United States Bicentennial

The nation had always commemorated the founding as a gesture of patriotism and sometimes as an argument in political battles. Historian Jonathan Crider points out that in the 1850s, editors and orators both North and South claimed their region was the true custodian of the legacy of 1776, as they used the Revolution symbolically in their rhetoric.{{cite journal| first=Jonathan B.| last=Crider| title=De Bow's Revolution: The Memory of the American Revolution in the Politics of the Sectional Crisis, 1850-1861| date=September 1, 2009| pages=317–322| volume=1-| number=3| url=https://www.academia.edu/915641| journal=American Nineteenth Century History| doi=10.1080/14664650903122950| s2cid=144611072}}

The plans for the Bicentennial began when Congress created the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission on July 4, 1966.{{cite web |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-80/pdf/STATUTE-80-Pg259.pdf |title=Resolution Establishing the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission – P.L. 89-491 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}{{USStat|80|259}}{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4731549.1966.001.umich.edu/page/302 |title=Letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House Proposing the Establishment of an American Revolution Bicentennial Commission - March 10, 1966 |last=Johnson |first=Lyndon B. |date=March 10, 1966 |website=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |pages=302–303}}{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4731549.1966.002.umich.edu/page/713 |title=Statement by the President Announcing the Signing of a Resolution Establishing the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission - July 8, 1966 |last=Johnson |first=Lyndon B. |date=July 8, 1966 |via=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |pages=713–714}}{{cite web| title=Records of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration [ARBA]| publisher=National Archives and Records Administration| year=1995| url= https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/452.html| access-date=2011-05-24}} Initially, the Bicentennial celebration was planned as a single city exposition (titled Expo '76) that would be staged in either Philadelphia or Boston.{{cite news| title=Who's Having the '76 Birthday Party?| agency=Associated Press| date=September 25, 1969| newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News| first=Lee| last=Linder| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19690925&id=TRwoAAAAIBAJ&pg=7522,5716607| access-date=2019-10-24}} After 6½ years of tumultuous debate, the Commission recommended that there should not be a single event, and Congress dissolved it on December 11, 1973, and created the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA), which was charged with encouraging and coordinating locally sponsored events.{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/93rd-congress/house-bill/7446 |title=H.R. 7446 ~ American Revolution Bicentennial Administration Establishment of 1973 |date=May 3, 1973 |series=P.L. 93-179 ~ 87 Stat. 697 |publisher=Congress.gov}}{{cite web |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-87/pdf/STATUTE-87-Pg697-2.pdf |title=American Revolution Bicentennial Administration Establishment – P.L. 93-179 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office}}{{USStat|87|697-2}}{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4731942.1973.001.umich.edu/page/1009 |title=Remarks on Signing a Bill Establishing the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration - December 11, 1973 |last=Nixon |first=Richard M. |date=December 11, 1973 |via=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |page=1009}}{{cite magazine| title=Bicentennial: The U.S. Begins Its Birthday Bash| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917323,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122073111/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917323,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=January 22, 2011| date=21 April 1975| magazine=Time| access-date=2011-05-24}} David Ryan, a professor at University College Cork, notes that the Bicentennial was celebrated only a year after the Fall of Saigon in 1975 and that the Ford administration stressed the themes of renewal and rebirth based on a restoration of traditional values, giving a nostalgic and exclusive reading of the American past.{{cite journal| first=David| last=Ryan| title=Re-enacting Independence through Nostalgia – The 1976 US Bicentennial after the Vietnam War| date=9 December 2012| url=http://interamericaonline.org/volume-5-3/ryan/| journal=FIAR: Forum for Inter-American Research| volume=5| issue=3| pages=26–48| publisher=International Association of Inter-American Studies| access-date=2014-01-29}}

File:VAB aerial 1977.jpg's Vehicle Assembly Building in 1977]]

Bruce N. Blackburn, co-designer of the modernized NASA insignia, designed the logo.{{cite news |last=Vadukul |first=Alex |date=February 18, 2021 |title=Bruce Blackburn, Designer of Ubiquitous NASA Logo, Dies at 82 |newspaper=The New York Times}}{{cite web |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3065890/the-latest-graphics-standards-manual-reprint-americas-forgotten-logo |title=Reprinting America's Forgotten 1970s Graphics Standards Manual |last=Schwab |first=Katherine |date=November 22, 2016 |website=Fast Company & Inc. |access-date=August 15, 2021}} The logo consisted of a white five-point star inside a stylized star of red, white and blue. It was encircled by the inscription American Revolution Bicentennial 1776–1976 in Helvetica Regular. An early use of the logo was on a 1971 US postage stamp. The logo became a flag that flew at many government facilities throughout the United States and appeared on many other souvenirs and postage stamps issued by the Postal Service. NASA painted the logo on the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in 1976 where it remained until 1998 when the agency replaced it with its own emblem as part of 40th anniversary celebrations.{{cite web| title=Restoring Old Glory and a Massive Meatball| url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/vab_flag.html| date=January 11, 2007| website=NASA| access-date=2011-05-24}}

File:"Peoples Bicentennial Commission" at Boston Tea Party reenactment, Faneuil Hall.jpg. Signs protesting oil conglomerates and the Nixon administration can be seen in the crowd.]]

In 1973, on the shores of Boston Harbor, activists and history enthusiasts recreated the Boston Tea Party. Participants and spectators boasted signs and effigies, but no longer against the English crown and taxes. This protest was a call for "environmental protection, racial justice, an end to corporate profiteering, and the impeachment of Richard Nixon."{{Cite web |title=1973 Boston Tea Party Anniversary |url=https://revolutionaryspaces.org/explore/past-programs/1973-boston-tea-party-anniversary/ |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=Revolutionary Spaces }} Several people threw packages and oil barrels labeled "Gulf Oil" and "Exxon" into Boston Harbor in symbolic opposition to corporate power, in the style of the Boston Tea Party.{{cite book |last=Zinn |first=Howard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8JcCgAAQBAJ&q=exxon+gulf |title=A People's History of the United States |date=August 12, 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-3173-2530-7 |edition=third |location=New York |page=562 |author-link=Howard Zinn |url-access=subscription}} This reenactment later was termed as the "Boston Oil Party", and roughly 10,000 people witnessed the dumping of oil conglomerates, as well as the hanging of an effigy of President Nixon.{{Cite news |last=Times |first=John Kifner Special to The New York |date=1973-12-17 |title=Impeachment of Nixon Urged at Re-enactment of Boston Tea Party |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/17/archives/impeachment-of-nixon-urged-atreenactment-ofboston-tea-party-the.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

File:1976 American Freedom Train, 4-8-4 steam locomotive.jpg on January 15, 1976]]

The official Bicentennial events began April 1, 1975, when the American Freedom Train launched in Wilmington, Delaware to start its 21-month, {{convert|25,388|mi|km|adj=on}} tour of the 48 contiguous states.(1) {{cite web| first=Larry| last=Wines| url=https://www.freedomtrain.org/american-freedom-train-home.htm| title=The Story of the 1975 - 1976 American Freedom Train| year=2019| access-date=November 2, 2019| website=Accuen Media LLC| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410222906/http://www.freedomtrain.org/american-freedom-train-home.htm|archive-date=April 10, 2019| url-status=live}}
(2) {{cite web| first=Wes| last=Barris| url=https://www.steamlocomotive.com/events/aft/| title=The American Freedom Train| website=SteamLocomotive.com| access-date=November 2, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712152236/https://www.steamlocomotive.com/events/aft/| archive-date=July 12, 2019| url-status=live}}
(3) {{cite web| url=http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/FreedomTrain.html| title=The American Freedom Trains Come To Pittsburgh: September 15–17, 1948 and July 7–10, 1976; The Second Coming Of The Freedom Train| website=The Brookline Connection| access-date=November 2, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404183309/http://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/FreedomTrain.html| archive-date=April 4, 2019| url-status=live}}
(4) {{cite news| last=Kelly| first=John| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-1975-and-76-an-artifact-filled-choo-choo-chugged-around-the-us/2019/05/25/321ecd3c-7e6e-11e9-a5b3-34f3edf1351e_story.html| title=In 1975 and '76, an artifact-filled choo-choo chugged around the U.S.| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=May 25, 2019| access-date=November 2, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527221038/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-1975-and-76-an-artifact-filled-choo-choo-chugged-around-the-us/2019/05/25/321ecd3c-7e6e-11e9-a5b3-34f3edf1351e_story.html| archive-date=May 27, 2019| url-status=live}}

On April 18, 1975, President Gerald Ford traveled to Boston to light a third lantern at the historic Old North Church, symbolizing America's third century.{{cite press release| title=Remarks of the President at the Old North Church| publisher=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library| date=April 18, 1975 |url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0248/whpr19750418-013.pdf| access-date=January 11, 2013}} The following day, April 19, he delivered a major address in Concord, Massachusetts at the Old North Bridge where the "shot heard round the world" was fired, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord which began the military aspect of the American Revolution.{{cite web| title=Remarks at the Old North Bridge, Concord, Massachusetts| url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-old-north-bridge-concord-massachusetts| website=The American Presidency Project| date=April 19, 1975| access-date=October 31, 2021}} According to the New York Times "more than 2,000 spectators were on hand" as cannons were fired and a Paul Revere reenactor rode through announcing the arrival of British Troops.{{Cite news |date=1976-04-20 |title=Lexington and Concord Hold Bicentennial Fetes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/20/archives/lexington-and-concord-hold-bicentennial-fetes.html |access-date=2024-02-05 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

On December 31, 1975, the eve of the Bicentennial Year, Ford recorded a statement to address the American people by means of radio and television broadcasts.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4732052.1975.002.umich.edu/page/1024 |title=Remarks on the Eve of the Bicentennial Year - December 31, 1975 |last=Ford |first=Gerald R. |date=December 31, 1975 |via=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |page=2020}} Presidential Proclamation 4411 was signed as an affirmation to the Founding Fathers of the United States principles of dignity, equality, government by representation, and liberty.{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-90/pdf/STATUTE-90-Pg3072.pdf |title=The Bicentennial Year - December 31, 1975 |last=Ford |first=Gerald R. |date=December 31, 1975 |work=90 Stat. 3072 ~ Presidential Proclamation 4411 |publisher=Government Printing Office}}

1976 festivities included elaborate fireworks in the skies above major US cities. President Ford presided over the display in Washington, D.C., which was televised nationally. Celebrations in cities and towns across the nation opened into full effect including celebrations such as Operation Sail (Op Sail), a large international fleet parade of tall-masted sailing ships gathering first in New York City on Independence Day and then in Boston about one week later. Other large scale events such as reenactments, parades, and booms in commercialized commemoration spread across the nation as the year went on.

In addition to the presence of the 'tall ships', navies of many nations sent warships to New York harbor for an International Naval Review held the morning of July 4. President Ford sailed down the Hudson River into New York harbor aboard the guided missile cruiser {{USS|Wainwright|CG-28|6}} to review the international fleet and receive salutes from each visiting ship, ending with a salute from the British guided-missile destroyer {{HMS|London|D16|6}}. The review ended just above Liberty Island at around 10:30 am.

File:BettyFordNARA.jpg, with President Gerald Ford, Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip in the President's Dining Room in conjunction with a 1976 state visit during the US Bicentennial]]

Johnny Cash served as the Grand Marshal of the US Bicentennial parade.{{cite news| last=Halloran| first=Richard| date=July 4, 1976| page=1| url-access=subscription| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/04/archives/500000-view-capitals-bicentennial-parade-500000-watch-capital.html| title=500,000 View Capital's Bicentennial Parade| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=2019-10-24}}

The event was attended by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. The royal couple made a state visit to the United States, toured the country, and attended other Bicentennial functions with President and Mrs. Ford. Their visit aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia included stops in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

The Smithsonian Institution opened a long-term exhibition in its Arts and Industries Building replicating the look and feel of the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, including artifacts from earlier exposition. The Bicentennial Festival of American Folklife, a collaboration of the Smithsonian with thousands of national and international scholars, folk artisans, and performers, hosted programs in the western part of the National Mall five days a week for twelve weeks in the summer of 1976.{{cite web |url=https://festival.si.edu/past-program/1976 |title=1976 Festival of American Folklife |website=Smithsonian: Past Programs |access-date=2022-06-17}} The Smithsonian also opened the new home of the National Air and Space Museum on July 1, 1976.{{cite news| title=A Bow to Conquest of Flight| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103954597/st-louis-post-dispatch/| first=Mark| last=Olshaker| newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch| page=D1| date=July 16, 1976| access-date=June 17, 2022}}

George Washington was posthumously appointed to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by the congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 passed January 19, 1976, with an effective appointment date of July 4, 1976.{{harvtxt|Bell|2005}}{{circular reference|date=December 2024}} This restored Washington's position as the highest-ranking military officer in US history.In {{harvtxt|Bell|2005}}, William Gardner Bell states that when Washington was recalled back into military service from his retirement in 1798, "Congress passed legislation that would have made him General of the Armies of the United States, but his services were not required in the field and the appointment was not made until the Bicentennial in 1976, when it was bestowed posthumously as a commemorative honor." [https://archive.today/20120717181314/http://www.history.army.mil/html/faq/5star.html How many U.S. Army five-star generals have there been and who were they?] states that with Public Law 94-479, President Ford specified that Washington would "rank first among all officers of the Army, past and present. "General of the Armies of the United States" is only associated with two people...one being Washington and the other being John J. Pershing.

NASA commemorated the Bicentennial by staging a science and technology exhibit housed in a series of geodesic domes in the parking lot of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) called Third Century America. An American flag and the Bicentennial emblem were also painted on the side of the VAB; the emblem remained until 1998, when it was painted over with the NASA insignia. NASA planned for Viking 1 to land on Mars on July 4, but the landing was delayed to July 20, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. On the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, NASA held the rollout ceremony of the first Space Shuttle (which NASA had planned to name Constitution but was, instead, named "Enterprise" in honor of its fictional namesake on the television series Star Trek{{cite book |last=Rioux |first=Terry Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fHqtNdfIdi8C&q=space+shuttle |title=From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-4165-0004-9 |page=221}}).File:ONA Douglas DC-8 at Zurich - July 1975.jpg of Overseas National Airways in US Bicentennial special livery.]]

On November 20 and 21 of 1976, participants immersed themselves in the era by donning period-accurate uniforms and equipping themselves with the tools and weaponry characteristic of that Christmas night over two centuries prior.{{cite news |last=Henley |first=Robert |date=1976-11-17 |title=Re-enactment to Follow Washington's Footsteps |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/17/archives/reenactment-to-follow-washingtons-footsteps.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}} The reenactment unfolded as a grand spectacle, featuring a flotilla of boats navigating the icy currents of the Delaware River.

File:1976 crossing of the Delaware reenactment.jpgSince then, the Crossing the Delaware reenactment has occurred every year to relive and recognize this moment.{{cite news| title=Christmas tradition returns to Washington Crossing Historic Park| url=https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/entertainment/2023/10/12/washington-crossing-historic-park-christmas-day-reenactment-delaware-river-crossing-2023-pa-nj/71141927007/| first=Damon C.| last=Williams| date=October 12, 2023| newspaper=Bucks County Courier Times| access-date=December 13, 2024}}

While in Philadelphia on July 6, 1976, Queen Elizabeth presented the Bicentennial Bell on behalf of the British people. The bell is a replica of the Liberty Bell, cast at the same foundry—Whitechapel Bell Foundry—and bearing the inscription "For the People of the United States of America from the People of Britain 4 July 1976 LET FREEDOM RING."{{cite web| title=Bicentennial Bell| url=https://home.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/the-bicentennial-bell.htm| website=Independence National Historical Park| access-date=3 August 2013}}

Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World presented America on Parade, an elaborate parade celebrating American history and culture, and featured the Sherman Brothers' song "The Glorious Fourth". The parade featured nightly fireworks and ran twice daily from June 1975 to September 1976.

Los Angeles observances included the Bicentennial Parade of 1976 on Wilshire Boulevard,{{cite web |url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/403215834922 |title=1976 County of Los Angeles Bicentennial Parade Patch |website=eBay |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204150005/https://www.ebay.com/itm/403215834922 |archive-date=4 February 2022 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |last1=Brundige |first1=Linda |title=American Bicentennial parade on Wilshire Boulevard |url=https://calisphere.org/item/f9aba9ca61107f63e9fcc4b52610afd4/ |website=calisphere |access-date=4 February 2022 |date=1976 |quote=Los Angeles Herald-Examiner photograph Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection}}{{cite web |title=What the 4th of July Looked Like in Vintage Los Angeles |url=https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/what-4th-july-looked-vintage-la |website=Los Angeles Public Library |access-date=4 February 2022}} and the Los Angeles City Schools Bicentennial Pageant at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, broadcast as part of Happy Birthday, America (NBC), hosted by Paul Anka,{{cite web |url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/164513503287 |title=Los Angeles City Schools Bicentennial 1976 Official Program |website=eBay |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204145812/https://www.ebay.com/itm/164513503287 |archive-date=4 February 2022 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=American Revolution Bicentennial, 1976 |url=https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/search/searchterm/American%20Revolution%20Bicentennial,%201976--Anniversaries,%20etc./mode/exact |website=Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection |access-date=4 February 2022 |quote=Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection}}{{cite web |url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/303595406923 |title=1976 Los Angeles Area Council Bicentennial Patch |website=eBay |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204151803/https://www.ebay.com/itm/303595406923 |archive-date=4 February 2022 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=05/28/1976: Happy Birthday America: Los Angeles City School's Bicentennial presentation at the L.A. Coliseum. Paul Anka and family hosts at Los Angeles, California, United States |url=https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/happy-birthday-america-los-angeles-city-school-s-bicentennial-presentation-at-the-l-a-coliseum-paul-anka-and-family-hosts |website=Concert Archives |access-date=4 February 2022}} Pacific 21, a bicentennial exhibition and conference center,{{cite news |title=Bicentennial Center to Open At Los Angeles Site in '76 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/09/archives/bicentennial-center-to-open-at-los-angeles-site-in-76.html |access-date=4 February 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=9 February 1975}} and Knott's Berry Farm bicentennial celebration.{{cite web |title=Photos: SoCal Fourth of July Celebrations of the Past |url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/photos-socal-fourth-of-july-celebrations-of-the-past |website=KCET |date=30 June 2011}}

The overall theme of the entertainment of Super Bowl X, held January 18, was to celebrate the Bicentennial. Players on both teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, wore a special patch with the Bicentennial Logo on their jerseys; the Cowboys also added red, white, and blue striping to their helmets throughout the 1976 NFL season. The halftime show, featuring the performance group Up with People, was entitled "200 Years and Just a Baby: A Tribute to America's Bicentennial".

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) initiated bids to host both the 1976 Summer and Winter Olympic Games in celebration of the Bicentennial. Los Angeles bid for the 1976 Summer Olympics but lost to Montreal. Denver was awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics in 1970, but concern over costs led Colorado voters to reject a referendum to fund the games and the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to Innsbruck, Austria, the 1964 host.{{cite news |last=Sanko |first=John |date=12 October 1999 |title=Colorado only state ever to turn down Olympics |url=http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/millennium/1012stone.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601181029/http://denver.rockymountainnews.com/millennium/1012stone.shtml |archive-date=June 1, 2009 |access-date=2014-07-31 |newspaper=Rocky Mountain News |location=Denver |df=mdy-all}} As a result, there was no Olympics in the United States in 1976 despite a last minute offer from Salt Lake City to host. However, Lake Placid would host the 1980 Winter Olympics, Los Angeles would eventually be awarded the 1984 Summer Olympics, and Salt Lake City would also eventually be awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics.

File:Darrell Johnson Gerald Ford and Sparky Anderson in 1976 (cropped).jpg and Sparky Anderson during ceremonies at the 1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game]]

As site of the Continental Congress and signing of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia served as host for the 1976 NBA All-Star Game, the 1976 National Hockey League All-Star Game, the 1976 NCAA Final Four, and the 1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at which President Ford threw out the first pitch.{{cite news |last=Lyon |first=Bill |date=17 March 2009 |title=Sports helped Philly celebrate Bicentennial |url=http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20090327_Sports_helped_Philly_celebrate_Bicentennial.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330204525/http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20090327_Sports_helped_Philly_celebrate_Bicentennial.html |archive-date=March 30, 2009 |access-date=2009-03-30 |newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer}} The 1976 Pro Bowl was an exception and was played in New Orleans, likely due to weather concerns.

Local observances included painting mailboxes and fire hydrants red, white, and blue. A wave of patriotism and nostalgia swept the nation and there was a general feeling that the irate era of the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate constitutional crisis of 1974 had finally come to an end.

File:South Bend, IN Bicentennial Fire Hydrants.jpg, circa 1976]]

In the summer of 1976, the city of South Bend, Indiana, embarked on a unique project to commemorate the United States Bicentennial: painting its fire hydrants in vibrant colors and patriotic designs. Over four decades later, many of South Bend's painted fire hydrants still stand as reminders of America's Bicentennial celebration.{{cite web |title=Painted fireplugs for the bicentennial celebration of the United States of America |url=https://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/digital/collection/p16827coll7/id/51 |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=michianamemory.sjcpl.org }}

Bell Telephone Company commissioned Stanley Meltzoff to create a cover for its 1976 directory to commemorate both the Bicentennial and the centennial of the invention of the telephone. Based on Norman Rockwell's The Gossips, Meltzoff depicted America's great historic and iconic figures using the telephone. It became the biggest selling directory in Bell's history.[http://www.jklmuseum.com/the-1976-bell-system-telephone-book-cover/ "The 1976 Bell System Telephone Book Cover"] jklmuseum.com; retrieved 2023-09-28

Many national railroads and shortlines painted locomotives or rolling stock in patriotic color schemes, typically numbered 1776 or 1976, and model railroad manufacturers quickly released bicentennial locomotives which were popular among children and adults. Many military units marked aircraft with special designs in honor of the Bicentennial. John Warner served as ARBA director.{{cite web| title=American Revolution Bicentennial Administration – Licensing/Use of Symbol and Flag| work=John Marsh files| publisher=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library| page=31| url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/LIBRARY/document/0067/1563260.pdf| access-date=2014-07-31}}

The New Jersey Lottery operated a special "Bicentennial Lottery" in which the winner received $1,776 per week (before taxes) for 20 years (a total of $1,847,040).

The Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage began a journey from Blaine, Washington on June 8, 1975, concluding at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1976.{{cite web |url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/guides/findingaid/asmuspapers.asp |title=Larry and Pauline Asmus Papers, 1975-77: Bicentennial Wagon Train Participants |publisher=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum}}{{cite web |url=https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.726831204074672.1073741857.336881759736287 |title=1976 Bicentennial Wagon Train to Valley Forge, PA |via=Facebook |website=Old Images of Montgomery County PA}} The wagon train pilgrimage traced the original covered wagon trade and transportation routes across the United States encompassing the Bozeman Trail, California Trail, Gila Trail, Great Wagon Road, Mormon Trail, Natchez Trace Trail, Old Post Road, Old Spanish Trail, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, and Wilderness Road.{{cite web |url=https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/bluecadet/000200152-001.pdf |title=Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage to Pennsylvania |via=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum |publisher=Bicentennial Commission of Pennsylvania}}{{cite web |url=https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/bluecadet/038900000-004.pdf |title=Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage to Pennsylvania 1975-1976 ~ Official Souvenir Program |via=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum |publisher=Bicentennial Commission of Pennsylvania}}

Karen Steele was the first baby born on July 4, 1976, 12 seconds after midnight, and was referred to as the "Bicentennial Baby". She was featured on The Today Show and Good Morning America, and received commemorations from President Ford, New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne, and a host of other notables.

Many commercial products, including sports, apparel and collectibles, appeared in red, white, and blue packages in an attempt to tie them to the Bicentennial. Liberty, a brand of Spanish olives, sold their product in glass jars replicating the Liberty Bell during that time. Products were only permitted to display the trademarked Bicentennial logo by paying a license fee to ARBA.

{{Main|United States Bicentennial coinage}}

The US government also commemorated the Bicentennial through the creation of new designs on national currency. The creation of the ceremonial coinage was both a way to get the American public involved in celebrating the bicentennial, and a way to encourage Americans to collect and purchase more bicentennial memorabilia.

George Washington bicentennial quarter, reverse.jpg|Reverse of the Bicentennial quarter, minted 1975–1976

1976-S 50C Clad Deep Cameo (rev).jpg|Reverse of the Bicentennial Kennedy half dollar, minted 1975–1976

1976S Type1 Eisenhower Reverse.jpg|Reverse of the Bicentennial dollar (Type 1), minted 1975–1976{{cite web |date=January 21, 2010 |title=1976 Eisenhower Dollar Varieties |url=https://eisenhowerdollarguide.com/1976-eisenhower-dollar-varieties/ |access-date=2019-10-24 |website=My Coin Guides}}

1976D Type2 Eisenhower Reverse.jpg|Reverse of the Bicentennial dollar (Type 2), minted 1975–1976

• The Great American Celebration, a 12-hour syndicated entertainment program hosted by Ed McMahon and airing the night of July 3
• The Inventing of America (NBC), a two-hour BBC co-production reviewing 200 years of American technological innovations and their impact on the world, co-hosted by James Burke and Raymond Burr{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/sp482.pdf |title=The Impact of Science on Society |date=1985 |publisher=NASA |page=2 |access-date=2016-05-28}}{{cite news |date=June 27, 1976 |title='Inventing of America' poses, answers queries |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19760627&id=FaxVAAAAIBAJ&pg=4924,7398651&hl=en |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|access-date=2016-05-28 }}
• In Celebration of US (CBS), a 16-hour coverage hosted by Walter Cronkite
• The Glorious Fourth (NBC), a 10-hour coverage hosted by John Chancellor and David Brinkley
• The Great American Birthday Party (ABC), hosted by Harry Reasoner
• Happy Birthday, America (NBC), hosted by Paul Anka from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
• Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star-Spangled Spectacular (NBC)
• Best of the Fourth (NBC), recap with John Chancellor and David Brinkley
• July 4 satellite broadcast of the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band live performance in Moscow (NBC), sponsored by the US Department of State
• Days of Liberty (WABC-TV—New York), an animated holiday special
• Goodbye America (PBS), a mock "newscast" re-enacting a 1776 debate in the House of Commons concerning the future of the Thirteen Colonies
• Eastward Ho! (WPSX-TV), a half-hour documentary about the Bicentennial Wagon Train, produced by Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). Includes the show troupe which traveled with the wagon train and performed at the campsite each night.

The Bicentennial Minute was a series of short vignettes aired on CBS from 1974 through the end of 1976 to mark the occasion.

In the months approaching the Bicentennial, Schoolhouse Rock!, a series of educational cartoon shorts running on ABC between programs on Saturday mornings, created a sub-series called "History Rock", although the official name was "America Rock". The ten segments covered various aspects of American history and government. Several of the segments, most notably "I'm Just a Bill" (discussing the legislative process) and "The Preamble" (which features a variant of the preamble of the Constitution put to music), have become some of Schoolhouse Rock{{'s}} most popular segments.

In 1974, CBS aired a new animated Archie series on Saturday mornings called The U.S. of Archie; 16 episodes were made and were shown in reruns until September 1976.

{{External media|video1=[https://vimeo.com/430182794 Bicentennial City] (June 7, 2020) on Vimeo|float=right}}

For the Bicentennial celebration, Hollywood filmmaker John Huston directed a short movie—Independence (1976)—for the US National Park Service which continues to screen at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.{{cite journal| title=Filming Independence Where It Happened| url=https://theasc.com/articles/flashback-independence| last=Roziman| first=Owen| date=July 1976| journal=American Cinematographer| access-date=December 13, 2024}}{{cite AV media| title=Independence| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVnAlTw4LBw| date=June 26, 2015| people=John Huston (director)| publisher=National Archives and Records Administration| location=College Park, Maryland| via=YouTube| access-date=December 13, 2024}}

The 1976 film Rocky cited the Bicentennial in several scenes, mostly during Apollo Creed's entering; Carl Weathers dressed first as George Washington and then as Uncle Sam.{{cite news| title=Carl Weathers Destroyed His Iconic Rocky Hat With Some Misguided Gardening| url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/carl-weathers-destroyed-his-iconic-rocky-hat-with-some-misguided-gardening/ar-BB1hGELs| date=February 3, 2024| website=MSN| access-date=December 13, 2024}}

The oversized vehicle in the 1976 film The Big Bus had a scene in its Bicentennial Dining Room.

File:Magna Carta Replica.jpg

A number of nations gave gifts to the US as a token of friendship.

The United Kingdom loaned one of the four existing copies of Magna Carta for display in the US Capitol. The document was displayed in a case designed by artist Louis Osman consisting of gold, stainless steel, rubies, pearls, sapphires, diamonds, and white enamel. This was on a base of pegmatite and Yorkshire sandstone. The document was displayed atop a gold replica from June 3, 1976, until June 13, 1977, when it was returned. The case and gold replica remain on display in the Capitol.{{cite web| title=Magna Carta Replica and Display| url=http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/magna_carta_replica_display.cfm| publisher=Architect of the Capitol| access-date=2011-12-01}}

Canada through the National Film Board of Canada produced the book Between Friends/Entre Amis which was a photographic essay of life along the US-Canada border. The book was given to libraries across the US and special editions were presented to President Ford and other officials.{{cite web| title=Lorraine Monk Books| url=http://lorrainemonk.com/books.html| website=LorraineMonk.com| access-date=2011-12-01}}{{cite book| title=Between Friends/Entre Amis| publisher=National Film Board of Canada| year=1976| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfXOMgEACAAJ&q=between+friends/entre+amis| isbn=978-0-7710-6718-1}}

The government of France and Musée du Louvre assembled an exhibit of paintings in cooperation with the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art that traveled to Detroit and New York City after being shown in Paris. The exhibit, entitled French Painting 1774–1830: The Age of Revolution, included the work of 94 French artists from that period. Many of the 149 works in the exhibit had never been seen outside France and included Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix, Jupiter and Thetis by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres and a portrait of Maximilien Robespierre by Adélaïde Labille-Guiard.{{cite news| title=At the Institute of Arts, A Heroic Show from France| url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/98199649/?terms=At%2Bthe%2BInstitute%2Bof%2BArts%2C%2BA%2BHeroic%2BShow%2Bfrom%2BFrance| newspaper=Detroit Free Press| page=D1| date=March 2, 1975| first=Marsha| last=Miro| url-access=subscription}}

Japan's government constructed and furnished the 513-seat Terrace Theatre of Kennedy Center in Washington. Many of the original furnishings were removed when the theater was renovated between 2015 and 2019.{{cite news| title=A Beloved Theater within the Kennedy Center Is Updated to Rave Reviews| url=https://www.retrofitmagazine.com/a-beloved-theater-within-the-kennedy-center-is-updated-to-rave-reviews/| first=Nathan M.| last=Gillette| magazine=Retrofit| date=November 4, 2019| access-date=July 22, 2022}} Fifty-three bonsai trees from the Nippon Bonsai Association were donated to the US National Arboretum.{{cite web| url=https://www.bonsai-nbf.org/museum-history/| title=Museum History| website=National Bonsai Foundation| language=en-US| access-date=2017-03-07}}

King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain presented sculptures of Bernardo de Gálvez, a hero of the American Revolutionary War period and later Viceroy of New Spain; and Don Quixote, Cervantes' fictional hero, on June 3, 1976, on behalf of their nation. The Gálvez sculpture is in a park at Virginia Avenue at 21st Street NW, which has been named Galvez Park.{{cite web| title=Bernado de Galvez (Count de Galvez) 1746-1786, (sculpture)| url=https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!323796~!0#focus| website=Art Inventories Catalob| publisher=Smithsonian American Art Museum| access-date=2019-10-24}} The Don Quixote sculpture was installed nearby on the grounds of The Kennedy Center. Spain's gift also included an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art of eight Goya masterpieces from the collection of {{Lang|es|Museo del Prado}}.{{cite news| title=Kennedy Unit To Get King's Gift| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VEEsAAAAIBAJ&pg=4641%2C1619537| date=May 9, 1976| page=B10| newspaper=Spartanburg Herald-Journal| agency=Associated Press| access-date=2019-10-24}}{{cite news| title=Spain Lends 8 Goyas for Bicentennial| first=Linda| last=Charlton| date=April 22, 1976| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/22/archives/spain-lends-8-goyas-for-bicentennial-spain-lends-8-goyas-for.html| newspaper=The New York Times| page=1| access-date=2019-10-24}}

King of Norway Olav V, Prime Minister of Norway Odvar Nordli, and the Norwegian government established the Vinland National Health Sports Center in Loretto, Minnesota.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4732102.1976.002.umich.edu/page/1950 |title=Remarks Upon Accepting Norway's Bicentennial Gift to the United States - July 2, 1976 |last=Ford |first=Gerald R. |date=July 2, 1976 |via=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Administration |pages=1950–1951}}

Amerigo_vespucci_1976_nyc_aufgetakelt.jpg|Italian tall ship Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor during the celebration

04 Norwgian square rigger Pde of Sail 4 July 76.jpg|Norwegian rigged ship Christian Radich at Operation Sail on July 4, 1976

22 square rigger Pde of sail 4 July 76.jpg|Polish three mast ship Dar Pomorza during the Parade of Sail on July 4, 1976

13-cent Declaration strip of four 1976 U.S. stamp.1.jpg|John Trumbull's 1818 oil painting depicting the introduction of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress

Spirit76-US-PostageStamp.jpg|Archibald Willard {{circa|1875}} oil painting The Spirit of '76 depicting a fife player and two drummers leading the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War

Printer and patriots 1973 U.S. stamp.1.jpg|Patriots utilizing a printing press while examining a colonial pamphlet

Boston Tea Party-1973 issue-3c.jpg|1773 depiction of the Boston Tea Party showing chests of British tea being dumped into Boston Harbor on a late night opposing the Tea Act enacted by Great Britain

Haym Salomon stamp.jpg|Haym Salomon was a colonial paymaster who raised money to help finance the American Revolution.

00PeterFrancisco.jpg|Peter Francisco participated at the Battle of Camden where he physically seized a 1000-pound cannon while departing the battleground occupied by British Redcoats.

00SalemPoor.jpg|Salem Poor participated at the Battle of Bunker Hill and was credited with wounding British Army officer James Abercrombie.

Sybil Ludington stamp.jpg|Sybil Ludington is said to have ridden through the night to advise minutemen that British Redcoats were burning Danbury, Connecticut; these accounts, originating from the Ludington family, are questioned by modern scholars.Paula D. Hunt, "Sybil Ludington, the Female Paul Revere: The Making of a Revolutionary War Heroine." New England Quarterly (2015) 88#2, pp. 187–222, quote p 187 [http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/TNEQ_a_00452 online]{{cite news |title= Did the Midnight Ride of Sibyl Ludington Ever Happen? |last= Tucker |first= Abigail |date= March 2022 |access-date= July 6, 2022 |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-midnight-ride-sibyl-ludington-ever-happen-180979557/ |work= Smithsonian}}{{cite news |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/was-there-really-teenage-female-paul-revere-180962993/ |work= Smithsonian |title= Was There Really a Teenage, Female Paul Revere? |last= Eschner |first= Sybil |date= April 26, 2017 |access-date= July 6, 2022}}

Scott1479.jpg|Patriots acknowledging the spirit of independence by honoring the drummer who marched into battle or the drum as an instrument to alert neighbors of British Redcoats

SOI postrider prev.gif|Patriots acknowledging the spirit of independence by honoring the post riders who delivered mail on horseback

Bicentennial_Souvenir_Buttons.jpg|Six different Bicentennial buttons designed and sent by two art teachers to President Gerald Ford

Bicentennial_Billard_Balls.jpg|A box of 15 billiard balls specifically designed to commemorate the Bicentennial

Bicentennial_Thermometer.jpg|Commemorative pewter Bicentennial thermometer depicts an eagle above a laurel wreath with the "1776" and "1976" written inside

Betty_Ford%27s_%22First_Mama%22_purse.JPG|Betty Ford's "First Mama" purse

1976 Michigan License Plate.jpg|Special Michigan license plate design issued in honor of the bicentennial. Plates of this design were standard issue for all passenger cars registered in Michigan receiving new plates in 1976.

• Bicentennial Minutes
• Bicentennial Series
• Bikecentennial
• Spirit of '76 Patriotic Sentiment
• Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia (1876)
• Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia (1926)
• United States Semiquincentennial (2026)

{{Reflist|group="Note"}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book| last=Capozzola| first=Christopher| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z93tAAAAMAAJ&dq=capozzola+america+in+the+70s&pg=PA29| chapter='It Makes You Want to Believe in the Country': Celebrating the Bicentennial in the Age of Limits| editor1-first=Beth| editor1-last=Bailey| editor2-first=David| editor2-last=Farber| title=America in the 70s| pages=29–45| publisher=Univ of Kansas Press| year=2004| isbn=978-0-7006-1327-4}}
• Gordon, Tammy S. The Spirit of 1976: Commerce, Community, and the Politics of Commemoration. Amherst, Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press, 2013. {{ISBN|9781625340429}}.
• Hall, Simon. [http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/104412/1/AMSHall%20PBC%20Accepted%20Version.pdf {{"'}}Guerrilla Theater...in the Guise of Red, White, and Blue Bunting': The People's Bicentennial Commission and the Politics of (Un-) Americanism."] Journal of American Studies (2016): 1–23.

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.freedomtrain.org The Story of America's Freedom Trains]
• {{Internet Archive film clip|id=tobacco_xbw27a00|description=Tobacco and the Bicentennial}}
• {{Internet Archive film clip|id=dom-23657-200|description=200}}
• {{Internet Archive short film|id=openmind_ep503|name=The American Bicentennial (1976)}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/avproj/Bicentennial.asp |title=Celebration of the Bicentennial of the American Revolution |publisher=Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum}}
• {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4732102.1976.002.umich.edu/page/1963 |title=Remarks in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania |last=Ford |first=Gerald R. |date=July 4, 1976 |website=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |pages=1963–1965}}
• {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/4732102.1976.002.umich.edu/page/1966 |title=Remarks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |last=Ford |first=Gerald R. |date=July 4, 1976 |website=Internet Archive |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=National Archives and Records Service |pages=1966–1971}}
• {{cite book |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000254024 |title=The Bicentennial of the United States of America : A Final Report to the People |author=American Revolution Bicentennial Administration |year=1977 |location=Washington, D.C. |section=Hathi Trust Digital Library |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|isbn=9780960123261 }}

{{United States Declaration of Independence}}

{{American Revolutionary War}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1976 in the United States

Category:July 1976 in the United States

Category:Bicentennial anniversaries

Category:Holidays related to the American Revolution

Category:Presidency of Gerald Ford

Category:United States Declaration of Independence anniversaries