Political Remembering and Cultural Forgetting

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver

“As we look towards America’s 250th next year, it’s worth reflecting on the ways in which the events of 1776 and the Revolutionary War were remembered over the decades to follow. Note, for instance, that the Fourth of July did not become a federal holiday until 1870—long after the passing of anyone who remembered the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But in that interval, plenty of local commemorations had sprung up, and many places in the country had their own holidays and celebrations to mark events in the war. Remembrance was local and specific, marking a direct community connection to the war, until mass communication made the commemoration events more national and shared.” (11/25/25)

https://fee.org/articles/political-remembering-and-cultural-forgetting/