In about a month, Americans will celebrate our nation’s semi-quincentennial.
The exact date is open to debate. Was the United States founded when the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776? Or when the Treaty of Paris formally recognized American independence in 1783? Or when the Constitution was ratified and the first presidential election held?
Most Americans don’t spend much time pondering those questions. They associate America 250 with what happened in Philadelphia, where a group of extraordinary men launched an experiment in self-government that changed the world.
But in Michigan, we know there is much more to the American story than the events of 1776.
Long before there was a United States or a Michigan, this land was discovered by French explorers and missionaries. Think Étienne Brûlé, the Rev. Jacques Marquette and the Jesuit black robes who followed him and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.
Then came the British.
After the Seven Years’ War, France surrendered its possessions east of the Mississippi River, including present-day Michigan and all of Canada. That conflict directly contributed to the tensions that eventually erupted into the American Revolution.
For decades, Michiganians could experience part of that history firsthand through the annual Memorial Day weekend reenactment at Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City. But that celebration won’t happen this year out of concern for the way it depicts Native Americans.
Michigan played only a minor role in the Revolutionary War itself, but the consequences of that war shaped our destiny for decades.
The Stars and Stripes did not fly over Michigan until 1796. In the meantime, residents of what is now Michigan voted under the British flag in elections for what is today Ontario’s provincial legislature. Later, the first battle of the War of 1812 was fought on Mackinac Island. That conflict not only secured the future of the United States but also helped place Canada on the path toward self-government as a distinct kingdom under the British crown.
Outside the original 13 colonies, few places can rival Michigan’s history. That makes our state’s indifference toward America 250 more frustrating.
Part of the problem is that too many of our cultural institutions have become consumed by woke ideology.
Instead of telling Michiganians what happened, wokists feel compelled to tell us what we should think about what happened.
Nowhere is this more apparent than at some of our historic sites, where traditional historical interpretation is increasingly being replaced by revisionist narratives. The focus shifts away from explorers, missionaries, soldiers, settlers and statesmen and toward ideological lectures about power, privilege, colonialism and oppression.
The result is predictable.
The semiquincentennial should have been a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tell Michigan’s story. We should be celebrating the explorers who charted our waterways, the missionaries who carried Christianity into the wilderness, the soldiers who fought for control of the Great Lakes and the pioneers who built communities.
Instead, the people entrusted with preserving our history seem uncomfortable with the very idea that our past contains anything worthy of admiration.
The 250th anniversary of the United States should remind us that we are heirs to an extraordinary inheritance.
Unfortunately, while the rest of the country prepares to commemorate America’s founding, Michigan is shrugging.
That’s more than unfortunate. It’s a missed opportunity for an entire generation.
Dennis Lennox is a political commentator and public affairs consultant. Follow @dennislennox on X.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan is missing its America 250 moment | Opinion
Reporting by Dennis Lennox / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dennis Lennox | USA TODAY Network
