In April we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard round the world.” It served as a wake-up call, if a faint one, for preparations for our nation’s 250th birthday on Jul. 4, 2026.

Most of us surely sense that forgetfulness is not our main problem when it comes to celebrating this milestone. Rather there is a deep ambivalence about how to think about our country — and our obligations as we approach this landmark year.

Where does this ambivalence come from? Historian Allen Guelzo chalks it up to “the polarization and cynicism of these times” which is surely true. Both left and right play their part in this as Guelzo notes. But the anniversary presents a special challenge for the left. As historian Beverly Gage has noted, for progressives “rejecting traditional patriotism has become de rigeur: By kneeling for the national anthem, dismissing the Founders as enslavers, and expressing unease at the prospect of flying an American flag.”

Even for those on the left who are more comfortable with flag-flying, they prefer to think of American patriotism as a question—“a conversation about what, if anything, makes America great,” as Gage would put it.

This contrasts sharply with President Trump’s recent

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