrations,” Ayers said.

2026: Debating the nation’s past and future

Fifty years later, the nation is again in the throes of cultural and political strife, polarization and declining trust in institutions.

The competing America 250 and Freedom 250 efforts have turned the semiquincentennial into a contest over how the nation’s story should be told. 

At a recent news conference at the Capitol related to the 250th birthday, Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., urged Americans to work harder to find common ground.  Boyle cited the informal national motto “E pluribus unum” – “out of many, one” – which remains on U.S. coins, though Congress adopted “In God We Trust” as an official motto in 1956. 

Even the founders “didn’t always agree among themselves,” Boyle noted, but they “were able to come together and unite in a common purpose to build one United States of America.”

Wertsch attributed many of today’s disagreements to longstanding tensions between the nation’s founding ideals and its historical realities. 

“The struggle between this narrative and the claim in the Declaration of Independence that ‘all men are created equal’ has re-emerged in today’s polarized atmosphere,” he said.

For Ayers, the reason some anniversaries seem “flat” is that they amount to little more than “an assertion of unsullied greatness.” 

Acknowledging the nation’s contradictions and flaws while also focusing on its promise turns a mere celebration into a meaningful commemoration, he said. 

“It is not only possible, it is necessary,” Ayers said.

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