WASHINGTON (AP) — Mark Twain offered some timeless advice about patriotism back in 1905, and his words seem especially fitting as Americans come together this week to celebrate a major national milestone.
“Our patriotism is medieval, outworn, obsolete,” Twain wrote. “The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.”
As the nation marks 250 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Americans on both sides of the political divide are joining in the festivities. Whether the celebrations offer a temporary escape from the country’s sharp divisions — or deepen them — remains to be seen.
It is a moment of national pride, but also one marked by uncertainty and disagreement.
Americans express their love of country in very different ways. Some embrace the nation as it stands today. Others push for change, driven by the historic call for a “more perfect union.” Still others long for a return to what they see as a better past — the foundation of the MAGA movement.
Meanwhile, belief in American exceptionalism appears to be fading. An April poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that more Americans believe other countries are just as good as — or better than — the United States, rather than believing the U.S. is the absolute best. Forty-four percent said the U.S. is simply one of the best countries in the world.
This is a far cry from the era of President Teddy Roosevelt, whose presidential library President Donald Trump is visiting in North Dakota on Wednesday. Roosevelt embodied a nation surging with innovation, industrial power, military strength, and bold ambition.
Today, the president carries his own brand of boldness, but millions of Americans are left wondering whether the country is holding together.
Even the planning of the 250th birthday celebration has become a source of conflict. Two organizations are each claiming to be the rightful leader of the national commemoration, largely ignoring one another.
Congress created the bipartisan America250 group a decade ago, giving it legal authority to organize local, national, and international events for the anniversary. President Trump then issued an executive order establishing his own Freedom 250 group as “the” official national organization overseeing the celebrations.
High-profile events — including Fourth of July fireworks at the National Mall, a parade of tall ships in New York, and the Great American State Fair along the National Mall — fall under Freedom 250’s umbrella. Several musical acts that had been scheduled for the fair’s opening last week pulled out, worried the event would become politically focused and centered on Trump. The president stepped in to fill the gap, calling himself the “No. 1 attraction” and delivering a speech on June 24 about American greatness and his own accomplishments. He is also set to headline the official July Fourth events in Washington, which he described as “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all.”
America250, the congressionally established group, organized a separate series of events called America’s Block Party — simultaneous gatherings around the country anchored by a Fourth of July benefit concert in Los Angeles hosted by Queen Latifah, featuring performers including Chris Stapleton and the Smashing Pumpkins.
Under its congressional mandate, America250 also buried a 900-pound (400-kilogram) time capsule in Philadelphia, filled with items from all 50 states and all branches of government. It won’t be opened for another 250 years.
When the people of 2276 crack it open, they’ll find a major league baseball lineup from 2026, poems from Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, and other states, postcards from Colorado and Maine, beaded artwork from Montana, an Oklahoma belt buckle, a message in a vintage Coca-Cola bottle, a pocket Constitution signed by U.S. justices, a George Washington Lord’s Prayer gold medal from Utah connected to the Wedding of the Rails event marking the 1869 completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and much more.
In Philadelphia — where the founders signed the Declaration of Independence — 250 people will form the shape of the Liberty Bell as part of a parade featuring 50 marching bands and Miss America delegates representing every state.
Of course, Americans don’t need a government-organized event to celebrate. Thousands of smaller, grassroots gatherings are happening all across the country.
In Evans, Pennsylvania, the Circle of Friends Choir will perform patriotic songs a cappella at a community event that also includes a patriotic trivia contest and a barbershop quartet.
In Pocatello, Idaho, drag queens organized a reading of patriotic picture books for children, including the story of Katharine Lee Bates — the woman whose visit to the Colorado Rockies inspired her to write the poem that became “America the Beautiful.”
Twain, known for his sharp criticism of American government and imperialism, nonetheless shared a deep love for his country’s natural landscape and its people — at least some of the time. “We glorious Americans will occasionally astonish the God that created us,” he once wrote.
And long before “Make America Great Again” entered the political conversation, Twain was already mourning what he felt had been lost.
“We are called the nation of inventors,” he said. “And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors if we had stopped with the first thing we ever invented, which was human liberty.”
