The United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary, known also as the Semiquincentennial, on July 4, 2026, marking two and a half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Communities across the country are planning parades, concerts, historical reenactments, museum exhibits, volunteer projects, and fireworks displays, to honor the nation’s history and look toward its future.

People can celebrate by visiting local landmarks, learning about the stories of the Founding Era, supporting community events, exploring family history, or participating in service activities that strengthen their neighborhoods. The anniversary is also an opportunity to reflect on the ideals of liberty, democracy, and civic participation that continue to shape the country today. Nationally, America 250 (america250.org) is an initiative designed to encourage this type of engagement and has some shared national events planned for July 3-5. The State of Iowa is also commemorating this historic anniversary by promoting Ready. Set. Vote. 250 at public agencies statewide, including many schools and libraries, as well as through businesses and community groups.

Here are some books that can provide a history refresher as you prepare to celebrate the nation:

A people’s history of the American Revolution : how common people shaped the fight for independenceby Ray Raphael

“In ‘A People’s History of the American Revolution’, Ray Raphael masterfully reframes the narrative of America’s struggle for independence by spotlighting the unheralded voices that shaped its course—ordinary citizens, women, slaves, and Native Americans. Rather than focusing solely on the elite founding fathers and celebrated generals, Raphael delves into the experiences and sacrifices of the myriad individuals who fought, suffered, and persevered at the grassroots level. This compelling retelling brings to life the gritty, complex reality of a revolution forged not just in grandiose battles but in the everyday resilience and resolve of diverse, often overlooked, patriots. By illuminating these untold stories, Raphael invites readers to reconsider and deepen their understanding of the very fabric of America’s revolutionary past, making this history not just about the people, but for the people.”

The pursuit of happiness : how classical writers on virtue inspired the lives of the founders and defined America by Jeffrey Rosen

“The Declaration of Independence identified ‘the pursuit of happiness’ as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty. Jeffrey Rosen profiles six of the most influential founders–Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton–to show what pursuing happiness meant in their lives. By reading the classical Greek and Roman moral philosophers who inspired the Founders, Rosen shows us how they understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good–the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity, which the Founders viewed as part of a daily struggle for self-improvement, character development, and calm self-mastery. They believed that political self-government required personal self-government. For all six Founders, the pursuit of virtue was incompatible with enslavement of African Americans, although the Virginians betrayed their own principles”.

The American Revolution : an intimate historyby Geoffrey C. Ward

“From the award-winning historian and filmmakers of The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, The Roosevelts, and others: a richly illustrated, human-centered history of America’s founding struggle-expanding on the landmark, six-part PBS series to be aired in November 2025 ‘From a small spark kindled in America, a flame has arisen not to be extinguished.’ -Thomas Paine. In defeating the British Empire and giving birth to a new nation, the American Revolution turned the world upside down. Thirteen colonies on the Atlantic coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired independence movements and democratic reforms around the globe.The American Revolution was at once a war for independence, a civil war, and a world war, fought by neighbors on American farms and between global powers an ocean or more away. In this sumptuous volume, historian Geoffrey C. Ward ably steers us through the international forces at play, telling the story not from the top down but from the bottom up-and through the eyes of not only our “Founding Fathers” but also those of ordinary soldiers, as well as underrepresented populations such as women, African Americans, Native Americans, and American Loyalists, asking who exactly was entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Enriched by guest essays from lauded historians such as Vincent Brown, Maya Jasanoff, and Alan Taylor, and by an astonishing array of prints, drawings, paintings, texts, and pamphlets from the time period, as well as newly commissioned art and maps-and woven together with the words of Thomas Paine- The American Revolution reveals a nation still grappling with the questions that fueled its remarkable founding.”

The American Revolution : a world war

“The American Revolution: A World War argues that contrary to popular opinion, the American Revolution was not just a simple battle for independence in which the American colonists waged a “David versus Goliath” fight to overthrow their British rulers. Instead, the essays in the book illustrate how the American Revolution was a much more complicated and interesting conflict. It was an extension of larger skirmishes among the global superpowers in Europe, chiefly Britain, Spain, France, and the Dutch Republic. Amid these ongoing conflicts, Britain’s focus was often pulled away from the war in America as it fought to preserve its more lucrative colonial interests in the Caribbean and India. The book, the illustrated companion volume to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History exhibition of the same name, touches on this and other topics including overseas empires, economic rivalries, supremacy of the seas, European diplomacy, and more. Together the book’s incisive text, full-color images, and topical sidebars underscore that America’s fight for independence is most clearly comprehended as one of the first global struggles for power.”–Amazon.com

The cause : the American Revolution and its discontents, 1773-1783 by Joseph J. Ellis

“A culminating work on the American Founding by one of its leading historians, The Cause rethinks the American Revolution as we have known it. George Washington claimed that anyone who attempted to provide an accurate account of the war for independence would be accused of writing fiction. At the time, no one called it the “American Revolution”: former colonists still regarded themselves as Virginians or Pennsylvanians, not Americans, while John Adams insisted that the British were the real revolutionaries, for attempting to impose radical change without their colonists’ consent. With The Cause, Ellis takes a fresh look at the events between 1773 and 1783, recovering a war more brutal than any in American history save the Civil War and discovering a strange breed of “prudent” revolutionaries, whose prudence proved wise yet tragic when it came to slavery, the original sin that still haunts our land. Written with flair and drama, The Cause brings together a cast of familiar and forgotten characters who, taken together, challenge the story we have long told ourselves about our origins as a people and a nation”.

Killing England : the brutal struggle for American independence by Bill O’Reilly

“Told through the eyes of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Great Britain’s King George III, Killing England chronicles the path to independence in gripping detail, taking the reader from the battlefields of America to the royal courts of Europe. What started as protest and unrest in the colonies soon escalated to a world war with devastating casualties. O’Reilly and Dugard recreate the war’s landmark battles, including Bunker Hill, Long Island, Saratoga, and Yorktown, revealing the savagery of hand-to-hand combat and the often brutal conditions under which these brave American soldiers lived and fought. Also here is the reckless treachery of Benedict Arnold and the daring guerilla tactics of the ‘Swamp Fox’ Frances Marion”.

The American Revolution : a history by Gordon S. Wood

“The American Revolution: A History is a masterful, concise account that balances narrative storytelling with historical analysis. It provides readers with a deep understanding of the Revolution’s causes, events, and consequences, while highlighting the enduring ideals and social transformations that emerged from this pivotal period in American history.“

A documentary history of the United States by Richard D. Heffner

“Here, in a single volume, are the documents (speeches, letters, tweets, Supreme Court decisions, and more) that have forged American history. This 11th edition is now updated with a new chapter on the COVID-19 pandemic, the January 6, 2021 insurrection, and the Biden presidency. Accompanied by interpretations of their significance by noted historian Richard D. Heffner and journalist Alexander B. Heffner, the important documents in this book include: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States, Frederick Douglass’ “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?”, The Monroe Doctrine, The Emancipation Proclamation, Woodrow Wilson’s War Message to Congress, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech, John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s letter from the Birmingham City Jail, The National Organization for Women (NOW) Statement of Purpose, Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Decision, Documents related to September 11 and the Iraq War, Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech, Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump.”-

This fierce people : the untold story of America’s Revolutionary War in the South by Alan Pell Crawford

“A groundbreaking, important recovery of history; the overlooked story-fully explored, of the critical aspect of America’s Revolutionary War that was fought in the South showing that the British surrender at Yorktown was the direct result of the southern campaign and, that the battles that emerged south of the Mason-Dixon line between loyalists to the Crown and patriots who fought for independence were, in fact, America’s first civil war. The famous battles that form the backbone of the story put forth of American independence-at Lexington and Concord, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, and Monmouth, while crucial, did not lead to the surrender at Yorktown. It was in the three-plus years between Monmouth and Yorktown that the war was won. Alan Pell Crawford’s riveting new book, This Fierce People, tells the story of these missing three years, long ignored by historians, and of the fierce battles fought in the south that made up the central theater of military operations in the latter years of the Revolutionary War, upending the essential American myth that the War of Independence was fought primarily in the north. Weaving throughout the stories of the heroic men and women, largely unsung patriots-African Americans and whites, militiamen and ‘irregulars,’ Patriots and Tories, Americans, Frenchmen, Brits and Hessians, Crawford reveals the misperceptions and contradictions of our accepted understanding of how our nation came to be, as well as the national narrative that America’s victory over the British lay solely with General George Washington and his troops”.

We the women : the hidden heroes who shaped America by Norah O’Donnell

“Over a decades-long, distinguished career, award-winning journalist Norah O’Donnell has made it her mission to shed light on untold women’s stories. Now, in honor of America’s 250th birthday, O’Donnell focuses that passion on sharing the stories of American heroines who helped change the course of history. We the Women presents a new and extraordinary retelling of American history through the eyes of women, introducing us to inspiring patriots who demanded that the country live up to the promises made 250 years ago in the Declaration of Independence: that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The pressing question from women since the signing of the document has been: Why don’t those unalienable rights apply to us? Through extensive research and interviews, as well as old photos and historic documents, O’Donnell curates a compelling portrait of these fierce fighters for freedom. From Mary Katharine Goddard, who printed the first signed Declaration of Independence, to the Forten family women, considered the “Black Founders” of Philadelphia who were active in the abolition and suffrage movements, to the first women who served in the Armed Forces even before they had the right to vote, O’Donnell brings these extraordinary women together for the first time, and in doing so, writes the American story anew.”

Founding mothers : the women who raised our nation by Cokie Roberts

“Cokie Roberts’s number one New York Times bestseller, We Are Our Mothers’ Daughters, examined the nature of women’s roles throughout history and led USA Today to praise her as a “custodian of time-honored values.” Her second bestseller, From This Day Forward, written with her husband, Steve Roberts, described American marriages throughout history, including the romance of John and Abigail Adams. Now Roberts returns with Founding Mothers, an intimate and illuminating look at the fervently patriotic and passionate women whose tireless pursuits on behalf of their families — and their country — proved just as crucial to the forging of a new nation as the rebellion that established it. While much has been written about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, battled the British, and framed the Constitution, the wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters they left behind have been little noticed by history. Roberts brings us the women who fought the Revolution as valiantly as the men, often defending their very doorsteps. While the men went off to war or to Congress, the women managed their businesses, raised their children, provided them with political advice, and made it possible for the men to do what they did. The behind-the-scenes influence of these women — and their sometimes very public activities — was intelligent and pervasive. Drawing upon personal correspondence, private journals, and even favored recipes, Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of these fascinating women, bringing to life the everyday trials and extraordinary triumphs of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Read Franklin, Eliza Pinckney, Catherine Littlefield Green, Esther DeBerdt Reed, and Martha Washington — proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might never have survived. Social history at its best, Founding Mothers unveils the drive, determination, creative insight, and passion of the other patriots, the women who raised our nation. Roberts proves beyond a doubt that like every generation of American women that has followed, the founding mothers used the unique gifts of their gender — courage, pluck, sadness, joy, energy, grace, sensitivity, and humor — to do what women do best, put one foot in front of the other in remarkable circumstances and carry on.”

The ride : Paul Revere and the night that saved America by Kostya Kennedy

“Timed for the 250th anniversary of one of America’s most famous founding events: Paul Revere’s legendary ride, newly told with fresh research into little-known aspects of the myth that every American learns in school On April 18, 1775, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and anti-British political operative named Paul Revere set out on a borrowed horse to fulfill a dangerous but crucial mission: to alert American colonists of advancing British troops, which would seek to crush their nascent revolt. Revere was not the only rider that night, and indeed, he had completed at least 18 previous rides throughout New England, disseminating intelligence about British movements. But this ride was like no other, and its consequences in the months and years to come-as the American Revolution morphed from isolated skirmishes to a full-fledged war-became one of our founding legends. In The Ride, Kostya Kennedy presents a dramatic new narrative of the events of April 18 and 19, 1775, informed by fresh primary and secondary source research into archives, family letters and diaries, contemporary accounts, and more. Kennedy reveals Revere’s ride to be more complex than it is usually portrayed-a coordinated series of rides by numerous men, near-disaster, capture by British forces, and finally success. While Revere was central to the ride and its plotting, Kennedy reveals the other men (and, perhaps, a woman with information about the movement of British forces) who helped to set in motion the events that would lead to America’s independence. Thrillingly written in a dramatic, unstoppable narrative, The Ride re-tells an essential American story for a new generation of readers”