At North Carolina’s Living History Festival, attendees confront pride, pain, and unanswered questions about what it means to be American.
How the Halifax Resolution will shape America’s past, present, and future
250 years ago, Halifax, North Carolina, sparked the American Revolution. Today, its living history speaks for itself.
HALIFAX, North Carolina – Ronnie Mack jumped onto a small stage in a dimly lit public library.. He looked at the 20 or so people sitting in the audience. Then he took a deep breath and told me that the question was bothering him.
On this recent unseasonably warm afternoon, 15-year-old Ronnie was tasked with completing an hour-long lecture on free people of color in the Revolutionary War. It was part of a local three-day living history festival celebrating the 250th anniversary.th The anniversary of the Halifax Resolution, which officially recommended the colonies’ independence from Britain for the first time.
“Why we need to celebrate America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, “What if black people were still enslaved when our Founding Fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution?” he asked. “How do we celebrate a country that promised freedom when freedom was not available to all?”
As our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, people around the world are grappling with similar questions about what it means to be American and whether we should recognize this event.
The milestone celebration comes amid deep political divisions that permeate nearly every aspect of American life, including how people view the country’s history and identity.
A poll released this month by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst found that 62% of Republicans view upcoming commemorations as “proud national milestones,” while a majority of Democrats say they are either not thinking about them or see them as an opportunity to reflect on “unfinished business.”
The political divide is particularly wide in the Halifax suburbs of North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District. The area was considered the only remaining battleground district in the state until Republican lawmakers redrawn electoral maps to make it more conservative earlier this year as part of a nationwide effort to help Republicans maintain control of Congress.
But as throngs of people strolled three blocks downtown on a recent April weekend, past American flag banners, patriotic bunting and red-brick colonial buildings, there was little visible evidence of that polarization.
Although their views on America varied, tourists flocked to historic sites along the Roanoke River for the same reasons. They came to mingle with reenactors seated on grassy knolls, watch musket firing and weaving demonstrations, and learn how 83 people unanimously agreed to claim independence two and a half centuries ago. Five years after the Halifax Resolution was adopted, British troops briefly occupied the town and pillaged the homes, according to the North Carolina Department of Historic Sites and Properties.
look back on the past
Rebecca Lockamy was still thinking about Ronnie’s speech as she walked past rows of cream-colored canvas tents toward a living history presentation called “Tea Time with the Ladies of Halifax.”
The 78-year-old retiree had attended a lecture on freedom for people of color the previous afternoon with her adult daughter.
“it was Really good. he was genuine Good,” Lockamy said.
She listened as Ronnie explained his family tree to the audience, explaining how his sixth great-grandfather fought in the Revolution and how his family was denied equal rights under the Constitution for generations afterward. Ronnie found meaning in the 250th anniversary by celebrating the country’s “unfinished journey to freedom” and the role of family in it.
Lockamy, who is a registered Republican and doesn’t like to talk politics, took the speech as a sort of affirmation. she views 250th As a celebration, it is an opportunity for people to “get along and see the good in things instead of the bad.”
“We know there’s been a bad history in this country, but we’ve tried to improve,” she said. “I can’t say I understand…but I want people who have been treated badly to understand that we are still in the best country in the world.”
A long-simmering national debate about how to tell the nation’s story and which works to highlight has been reignited during this year’s landmark commemorations. National parks across the country are removing plaques about slavery, the genocide of Native Americans and other tragic events to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting exhibits that “disrespect the American people.” And conservative lawmakers have pushed historic sites to present a narrative that promotes “American exceptionalism.”
In Halifax, where the National Subway System to Freedom runs, plaques depicting slave owners’ “Fugitive” newspaper advertisements line the path leading to the Roanoke River.
The visitor center first opened during its bicentennial year and was recently renovated and now features a red, white, and black brick walkway designed by local Native American artist Senora Lynch.
Lori Medlin, president of the Halifax County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the county and historic sites have strived to convey the complexity of America’s past.
“No one is afraid of history,” she said.
Much of the programming in “Halifax Days of Settlement: Prelude to Revolution” reconstructs life in the late 1700s, exploring the motivations of colonists to declare independence and the life-threatening dangers they faced in doing so.
Tanawha Trading Post reenactors sold beeswax candles, buttons, scissors, and wool felt hats and told passersby about British taxes on imported goods. A group of men sat on the gravel lot of the colonial courthouse, remembering the meeting where the Halifax Resolutions were approved.
The three-day event schedule also included lectures about African American soldiers during the Revolutionary War, living history performances depicting “freedom seekers,” and Native American ceremonies led by the local Haliwa Saponi Indian tribe.
“We have sanitized history to the point where we remove all sound.I“Here you can touch things and see something tangible,” said Jeff Dickens, who played one of the state House delegates. That makes more sense to people. They can relate to it. ”
politics in your head
Outside the current county courthouse, people lined up for a food truck serving wood-fired pizza. Then they sat along the curb and bent over the slices.
Joe and Betsy Hester searched for nearby shade. They drove from a farm in Nash County, south of Halifax, to watch the festivities.
Betsy Hester wore a bright red shirt that read “Due Process.” As she walked through historic Halifax, she said she couldn’t help but think about modern-day politics.
Thinking about this milestone anniversary of the nation’s founding brings up a variety of emotions, including fear, sadness, and love for the country. Mr. Hester, 72, a self-identified moderate Democrat, questioned whether the country’s “great experiment” would survive beyond President Trump’s tenure.
“People are being taken off the streets without due process,” interjected her husband, Joe Hester, 78. “That’s not America.”
Still, they were proud to be Americans.
“We love history, we love our state, we love our country. We would have been here regardless,” Betsy Hester said. “We’re celebrating ‘We the people.'”
Some explore festivals that reflect today’s political climate.
Joshua Horn: “It’s just so moving to remember what people across the county have sacrificed to protect our freedom.”, He spoke before visiting the Living History Demonstration on the 30th. He and his wife took their young children to see the reenactment.
“You could in principle use more standing these days,” he says. “Both.”
A University of Massachusetts poll of 1,000 Americans found that 74% believe there is more that unites people than divides them. It turns out that most people believe that the values expressed in the Declaration of Independence still guide the country today and have led it to progress.
Looking around the excavation site where 83 delegates unanimously adopted the Halifax resolution, Gary McCullough, 76, reflected on the lessons he learned from the documents as a teenager growing up in the area.
“They were determined. It’s in the words. They were determined to do something,” McCullough said. “Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, it’s time to get something done.”
Carissa Wadick covers America’s 250th anniversary on USA TODAY. Contact him at kwaddick@usatoday.com.
