Earlier this week, the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission fired its executive director, Ariel Abergel, after he posted “unapproved” content on the Commission’s official Instagram account.
The controversy reveals an old American challenge: How do you commemorate the nation’s founding in ways that reflect competing visions of national identity?
🖼️ The Big Picture
What's Happening: Ariel Abergel, the executive director appointed by the White House to plan America's 250th birthday celebration, was terminated by the bipartisan Semiquincentennial Commission for "breaches of authority and trust," which included unauthorized social media posts and actions the commission said exceeded his authority. [1]
⚠️ Why It Matters: With July 4, 2026, fast approaching, the leadership change highlights a bigger question: How do we create a national celebration that many Americans can embrace even with competing visions of identity?
📜 What History Reveals: The United States has been here before. Every major anniversary of the Declaration of Independence has reflected the political tensions and national mood of its time, with wildly different results.
🔍 Historical Deep Dive
The Pattern of Commemoration
The United States' major independence anniversaries tell a story of national confidence, crisis, and reinvention:
1826 (50th Anniversary: Divine Providence
The "Jubilee Year" had no major government-sponsored celebrations, but fate intervened. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration.
Adams's last words were reportedly "Jefferson lives," not knowing his old friend had died hours earlier. Americans saw this as divine providence, a sign that their experiment in self-government had the blessing of heaven. [2]
1876 (100th Anniversary): Industrial Triumph
The Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia ran from May to November 1876, attracting nearly 10 million visitors and showcasing the United States' industrial might.
President Ulysses S. Grant opened the exposition, despite the nation being only over a decade past the Civil War, which had left the country divided. The United States used the centennial to prove its technological prowess and international importance. It was the United States' first World Fair, and it was a stunning success. [3]
The Main Building of the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, 1876
1926 (150th Anniversary): The United States' Greatest Flop
The Sesquicentennial International Exposition in Philadelphia was meant to restore the city's reputation and celebrate American progress, but it became a financial disaster. Variety magazine dubbed it "America's Greatest Flop" with a loss of $20 million by August 1926. Rain plagued more than half the days the fair was open, and despite featuring an 80-foot replica of the Liberty Bell covered with 26,000 light bulbs, it failed to capture the public imagination. [4]
The failure of the Sesquicentennial Exposition reflected deeper national divisions. In the mid-1920s, the United States was torn between competing visions: urban vs. rural values, religious beliefs vs. scientific understanding (the Scopes Trial took place in 1925), debates over immigration, and ongoing tensions from Prohibition. The lingering scandals of the Warren G. Harding administration also damaged public trust in government-sponsored celebrations. So unlike 1876's confident industrial showcase, 1926 lacked a unifying national story that Americans could rally around. [5]
The American Freedom Train Showcase Car, 1976
1976 (200th Anniversary): Renewal and Rebirth
The Bicentennial came just one year after the American withdrawal from Vietnam, and President Gerald Ford's administration stressed themes of renewal, rebirth, and restoration of traditional values. The American Freedom Train toured all 48 contiguous states, more than 7 million people visited its historical displays, and elaborate fireworks lit up the skies above major cities on July 4, 1976. It was a massive success that restored national pride. [6]
Yet beneath the patriotic celebration lay significant tensions about whose history should be told and how. Philadelphia and Boston competed fiercely to host the main celebration. Debates raged over whether to have a centralized world's fair or decentralized local events. Different groups also fought over the narrative itself: Should the Bicentennial present a traditional patriotic story? Or should it also include the histories of African Americans, Native Americans, women, and other previously marginalized groups? [7]
These tensions produced competing celebrations. In Philadelphia, a 40,000-person counter-parade organized by the July 4th Coalition wound through the working-class neighborhood of North Philadelphia. The parade featured Puerto Rican socialists, Vietnam veterans, women's rights advocates, and Black Panthers. Native American activists organized their own "Trail of Self-Determination" to demand treaty rights. The People's Bicentennial Commission staged protests calling attention to corporate power and economic inequality. Yet despite these divisions, the overall celebration succeeded in restoring national confidence after the trauma of Vietnam and Watergate. [8]
🔀 The Common Thread
Each anniversary reflected its era's divisions and the nation's ability—or inability—to find unifying narratives amid competing visions.
The 1876 celebration succeeded because, despite the trauma of the Civil War, Americans were able to rally around shared pride in their industrial progress and national reunification.
The 1926 failure occurred when cultural divisions between urban and rural, science and religion, immigration and nativism, and government corruption scandals left the nation without a story that different groups could embrace.
The 1976 Bicentennial succeeded because of the significant tensions over whose history should be told and how. African American, Native American, and other groups staged counter-celebrations that demanded inclusion. Yet, the overall commemoration still achieved its goal of national healing because there remained enough shared desire to move beyond the trauma of Vietnam and Watergate.
Now, 2026 approaches with its own competing visions of how to commemorate the anniversary.
The recent leadership change reflects ongoing debates about the tone, focus, and organization of the upcoming celebrations. Will 2026 follow the 1926 pattern, where divisions prove too deep to bridge? Or the 1976 model, where success emerges despite significant tensions about representation and narrative?
💬 Final Thought
Karin, Joe, and I have been thinking deeply about 2026 and how we will commemorate and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on Ben Franklin's World.
Given the vast amount of great historical work that will be published and displayed next year, we've decided to focus all 2026 podcast episodes on the American Revolution. This way, we can highlight as many stories as possible and point you to credible books, events, and projects that you can read, attend, and explore--something you've told me you want more of. We're also working on a new newsletter feature to highlight more works about early American history that don't fit into the story of the Revolution. Currently, the plan is to feature authors and curators in a new interview format, which will be published on Sundays starting in 2026. Plus, I'm developing and scheduling new live historian events for the History Explorers Club, which will re-open for membership in mid-January. These events allow you to meet historians, ask them questions, and interact with them through live Zoom calls.
Explore the fascinating history of Fourth of July commemorations with these episodes of Ben Franklin's World:
The Memory of '76 Episode 408 Explore how Americans have remembered and reinterpreted the meaning of 1776 across different eras and how historical memory shapes national identity.
Past and Prologue Episode 307 Discover how the United States' first historians deliberately constructed the United States' grand narrative about the American Revolution to create unity in a diverse country.
The Fourth of July in 2026 Episode 361 Join three historians for a discussion of how Americans should celebrate and commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026.
Whose Fourth of July Episode 277 Explore the meaning of July Fourth and American belonging for those historically excluded from full citizenship.
Celebrating the Fourth Episode 245 Investigate how Americans have celebrated Independence Day throughout the United States' history, and what these celebrations reveal about early Americans' national identity.
💬 What Do You Think?
How do you think the United States' 250th anniversary will play out? What conversations would you like to see and hear about the nation's founding ideals?
📩 Hit Reply to share your thoughts. 💬 Join the conversation in our Listener Community.
You power this newsletter—and the effort to keep history in the headlines. 👉 Support our work
P.S. Thank You
Thank you for all of your well-wishes, thoughts, and prayers for my grandmother. She's doing much better and is expected to return home tomorrow. Thank you also for taking the time to respond to my questions. It's helpful to know what you think, so I can better serve you with the podcast and with new programs, like the History Explorers Club. Thank you for your time and ideas.
Affiliate Disclosure: Book links in this newsletter are affiliate links through Bookshop.org. If you purchase a book through these links, Ben Franklin's World earns a small commission at no extra cost to you. Your purchase helps support History Behind the Headlines and independent bookstores. Thank you for your support!
