250th Themes
America’s 250th Themes
In 2026, the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary. You may hear it called the "semiquincentennial." This once-in-a-lifetime event is a chance to look at our whole history and work towards making our country better. It is also an opportunity to improve how we study history to make sure that future generations gain a more complete understanding of history.
The Vermont Historical Society has adopted the American Association for State and Local History's (AASLH) themes to help students and teachers think more deeply about the last 250 years of history.
Unfinished Revolutions
The struggle for freedom, fairness, and justice has a long and complicated history in the United States. People have worked hard in many ways - through politics, organizing, protests, and even wars - to help America live up to its ideals. Americans have fought for their rights and tried to make sure that freedom is available for future generations. U.S. history isn’t a smooth path of progress. It's a complicated mix of successes and failures. The fight for freedom started before 1776 and continues today.
Power of Place
Looking at history through the lens of “place” helps us understand the past better. It makes us think about the land and areas we now call the United States in a deeper way. By focusing on place, we can ask important questions about our history. This includes looking at how Indigenous peoples have connected with their land, how communities use land and water, and how expansion and colonization affected different groups of people. This theme helps us examine our natural world and built environments, grounding us in the places that make our country's history unique.
We the People
What it means to be part of "We the people” - who belongs to the nation, and what citizenship means - has changed since the founding of the United States. African Americans (both free and enslaved), Indigenous people, immigrants, women, people with disabilities, and the poor have all been left out of full participation in the country’s political, economic, and cultural life throughout history. Over time, different groups have worked hard to be included and to make the nation fairer for everyone. The idea of who is considered a citizen, and who belongs, has never been set in stone. It’s still something people discuss and debate today.
American Experiment
The leaders who started our country didn’t have all the answers. Even though they created new ideas like representative democracy and rights for everyone, they understood that the birth of a nation was a big experiment. They hoped future generations would make improvements to what they started. The 250th anniversary is a great time to think about how our government and democracy began, and how it has changed over time. Talking about our democracy and how our government works can help us understand better, inspire us to act, and show us how we can all be part of shaping our country’s future.
Doing History
How do we get people to become interested in history? We invite them to engage! With the 250th anniversary coming up, it's a chance for us to explain how we find and use historic information. Let's talk about what history is, how we learn about it, and why it’s important. By showing how we study the past, we can help people understand how new questions and ideas change what we know about history. History can be complicated. It is ongoing and always changing. Let's discuss what might be missing from our historical records and see how different perspectives can help us understand more. Participating in conversations with others about history has the potential to strengthen our communities and work towards creating a more perfect union.