Declarations

For me, the American Bicentennial celebrations in 1776 came and went without leaving much of an impact. I was not yet four years old, so am unsure of what I do remember, though certain impressions (crowds, heat, loud sounds) persist. I do remember the atmosphere of the year: lots of red, white, and blue kitsch. A resurgence in Holly Hobbyized “Colonial” fashion. Wrought iron plaques on garage doors and the siding of split level ranches, indicating the inhabitants’ connection to the Colonial era. What I remember happened five years later, during the celebration of the Yorktown Bicentennial, celebrating the final battle of the Revolutionary War and the surrender by General Cornwallis to the American forces. We visited during that four day period when the crowds of adults weren’t there, as part of a crowd of schoolchildren bussed in on massive field trips. In early October in Tidewater it was still hot; the grass of the field was scratchy; and the event struck the right balance between…