Project 2026

The Declaration of Independence's semiquincentennial will mark 250 years without a democratic constitution. By Luke Pickrell

Next year will mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the U.S. and one of the most influential political statements put to paper. The Declaration marked the beginning of “one of the most momentous upheavals of a whole series of revolutionary events gripping the Atlantic world during the three-quarters of a century from 1775 to 1848–49,” argues historian Jonathan Israel. It has been referenced countless times to support many different national causes, including South Carolina’s succession in 1860 and the Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program. Its international impact was no less profound, influencing revolutionaries in Haiti, France, Canada, Ireland, Greece, and, much later, Vietnam. The Declaration was one of the first sparks that “ignited the world” in an “expanding blaze” that lept across international borders and began the period of “democratic modernity.”

State-sponsored propaganda for the semiquincentennial has been in the works for over a decade. Congress has authorized commemorative coins and postage stamps and the commissioning of “appropriately named naval vessels.” Events are being planned in leading cities such as Boston, Charleston, New York City, and Philadelphia, where a time capsule will be buried with a scheduled unearthing on July 4, 2276. George and Laura Bush, alongside Barack and Michelle Obama, will serve as the Honorary National Co-Chairs of the Semiquincentennial Commission. Donald Trump has promised to throw a "spectacular birthday party." Call it Project 2026. It’s going to be huge, folks.

But something important is lost in the hype: 250 years since the Declaration was signed, the U.S. still lacks a democratic constitution based on universal and equal rights. The Revolution might have “commenced the demolition of the early modern hierarchical world of kings, aristocracy, serfdom, slavery,” but it did not realize a democratic republic based on a system of equal voting rights and a single sovereign legislature. Jefferson’s words — “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” — continue to inspire millions because they are still a dream. Maybe the U.S. will be a democracy worth celebrating when Philadelphia unearths its time capsule on July 4, 2276.

Two-plus centuries without a democracy is long enough. Faced with a deluge of hymes to American “democracy” and, no doubt, a downpour of constitutional praise, we should try our best to reframe the conversation by producing our own propaganda for a democratic constitution. Ours could be a different Project 2026.