America’s 250-year anniversary begins to take shape

Key locations to celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial (250-year anniversary) in 2026 will be Boston, Philadelphia, New York City and Charleston, S.C., according to leaders of the bipartisan America250 commission, which is overseeing events to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

 

Obviously, those four locations were critically important in the nation’s fight for freedom from British rule.

The Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 1773, was a protest in which the Sons of Liberty, a group of colonial patriots, boarded three ships carrying tea of British East India Company and dumped more than 340 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The issue was taxation without representation in Parliament.

This demonstration of colonial resistance to British rule “is considered a major event leading up to the American Revolution.” Reenactors (shown below) always have a high time.

 

Writing for the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, historian Michael Karpyn said delegates to the Second Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia, Pa., beginning in May 1775, to work through “deep political divisions to create the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to a new nation and cementing Philadelphia’s reputation as a ‘Cradle of Liberty.’”

 

The principal author of the document was Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Fifty-six delegates signed the historic declaration, none more prominently than John Hancock of Massachusetts, who was president of the Second Continental Congress.

The three delegates from North Carolina who signed their names were: William Hooper of Wilmington in New Hanover County; Joseph Hewes of Edenton in Chowan County; and John Penn of Stovall in Granville County.

By the summer of 1776, “New York City held a strategically important position as both a commercial hub and a potential military stronghold,” noted Joseph Gornail and Steven Garcia of the website History101.nyc.

Gen. George Washington, commanding the Continental Army from his headquarters in New York City, received a copy of the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.

 

“Understanding the magnitude of this historic text and its transformative power, he decided to share its contents in a manner that would resonate deeply with both the army and the public,” wrote Gornail and Garcia.

Washington held a “formal reading” to ensure everyone under his command “fully grasped the implications of the colonies’ bold decision to declare themselves free from Britain.”

 

“New York City, with its extensive population and vital port, had become a critical site for asserting the will of the people against British authority. The moment served as a powerful demonstration of shared purpose, strengthening bonds among fellow patriots who were bound not by mere words but by their collective willingness to stand up for their declared rights.”

 

Throughout the course of the American Revolutionary War, more than 200 battles were fought within South Carolina, more than in any other state.

 

Britain’s strategy was to capture Charleston, collect Southerners who were loyal to the crown and move northward. But the Royal Navy’s loss at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island on June 28, 1776, was a serious setback to the British invaders.

 

In North Carolina, the General Assembly’s Semiquincentennial Committee has met several times to discuss event planning, and the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is involved in the overall effort as well.

“Halifax Resolves Days: Prelude to Revolution” was presented by NCDNCR as a “living history weekend” event on April 12-14, 2025, in Halifax County at the state historic site. 

The purpose was to draw attention to the Halifax Resolves, signed on April 12, 1776, as the first official act by any of the 13 colonies calling for independence from Great Britain.

 

The historic Eagle Tavern in Halifax is part of the State Historic Site. George Washington slept here twice. Another famous overnight guest in 1825 was the Marquis de Lafayette.