I was big into America’s Bicentennial celebration back in 1976. Although I was just 16 years old, I served as treasurer for my county’s Bicentennial commission. And I designed a commemorative coin to honor my county’s history (focused mainly on the Pottawattamie Native American tribe along with a century or so of white man’s farming).
I remember a re-enactment of Paul Revere’s ride – in Council Bluffs, Iowa nonetheless. I remember our commission planting thirteen trees at a county park in honor of the original thirteen colonies (a recent trip back to that park 50 years later showed no evidence of any trees surviving!). I remember flag ceremonies, parades, and pageants on and around July 4, 1976.
But my favorite Bicentennial memory was the Freedom Train. I remember riding a very cool moving conveyor belt, looking at an original copy of the U.S. Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz, and a moon rock.
Back in ’76, I knew nothing about the commercialization critique attached to the Freedom Train. I had no idea that corporations like Pepsi (now PepsiCo), Prudential, and General Motors had final approval of the train’s contents. All I knew was I was looking at artifacts important to the history of my country. It was a fun time, even though America was coming out of two historical events that rocked the country, one foreign (Vietnam) and one domestic (Watergate).
There are no trains to celebrate our semiquincentennial in 2026, only Freedom Trucks and a Freedom Plane. According to a recent article in The Atlantic,
“The ‘Freedom Trucks’ are part of the official celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday, an 18-wheel complement to the fairs, rallies, and work crews currently proliferating in Washington, D.C. When you enter one, after walking past a reproduction of a painting of English colonists praying before a cross, you meet the animated [George] Washington, who tells you sternly that despite their differences, the 13 colonies agreed: ‘Our rights are a gift from God, not a favor from kings or courts.’”
“It’s a familiar-sounding line, invoking the core American concept of inalienable rights, but the statement isn’t actually from Washington. Lindsay Chervinsky, the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, [said] that the quote doesn’t even sound like the first president. ‘He regularly spoke of providence and a higher power, but usually called on republican values and virtues to defend his positions.’ A similar sentence can, however, be found in an events tool kit from Freedom 250, the White House-led group behind the trucks, under suggested ‘faith-based messaging.’”
“The right-wing edutainment nonprofit PragerU, which aims to help ‘people of all ages think and live better while upholding Judeo-Christian values,’ put the [Freedom Trucks] together. Criticized for spreading misinformation about climate change and downplaying the significance of slavery, the outfit has a recent history of teaming up with the Trump administration, including on a civics-education campaign assembled for the semiquincentennial. At least one organizer canceled an appearance of the truck to avoid appearing to endorse PragerU’s politics. (Hillsdale College, a liberal-arts school known for its conservative, Christian bent, also worked on the trucks).”
“Logos plastered on the truck’s exteriors advertise its affiliation with Freedom 250, which the White House created last year to organize patriotic activities for the anniversary. Confusingly, it’s separate from America250, the nonpartisan organization that is charged by Congress with doing the same. Freedom 250 has been behind events with a notably partisan flavor, such as last month’s daylong prayer rally on the Mall and the Great American State Fair. In December, $10.1 million of federal grant money that the Institute of Museums and Library Services had originally given to America250 for a truck-based traveling exhibition was redirected to Freedom 250, government-spending records show.”
So as a trained historian, I don’t know what’s worse – a Freedom Train influenced by corporate America, or 2026’s trucks and plane influenced by the Trump White House and the religious right. We’ve discussed the importance at arriving at historical truth, but honestly, how do you do that in an era of division and dismissal?
ABPTL will take an extended vacation until July 20th. But before I sign off, what in the hell is going on in Texas?
The 74 reported today that,
“The Texas State Board of Education on Friday adopted new social studies standards for the elementary and middle grades that take an America-first approach to history and feature Christianity more prominently than other faiths.”
Amongst the Bible stories approved to be taught in Texas public schools include Jonah and the Whale, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion’s Den, as well as passages from the Books of Luke, Exodus, Matthew, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Job.
With that list, who needs to bother attending Sunday School?
Oh, and the Texas Lieutenant Governor is said the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator is headed to hell – twice.
I can’t believe I lived 35 years in that state.
Enjoy July. Til the 20th. SVB
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