America Needs Big 250th Birthday Party

Today marks America’s 247th birthday. Three years from now, in 2026, we will reach our next milestone: the 250th. We should be preparing to make it a giant celebration of our nation, its founding, the enduring principles of that founding, and our unique constitutional system of government.

Americans over the age of 50 will remember the yearlong celebration of our Bicentennial in 1976, which reached a fever pitch in July of that year. I was four years old for most of the year, so it is literally the earliest year I remember. I recall the tall-ships flotilla in New York and Boston harbors, and my grandfather building a replica of the USS Constitution (which we still have) and painting the whole collectible series of glass Log Cabin syrup bottles, which came with shaped designs like the Liberty Bell.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Today marks America’s 247th birthday. Three years from now, in 2026, we will reach our next milestone: the 250th. We should be preparing to make it a giant celebration of our nation, its founding, the enduring principles of that founding, and our unique constitutional system of government.

Americans over the age of 50 will remember the yearlong celebration of our Bicentennial in 1976, which reached a fever pitch in July of that year. I was four years old for most of the year, so it is literally the earliest year I remember. I recall the tall-ships flotilla in New York and Boston harbors, and my grandfather building a replica of the USS Constitution (which we still have) and painting the whole collectible series of glass Log Cabin syrup bottles, which came with shaped designs like the Liberty Bell.