Comment: As Americans prepare to mark their 250th July 4, how are they feeling about their nation? Given the USA’s history, this question has never been a simple one, and it certainly isn’t simple today. There has always been a conflict between those who idolise their nation and uncritically celebrate it on July 4 and those who mark the holiday by acknowledging both the nation’s aspirations and its faults. The unprecedented political and constitutional crises the United States faces make this Independence Day even more fraught.
Plans for this year have been in progress for a decade, since Congress approved the nonprofit, nonpartisan America250 project in 2016. But when Donald Trump returned to office he established Freedom250, a private company funded through donations he controls. America250 works collaboratively with schools and civic groups and encourages volunteering and charitable giving “to honor the contributions of all Americans”.
Trump’s Freedom250 has held an Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts cage fight on the White House grounds with tickets costing $1.5 million and a daylong Christian worship service to rededicate the USA as “One Nation Under God” and the fulfilment of divine providence.
What we won’t be seeing from Trump and Freedom250 this July 4 is any meaningful engagement with the principles contained within the Declaration of Independence, the nation’s founding document. Adopted on July 4, 1776, the declaration announced to the world a new nation and an independence that had not yet been achieved. It justified separation from Great Britain with a long list of grievances against King George III and his “history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States”.
The heart of the Declaration of Independence and what made it a world-changing document was its justification of colonial rebellion against monarchy and established political authority. It did this by proclaiming the equality of mankind and universal rights. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
It then provided a new basis for government. “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” That principle made the people, not a king, the basis for government and necessitated their consent by voting for their political representatives.
These principles — equality, rights, liberty, democracy — are what make July 4 worthy of celebrating. Not intended to apply to all humankind at the time and imperfectly realised in the US Constitution of 1789 and since, these principles are still powerful. They have inspired people and movements inside and outside the United States for 250 years. In the US, calling upon these ideals to spur Americans and their government to live up to them has a long tradition.
That tradition takes on an even greater force this year in the face of a Trump regime that sees these principles as applying only to white Christian men and seeks to impose authoritarianism on the rest. For Trump and his officials, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are obstacles to their efforts to achieve their vision of domination and exclusion and are violated daily.
Enabled by a Republican-led Congress and Supreme Court, Trump is at war with Iran and implements global tariffs without congressional approval, violates the rights of US citizens, legal immigrants, and visitors with unlawful ICE detentions, issues pardons to convicted criminals in return for campaign donations, and diverts funding Congress approved for one purpose to favourite projects and into the pockets of allies. These are just a few examples of his violations.
The historical irony is that on this 250th birthday, the president wants to be and acts like a king. Colonial grievances against King George, such as “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures,” apply to Trump, who ordered marines and national guard troops into Democratic-led cities, without the consent of local officials. Trump shows why monarchical rule can be dangerous for the rule of law, individual rights, and good governance. His illegality, corruption, and incompetence demonstrate the serious consequences of concentrating power with impunity and immunity in the hands of one person.
But political legitimacy depends on the government being consistent with or at least claims consistency with the history and traditions which justify its existence, and the Trump regime is struggling to make the case that authoritarianism fits with American tradition. A national survey published in June, found that nearly seven in ten Americans believe they are in real danger of losing critical rights and freedoms.
Americans who refuse to accept authoritarianism are playing their part: in the courts and in Congress, in the states and in the streets. They draw on the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to counter the intimidation, force, and law-breaking coming out of the regime. And their victories have punctured Trump’s aura of invincibility and power.
The struggle is far from over, and even when, or if, the regime is toppled the challenge remains of realising the principles of equality, rights, liberty, democracy for all in a large, diverse country. As Barack Obama recently said at the dedication of his presidential library, an important counterpoint to cage fights at the White House in this 250th year, “America’s story isn’t frozen in the past. It has chapters yet to be written, not by one person or a few people … but by all of us.”
This article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland.
