What was the name of the 1976 nationwide celebration marking 200 years since the United States Declaration of Independence?

The 1976 nationwide celebration marking 200 years since the United States Declaration of Independence was the United States Bicentennial.

The bicentennial commemorated the Declaration’s adoption in 1776. Celebrations included parades, exhibitions, public ceremonies, school programs, fireworks, and special stamps and coins. Communities across the country organized local events, making the anniversary a nationwide observance rather than a single ceremony.

Philadelphia hosted major bicentennial activities because the city was the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress and the location where the Declaration was adopted. The 1976 observance also coincided with the 200th anniversary of several Revolutionary-era events and institutions.

The bicentennial is a useful comparison for America250. “Bicentennial” means 200 years, while “semiquincentennial” means 250 years. The 2026 America250 commemoration continues the sequence of major national anniversary observances begun with the centennial in 1876.