The America 250th is alive and well. For so long the celebration has been in the doldrums. With that funny hard to pronounce name – semiquincentennial – the 250th has had a tough time competing with the Bicentennial. The 250th was a pale imitation of what had transpired a mere 50 years ago. The national organization was in turmoil. The federal funding was non-existent. Time was slipping by with little to show.
Last June, I wrote a blog suggesting that a mock First Continental Congress be held in recognition of its 250th anniversary. I concluded the blog with the following:
Hold a Mock First Continental Congress
The way things are going, 1774 is going to pass by without any national or statewide activities as if the First Continental Congress didn’t exist. Yes, the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) will have roundtable of July 19 on the First Continental Congress at the semiquincentennial for the scholars in attendance at its annual conference. Yes it will follow with a private tour on July 20 of Carpenter’s Hall where the First Continental Congress was held. But these are hardly national events. Mock congresses where students debate on being a Loyalist or a Patriot in October when the 2024 Presidential election heats up surely will bring home the mood and atmosphere of the First Continental Congress more than any academic paper, journal article, or book will. Imagine televising those debates.
But now after a slow start, the 250th is ready to enter the national consciousness. The presidential election has been held. The self-proclaimed would-be king has taken office. Suddenly the 250th is front-page news and on cable talk shows. The catalyst for this transformation from peripheral to center stage is President Donald Trump along with an assist from Elon Musk.
PATRICK HENRY
The warm-up act occurred a scant few weeks ago on the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous speech. At that time, Virginia held its annual 250th conference. I reported on the event in my blog Patrick Henry vs. Glenn Youngkin: Déjà vu All Over Again
As part of the conference to mark the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, VA250 and St. John’s Church livestreamed the historical reenactment event that took place on March 23, 2025. But something unexpected occurred as reported by Fox News.
After delivering remarks at the annual enactment of Henry’s iconic speech, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., was met by loud boos, “shame” chants and protest cries while exiting St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Protesters held up signs like “deport Musk” and “Youngkin is a Trumpkin” as the governor was escorted through the raucous crowd by law enforcement.
Someone who attended the conference told me she had no idea what was happening outside the church.
“We resisted King George. We will resist Trump,” the flier for Sunday’s protest said, comparing the resistance of President Donald Trump to the American Revolution.
The Reddit user who organized the protest said: “Trump continuously violated the Constitution, declared himself the sole legal authority in the land, and called himself ‘KING.’ Trump must be removed from office!”
I concluded the blog with some predictions:
1. The more events are held, the more 1775 and 2025 will merge together. The war by patriots against loyalists to the king will become part of the political discourse. It will become part of the political campaign in 2026.
2. Related to the above, a new Declaration of Independence will be written. In this one the charges will be against Trump and Musk especially if the Democrats ever catch on to the opportunity they have been given.
In other words, we will not only remember, commemorate and celebrate the events of the American Revolution, we will live them. The event for Patrick Henry may only be a harbinger for the events of April 18-19 for the ride of Paul Revere and the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
Now here we are on the eve of that famous ride.
In-between, at the annual conference of the Organization of American History which I did attend, there was a session on April 4, 2025, “How Do We Defend Historians & Higher Education from Today’s War on Knowledge?” At that session, the chair Professor Nancy MacLean, Duke University, said “We will not go gentle into the night” or words to that effect. She was referring to the poem by Dylan Thomas “Do not go gentle into that good night.”
Those words immediately triggered in my mind the stirring speech by President Bill Pullman:
In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interest. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression or persecution, but from annihilation. We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, we will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today, we celebrate our independence day. (Independence Day, 1996)
They also called to mind the words of an actual president, Lyndon Baines Johnson. In his March 16, 1965, address on Voting Rights to Joint Session of Congress. In that speech, he said:
At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom.
So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Ala….
Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country–to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.
The bulk of the speech was about voting but this snippet about Lexington and Concord still rings true today. So at the risk of going out on the limb again, I predict the ride of Paul Revere and the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 2025 will again serve as a patriotic call in 2025 against our current king. There are many issues to be addressed about our would-be king. They are all simultaneously coalescing at this particular point in time against someone who has no intention of blinking but will double-down. They will have wait for subsequent blogs to be addressed. In the meantime:
RIDE PAUL RIDE
P.S The next big 250th event is the Second Continental Congress which began in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775.
