Confirm thy soul in self-control

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

The journey toward this historic milestone gives every American an opportunity to pause and reflect on our nation’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look ahead toward the future we want to create for the next generation and beyond.

The 250th anniversary is not about 1776, the Declaration of Independence, and the Revolutionary War. It is an opportunity to share all of America’s history, beginning long before 1776 and continuing to the present day. 

This historic event is far more than a lesson in history; it is a celebration of American craft, innovation, technology, local stories, and much, much more. Every community has a part to play in this celebration 250 years in the making.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,

Whose stern, impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

This great nation’s history is remarkable not only because of its accomplishments, but also because of the people who strived to make it a better, fairer, and a more just nation. 

This great nation was built with the hands, ideas, and fervent hopes of men and women. This great nation was built with the awareness and courage to self correct. 

This great nation was built with the intensity and unwavering commitment of those who had nothing to lose, except their lives, in the fight for freedom, for you, and for me, and for all. 

Abolition and Emancipation: Enslaved African Americans actively sabotaged the institution of slavery, utilizing networks like the Underground Railroad, while figures like Frederick Douglass leveraged the nation’s founding ideals to force a moral reckoning.

Women’s Suffrage: Beginning at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, women led decades of protests, resulting in the 19th Amendment in 1920, which granted women the right to vote.

The Civil Rights Movement: White, Black, and other organizers, through boycotts, sit-ins, and legal challenges, achieved landmark victories, including Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These victories created a blueprint for rights-based advocacy used by all subsequent marginalized groups. 

LGBTQ+ Equality: Following the 1969 Stonewall Riots, activists successfully lobbied to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder (1973), and achieved nationwide marriage equality in 2015.

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine,

Till all success be nobleness,

And every gain divine!

Labor and Farmworkers: Leaders like Dolores Huerta organized strikes to secure historic labor protections and better wages for vulnerable migrant farmworkers, in the 1960s and 1970s.

Disability Rights: Activists successfully pushed for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), in 1990, mandating accessibility and prohibiting discrimination. 

The Arts: Black Americans birthed uniquely American art forms, such as blues, jazz, and rock, and drove cultural revivals like the Harlem Renaissance. Writers, artists, and filmmakers from Indigenous, Asian American, and Latino backgrounds continue to revolutionize American literature and cinema.

Science and Medicine: Marginalized scientists – including Black mathematicians like Katherine Johnson who calculated orbital trajectories for NASA spaceflights, and Charles Drew, who pioneered blood preservation techniques – have been vital to U.S. innovation.

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea! 

This summer TPTP will be taking you on a different kind of “on the road.” We will be revisiting the past and sharing the stories of the brave, diverse, and heroic contributors to these, the United States. 

Did You Know? Here’s a twist: English has never been the official language of the U.S. That is right. At one point, there were serious discussions about using German for some federal communications, thanks to the large German-speaking population. While the story about German losing out by “just one vote” is more myth than fact, the debate was very real.