THE FLAG WAS STILL THERE

Snapshots of American society at 50-year intervals, beginning with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

“Each jubilee has found the United States at an inflection point: political, economical, or cultural,” write McKean, a former U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, and Bennett, a former historian at the U.S. Department of State. And so they assess the state of the nation at each of these historical moments, with particular focus on the Declaration’s premise that “all men are created equal.” At the time those five words were written, few of the founders thought they applied to women, African Americans, or Indigenous people—even though Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John to ask him to “remember the ladies.” The new nation didn’t hurry to extend those rights, although each anniversary marked some progress towards fuller equality—notably after the Civil War, with emancipation, and after the successes of the Civil Rights and women’s movements of the 1960s. The celebrations of the signing of the Declaration frequently featured elaborate international expositions highlighting American industry, science, and the arts. Other notable events, such as the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and Adams, both on July, 4, 1826, or George Armstrong Custer’s last stand, in 1876, are also chronicled by the authors. The book offers a wealth of anecdotes: Calvin Coolidge stayed home on July 4, 1926, because it was a Sunday; Brazil’s Emperor Dom Pedro II attended the 1876 exhibition; and a bicentennial wagon train crossed the country in 1976. The final chapter examines the state of the nation in 2026, a time when many Americans feel that democracy is imperiled. “While the headwinds to the American experiment appear overwhelming at times, historical precedent offers some reassurance,” the authors write. “Americans have weathered challenges to democracy before.”

A richly detailed, thought-provoking celebration of American independence.