The Battle for 1776

Plans for America’s 250th birthday in 2026 are getting underway. But can the spirit of 1776 survive the history wars of 2021?

It’s been a tough year for 1776. On Jan. 6, rioters entered the U.S. Capitol, some waving 13-starred “1776” flags. Two weeks later, President Trump’s 1776 Commission issued its report calling for “patriotic education,” which painted progressives as enemies of the timeless values of the founding. And in recent months, “1776” has been a rallying cry for conservative activists taking the fight against critical race theory to local school boards across the country, further turning an emblem of national identity into a culture-war battering ram.