Independence Day: A divided US marks milestone on July 4th

On this day, 246 years ago, the rebellious inhabitants of a vast, sparsely populated country declared themselves free of the tyranny of colonialism – the first Independence Day.

They said: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour.”

Americans will be celebrating that 1776 Declaration of Independence on July 4th, at a time when their country is probably more divided than it has been since the Civil War ripped it apart in the 1860s.

The election of Donald Trump as president in 2016 and his refusal to accept his defeat in the elections in 2020 has widened the schism between conservatives and liberals.

Currently, America is listening to hearings about what happened on 6 January last year, when Trump supporters attempted to storm the Capitol building in Washington, in what some regard as an insurrection in support of Trump who, as he awaited the installation of incoming president Joe Biden, appeared to give the assault his tacit support.

That may yet result in criminal charges against him.

Then there was the Supreme Court decision of last month, which rocked the country by overturning the Roe vs Wade decision from the 1970s, effectively allowing states to ban abortion… and giving the Christian fundamentalist political agenda a huge boost.

Yet, while America may be eating away at itself internally, the country is still a colossus on the world stage, because there is little real difference in foreign policy between Democratic or Republican governments.

The United States still considers itself to be the “world’s policeman”.

And at this particular stage in history, Washington still has its fingers on the triggers of the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world, while facing down an unpredictable and bellicose Vladimir Putin.

However, the sort of democracy the American Founding Fathers stood for, is still an ideal the rest of the world can strive towards.