250 Years Later, Why We’re Still Fighting About Our Founding

The 250th anniversary of the United States reveals a deep fracture in how Americans interpret the nation's founding. While the political right increasingly claims the founding myth to assert national identity and patriotism, the left often engages in "myth-busting," focusing on historical realities like slavery and dispossession. This fixation on facts, while necessary, risks fostering cynicism and abandoning the search for shared meaning. Reporter Jia Lynn Yang argues that a path forward involves reclaiming the founding documents—not as static objects, but as a roadmap for progress. By following the example of Frederick Douglass, who used the Declaration of Independence to demand equality, Americans can move beyond partisan silos. Reimagining the founding as a living, aspirational project offers a way to navigate current divisions and define the country’s future identity.