What to expect from the America250 celebrations : NPR
The United States is preparing for a big birthday: July 4, 2026, is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the declaration of independence. Above is independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the declaration was debated and adopted.
Eric Baradat / AFP via Getty Images
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Eric Baradat / AFP via Getty Images
Parades, competitions, waving flags and fireworks. These, as well as a good dose of history, will all play a role in the semi-concretenaire celebrations of the United States leading to July 4, 2026-the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the declaration of independence.
Various national groups, on a state scale and premises are involved in planning. A multitude of public initiatives and events are already underway.
In the work, a celebration of the 250th kick -off this July 3 at Iowa State Fairgrounds to monks. During the event, President Trump should announce plans for a large state of America in 2026 and Patriot games supported by the federal government highlighting American sports.
Why is this a big problem?
America has celebrated its great birthdays in various ways over the years.
At his 100th, in 1876, President Ulysses Grant launched the hundred -year -old exhibition in Philadelphia by feeding a Corliss steam engine. According to Grant’s wife, Julia Grant, the American manufacturing machine “has propelled almost all exhibitions”.
In addition, members of the National Woman Suffrage Association crushed the scene to read their Women’s Rights Declaration of the United States. (Women would not get the vote for an additional 44 years.)
From the perspective of the 1976 bicentenary, the country has embarked on five years of patriotic celebrations known as the era of the bicentenary. The festivities included a visit to the British monarch Elizabeth II, who offered the bicentennial bell to the country, and the American Freedom Train, a traveling museum showing artifacts as a copy of the Constitution and a piece of rock Moon.
The American Freedom Train in Archbold, Ohio, on June 20, 1975. Residents waited until six o’clock to see it.
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There was a rest of the Boston Tea Party in 1973. Instead of protesting against high English taxes as was the case in 1773, militants called for environmental protection, racial justice and the accusation of the president of the time, Richard Nixon.
People behind the 250th celebrations said they planned something just as, if not more ambitious. “We are committed to creating the most important, most inspiring and inspiring commemoration in the history of the country,” said a white house statement.
Who plans it?
There are two organizers of the event at the national level: the American American commission250 of the Congress, which is supported by a non -profit foundation, and the working group of the White House 250.
- The America250 commission (alias the US SemicCentenal Commission) is the Congress Commission formed in 2016. It is supposed to be non -supporter and has around 30 members. He is supported by a non -profit foundation and chaired by Rosie Rios, a former American treasurer of the Obama administration.
- The Halite Working Group To America 250 (called Task Force 250), mainly composed of federal agencies, was created in January after Trump published an executive decree for an additional planning group for celebrations. Trump is the president, the vice-president Vance is the vice-president and he is housed by the Ministry of Defense.
What can we expect?
Programming celebrates both the history and the achievements of America and turns to the future of the country. He understands:
- America’s Field Field: an initiative sending 150 schoolchildren to famous monuments such as the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.
Students participating in the American excursion visit the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.
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- The National Garden of American Heroes: offered a sculpture park which aims to include 250 statues of American figures such as George Washington, Babe Ruth and Martin Luther King Jr.
- The Great American Road Trip: This partnership with the Ministry of Transport encourages people to cross the country and visit famous sites in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Historical Road 66.
- A time capsule: containing articles of the 50 American states, five territories and the Columbia district, it should be buried in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026 and should be unearthed on the occasion of the country’s 500th anniversary.
- Our American history: an oral history project asking Americans to appoint a living person whose history will be recorded by the Congress Library.
- A traveling technological exhibition: on the America250 website, “America Innovates” is described as a place where the “largest innovations” in the country will be displayed and where future creators will be invited “which innovations they want to create who will be essential for the next 250 years”.
It should also be noted that the plans are in flow. For example, one of America250’s Tentpole projects, the American invitation, which launched two years ago and invited public members to download images, written texts and videos expressing “their hopes and dreams for the future of our country” through an online portal, disappeared from the America250 website in June. The press team of the America250 commission told NPR that the initiative “now took a rear seat” to other programs.
The events of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations have increased in recent months, including in the Easter egg roller of this year’s white house.
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States and municipalities also organize their own programming. Examples include:
- The replica of Liberty Bell of Arizona will tour through the 15 counties of the State, accompanied by historical artifacts and interactive exhibitions. “Together, they will weave the history of Arizona’s place in the tapestry of American history,” said the Arizona America250 website.
My condition was not a state at the time. Are we still celebrating?
There were only 13 original states – and Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii only became states in the 20th century. But the 50 states have planning commissions for the 250th celebrations. Programming is at various stages of development. For example, Hawaii’s America250 website mentions a collective public reading of the declaration of independence, among other activities. Conversely, the California America250 website is currently aims to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the state later this year.
Who finances that?
The organizers are looking for $ 150 million in Congress; In addition, they obtained sponsorships from Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin and Oracle, among other companies.
The White House has also redirected thousands of federal subsidies previously granted to non -profit organizations Arts and Humanities to projects like the National Garden of American Heroes, which has an estimated price of $ 34 million.
The White House has said that additional funding should come from federal services such as the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior.
This story has been modified for Broadcast and Digital by Jennifer Vanasco.
