Historian Heather Cox Richardson on American self-determination, division and optimism
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we hold these truths to be self-evident, you know, that we have the certain inalienable rights. The reason that that's important, and that is very important, obviously, is because what they are saying with that is they are identifying natural laws, and these laws are always going to be there. And that's important not only for that moment, but also people ask me why I have faith in systems of democracy. And the answer to that is I believe those are natural laws, that human beings have belief in self-determination and that they will create structures to make that self-determination possible.
Hey, everybody, and welcome to Here's the Scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Basugin. We have done it, everybody. We've made it 250 years of this great experiment here in the United States of America. If you think about it, right around this time, on this date, our founding fathers were putting the final touches on the Declaration of Independence, inking those famous lines into history. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. And that document has survived a revolution, a civil war, and a Broadway adaptation. But what hopes and ideals have held up since our founders drafted that declaration? And what will keep this nation going for another 250? For this, I want to bring in Heather Cox Richardson.
She is a history professor at Boston College and a bestselling author. She is best known for her sub stack, Letters from an American, where she's got over 3 million subscribers and another million on her YouTube channel as well. Who knew that so many people wanted to know about history? Heather.
You know, I think in this moment, we're looking back as well as looking forward. But it certainly is wonderful for the historians and the crew because, you know, people don't glaze over any longer when we walk into a room.
Yeah.
How unusual is it for democracy to have lasted 250 years?
Well, remember that when the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, this was the launch of modern democracy.
How unusual is it for American democracy to last 250 years?
So the U.S. stands alone in that, that it has lasted as long as it has. But, of course, we are still working out problems in American democracy. So I think every day that we succeed in doing that is another mark on chalking up the idea that this is a system of government that can work for the majority of people.
There's going to be celebrations around the country on Saturday. Washington, D.C. 's got fireworks happening on the mall. You have Los Angeles hosting America's Block Party, a concert hosted by Queen Latifah. New York City has a parade on the New York Harbor, ships and military flyovers as well. How have we historically celebrated these types of milestones here in the United States?
So that's really interesting how we're doing it this year because generally in the past, there has been an emphasis on the entire country, on the federal government, on the idea that we are building something as a whole country. And in this case, this year, that celebration of the nation really has been taken over by a celebration of President Donald Trump at the federal level. So all of a sudden, you've got cities and states and towns and even individuals celebrating America in their own way, which is interesting for a historian because that looks a lot more like our celebration in America. 1826 than it does, for example, 1976, when there was such an emphasis on the tall ships and on sort of this general national party.
You know, these types of events, they are kind of meant to unify, right? Unify the country, bring people together, especially when public sentiment is not great, which is right now. The last time that America marked a milestone birthday, it was the bicentennial back in 1976. Talk to us about the feeling that people had back then versus what we're seeing now.
Well, you know, first of all, you could make an argument that Americans have been divided in virtually every year of this country's existence. And the reason that matters when you take a look at how we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which is what we are celebrating, not the establishment of the Constitution, which is another cause for celebration.
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