America 250 Year Celebrations

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U.S. not them

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Axios' Jim VandeHei & Mike Allen write: We're taking a break from the chaos of news and life in January of 2026, and stepping back — way back — to think about where America stands on the 250th anniversaries of both Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" manifesto (today) and the signing of our Declaration of Independence (July 4). Doom and gloom often light up our screens. But that shouldn't — and doesn't — define us. Never forget: This is a great country with exceptional promise. Why it matters: We're the most perfect, imperfect experiment in self-governance, freedom and progress in the history of humanity. Our founders fled royalty, fought wars, formed a republic and a democracy, against all odds, all logic, all hope. They built the most powerful, prosperous, promising nation known to man. This should be a bipartisan, no-brainer consensus view, despite our flaws and screwups. Too often, we get lost in only what's wrong with America, forgetting all that's right. Most people don't want power but freedom — the freedom to live free without constant judgment and drama, to work hard and make money, to feel safe, and to serve a cause greater than self. That's most people, despite what lights up your social media feed. So take three minutes this morning to simply savor what's special about this country, 250 years into its revolution. ?️ There's something special about democracy — American democracy — and its ability to evolve and meet the craziest of challenges. We free people, protect people, empower people and enrich people. ... something special about capitalism — American capitalism. There's no better place to start a business, take a risk, or dream big. Here, you can build something out of nothing and rise to unimaginable heights doing what you choose to do — where you choose to do it. ... something special about ingenuity — American ingenuity. It's not an accident that the world's greatest advancements and thinkers are here in the USA. It's in our collective DNA to explore, build, innovate. ... something special about land — American land. Two big oceans on our shoulders and friendly neighbors to our north and south. In between, a bounty of natural resources and energy sources to power all our ambitions. Others literally die for the mere chance to live where we live — live as we live. ... something special about you — Americans. You're hardworking, courageous, generous and creative. We built a democracy from dust. We willed U.S. capitalism into the most powerful economic force in history. We held the world together at its most breakable points. And we deliver daily miracles with our inventions, our wealth, our generosity. ⏱️ But the clock is ticking. China is rising. AI spreading. Reality fading. Politics polarizing. Threats to our way of life are metastasizing. Our minds, our happiness, our freedoms are slipping. Nowhere is it hammered in stone that America gets to be great forever. We're strong but not unbreakable. We crumble if we're divided, distracted, or deceived too deeply or too durably. Our history points the way. It was ordinary people doing extraordinary things to flee kings and tyranny, birth a democracy, build a great nation, overcome division and adversity, and allow 50 states to form and prosper as one majestic union. It was students, workers, farmers, teachers, doctors, truckers, businessmen and women, leaders of all stripes who restored sanity, valor, wisdom, hard work and common sense. They did, not duped; worked, not whined; built, not berated; restored, not ridiculed. They focused on U.S., not them. Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios Just for today, tune out the screams on screens and imagine … Imagine working together, drawing on our shared patriotism and duty, to instantly and dramatically improve an already great nation to benefit you and your neighbors. Imagine spending more time fixing stuff smartly than getting sucked into silly, small fights unwittingly. Imagine an army of competent people storming politics and business and communities to retool things so workers, the middle class and the well-to-do all prosper. Imagine no longer condemning "the rich." But giving everyone a fair shake at becoming it. Imagine turning the AI revolution into a winner for America AND workers, not just the creators and investors. Peer into the world five years from now: it will be dominated by AI, quantum computing, robotics, and space-based weapons of war. Imagine America training and recruiting the scientists, engineers and builders of these great technologies. And America winning on the defining industries of the next generation — and creating great jobs for U.S. workers. Imagine everyone making more money, living more freely, prospering more peacefully because we won the AI race and smartly spread the spoils. Imagine more Americans recapturing the lust to invent, build, and grow. One nation united in recapturing the magic of inventions and unfathomable progress. Imagine other nations flocking to our side to build a global alliance built around American ideals, American AI, American trade and American products. Imagine tapping every energy source around us to power our ambitions, using American workers and American land to lower your costs and protect your air. Imagine rural communities revitalized … suburbs soaring … cities sparkling and safe. Imagine the explosive growth to follow and the benefits finally flowing to you with better schools, better health care, affordable houses and high-paying jobs. ? This is the inspiring thing: This is all achievable now — not in some distant future or galaxy. America has all the ingredients: the talent, the ideas, the drive, the power. And it has you, the very people who prop up this nation, in good times and bad. Like it or not, AI will change your world in radical ways. We could crush the next five years — or get crushed by them. We can fixate on what was done — or what's ahead. We get to choose. That's what politics and policy and life are — choices. A series of big choices. Do we do smart, practical, wise things to benefit all? Or do we let people dog and divide us so they can benefit while you lose and stagnate? ? Imagine giving the middle finger to that old, tired way. Imagine saying: Enough is enough. Imagine joining others to restore your values of smarts, hard work and healthy ambition. Imagine America being your America, like the one you've read about in history classes: proud, surging, safe, confident and real. Imagine being numb to naysaying. Imagine sharing facts and smart solutions in conversations and on social media. Imagine fighting insanity with calm confidence and piercing truths. Imagine being part of something bigger than party or self — and doing the impossible. That's what America has always done. Imagine being a central player in doing the impossible again. That's the story we could tell the world — and the gift we leave behind. The bottom line: Imagine saying Jim and Mike aren't moronic for saying all or parts of this fairy tale are truly doable. Imagine that reason being the actual reality: 80% of Americans agree on 80% of things 80% of the time. ?Let us know what you think! Just reply to this email, or drop us a line: jim@axios.com + mike@axios.com. Go deeper: "A message to college students," by Jim VandeHei.

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✊🏾 Black history fight as America turns 250

Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch. Photos: Getty Images America's 250th anniversary is colliding with a renewed battle over Black history, as the White House moves to smooth over and narrow how race and equity are discussed, Axios' Delano Massey writes. Federal agencies and cultural institutions have deleted or revised Black history content in response to President Trump's anti-DEI mandate, which the administration says restores neutrality. The National Park Service recently removed or revised dozens of signs and displays related to the mistreatment of Native Americans and slavery — including a Philadelphia exhibit on the enslaved people George Washington held at the President's House. One report found that more than 6,700 federal datasets involving minority groups have been deleted, on topics including maternal mortality, sickle cell disease and environmental exposure in historically redlined neighborhoods. Go deeper.

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French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, after visiting America in 1831, said “I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests—and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning— and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!”

In my opinion, America is the richest country in the world, because of the blessings of God. It is estimated that there are 160 million Protestants in the USA.  

However, I will not be celebrating the 250th anniversary of America. Because I know her role in Prophecy. I can see that time drawing closer and closer. 

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🇺🇸 1 for the road: Boston's 250th "Evacuation Day"

The Colonel Henry Knox Regimental Color Guard on Dorchester Heights during Evacuation Day festivities. Photo: Matt Stone/Boston Herald via Getty Images The March 17, 1776, freeing of Boston was a turning point that showed Gen. George Washington's Continental Army was capable of victory, Axios Boston's Mike Deehan writes. It's now celebrated annually in Beantown as "Evacuation Day." 🇬🇧 Boston was under British military control starting in 1774, before the first battles of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord. In 1776, Washington made an audacious overnight maneuver. British Gen. William Howe awoke to find cannons aimed at him and his position untenable. Washington and Howe made an informal deal letting the British leave town peacefully. Go deeper ...

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Muskets crack, drums echo as Boston marks 250 years since British evacuation

BOSTON (AP) — Reenactors in 18th-century military coats and tricorn hats filled the pews of one of the nation’s oldest Catholic Churches on Tuesday before firing muskets outside and marching through neighborhood streets, marking the 250th anniversary of the day British forces evacuated the city.

https://apnews.com/article/evacuation-day-250-america-boston-3ce7c78ba0b1b949954e2751a351c658?

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🤔 Business navigates America's 250th

Data: M Booth. Chart: Axios Visuals Big companies are scrambling to find brand-safe ways to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America's founding, Axios Communicators author Eleanor Hawkins reports. Why it matters: What should be a patriotic opportunity has turned into a political tightrope walk. The celebration is being led by two different groups: the America250 Commission, a bipartisan group established by Congress in 2016, and Task Force 250, led by President Trump and established by executive order. Companies planning donations have to decide which group to back. 🥁 By the numbers: According to a recent M Booth survey, 62% of Americans say the 250th anniversary is personally important. 8 in 10 say it's a moment to celebrate America's history, achievements and values. But the celebration comes at a time when 60% say the country is more divided now than at any period in their lifetime.

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A Royal Welcome

King Charles III and Queen Camilla landed in Maryland yesterday for their four-day tour. The visit is the first by a British monarch to the US since 2007 and Charles’ first since his 2022 coronation. See photos here. The trip honors the 250th anniversary of US independence and reinforces the countries’ so-called “special relationship” (explore history). Experts say the visit could strengthen ties following rifts over Israel, Iran, Palestinian statehood, and the economic impact of US tariffs. The tour comes months after President Donald Trump's unprecedented second state visit to the UK covered similar ground.  First on the agenda was a military reception and tea at the White House before a garden party at the home of the British ambassador. Today, Charles will speak before a joint session of Congress, the second time in history a British royal will do so, after his mother in 1991. See full schedule here.

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Record-breaking fireworks plan

New Year's fireworks in Washington, D.C., this past January. Photo: Austin DeSisto/NurPhoto via Getty Images Trump allies are planning a world record-smashing fireworks show to mark America's 250th birthday on July 4, Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil reports in a scoop. 🎇 What we're hearing: The Washington, D.C., spectacle will run nearly twice as long as last year's show on the National Mall. Freedom 250, a White House-backed initiative leading the event, is tapping Pennsylvania-based Pyrotecnico to run the show. Its resume includes the Super Bowl and other major events. 🧨 Jodi Dague, Pyrotecnico's director of marketing, tells Axios: "We are shooting to break the record." That would take more than 810,904 fireworks, topping a 2016 show in the Philippines. 🇺🇸 The National Mall will be hosting the Great American State Fair that day, with speeches, flyovers and performances. Freedom 250 spokesperson Rachel Reisner tells Axios: "This will culminate in a breathtaking fireworks finale that will shatter world records and stand as the most spectacular firework display the world has ever seen." 💰 Freedom 250, which is funded through a public-private partnership, didn't immediately respond to questions about costs or whether taxpayer funds will be used for the show. Go deeper.

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⚓️ 1 fun thing: Ships on parade

The BAP Unión, a four-masted sailing vessel from Peru, will be in New Orleans for Sail 250. Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images New Orleans is hosting a flotilla of international tall ships for the kickoff of Sail 250, Axios' Carlie Kollath Wells reports. It's part of America's 250th birthday celebrations. ⛵️ A dozen vessels will be open for free public tours along the Mississippi Riverfront May 28–31. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, built in 1936. Photo: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images 🌎 The vessels hail from the U.S., Chile, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Sweden, the Netherlands, Argentina and the U.K. Anchors away!

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🎆 1 for the road: D.C.'s 250 anxiety

Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios America's 250th birthday celebrations are being billed as can't-miss events that will bring the whole country together — but many D.C. residents are straight up dreading them, Axios D.C.'s Mimi Montgomery writes. Why it matters: Washingtonians have to live among everything that accompanies a lineup of this magnitude: Road closures, intense security, huge crowds and off-limits areas. 🏎️ Mapped above: Downtown D.C. is full of events this summer, including celebrations for America's 250th on top of a World Cup watch zone and more. The IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix will be the final big tourist draw, for a 1.7-mile race through the National Mall on Aug. 22–23. Keep reading.