In 1976, at least 90 percent of Americans graduating from high school wore on their cap and gown some Bicentennial symbol. Meanwhile, the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage took seven different routes beginning in Washington state, Texas, Minnesota, and other locations, to converge on Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
Along the way it collected Rededication scrolls with the signatures of 22 million people (more than one in 10 Americans) committing themselves to reaffirming American founding principles: “To commemorate this nation’s Bicentennial we hereby dedicate ourselves anew to the precepts of our Founding Fathers: … We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“[W]e will continue to strive to make the lives of individual men and women in this country and on this Earth better lives…”
Two million people came to Philadelphia for a five-hour parade and to hear President Gerald Ford state that “It is good to know that in our own lifetime we have taken part in the growth of freedom and in the expansion of equality which began here so long ago.” At 2:00 pm on Sunday, July 4, 1976, across the nation, bells pealed for two minutes (one for each century). (RELATED: The Missed Opportunity of the Semiquincentennial Minute)
The Bicentennial was a big deal. It was, in the words of Time magazine, “an altogether fitting celebration of the 200th anniversary of America’s independence, and perhaps the best part of it was that its supreme characteristics were good will, good humor, and after a long night of paralyzing self-doubt, good feelings about the U.S.”
The “long night of paralyzing self-doubt” included the fall of South Vietnam the previous year, the resignation of President Richard Nixon, a brutal economic downturn in which inflation reached 11 percent and unemployment hit 9 percent, soaring energy prices — with energy expenditures eating up over 10 percent of income (almost twice today’s share) — and a soaring homicide rate (roughly twice today’s level).
Despite all these woes, the nation united to celebrate our national achievements, reaffirm our founding principles, and most importantly, rekindle our hopes for the future. We could do the same today.
As Gerald Ford said in his 200th-birthday message to the nation, “In the space of two centuries, we have not been able to right every wrong, to correct every injustice, to reach every worthy goal. But for 200 years, we have tried and we will continue to strive to make the lives of individual men and women in this country and on this Earth better lives — more hopeful and happy, more prosperous and peaceful, more fulfilling and more free. This is our common dedication, and it will be our common glory as we enter the third century of the American adventure.”
Today, many people of all political stripes seem to have forgotten that We the People have something in common — a “common dedication” and a “common glory.” We are collaborators in a great project, equals, allies, not enemies, gifts to one another. It’s time to remember these truths.
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Robert Whaples is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and an economics professor at Wake Forest University. This is adapted from his forthcoming article “The Spirit of 1976: The Semiquincentennial in Light of the Bicentennial,” in The Independent Review.
