Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: Letters from an American

Episode: Americans’ Civic Identity

Host: Heather Cox Richardson
Date: May 18, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Heather Cox Richardson explores the ongoing efforts to reshape America’s civic identity by intertwining Christianity and nationalism. She uses the recent “Rededicate 250” event on the National Mall as a focal point to examine how current political leadership is attempting to rewrite the nation’s founding values—from Enlightenment ideals of equality and self-government to a Christian nationalist vision demanding obedience and deference to authority. Richardson contrasts this narrative with the historical reality of America’s secular founding and its tradition of active, questioning citizenship.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Rededicate 250" Event

[00:07–01:40]

On May 17, 2026, thousands convened in Washington, D.C., for “Rededicate 250”—an evangelical worship event aiming to ‘rededicate’ the US to Christianity as part of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
This event, and similar planned activities, are described as an attempt by the Trump administration to recast America’s history, taking it from “champions of Enlightenment values of natural rights, equality and self government to one that requires Americans to accept that some people are better than others and to defer to their leaders.”

2. Political and Financial Takeover of the Anniversary Celebrations

[01:41–03:32]

The bipartisan “America 250 Commission,” created in 2016, was originally tasked with planning the anniversary.
Upon taking office for a second term in 2025, Trump and allies sidelined this commission, creating “Freedom 250” and shifting congressional funds—allocating $100 million to Freedom 250 and only $50 million to America 250.
Major sponsors for Freedom 250 include ExxonMobil, MasterCard, Deloitte, Palantir, and IndyCar, with allowances for donors to remain anonymous.
Freedom 250 events have focused on promoting Trump personally (e.g., an IndyCar race, triumphal arch, UFC event on the White House lawn) rather than commemorating historical themes.

3. Messaging and Christian Nationalism at the Event

[03:33–05:00]

President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and other administration leaders gave video speeches to assert the US was founded as a Christian nation.
The event’s clergy lineup was almost exclusively right-wing evangelicals.
Trump’s speech recycled a biblical passage (2 Chronicles 7:11–22), which Christian nationalists cite as proof of the US’s supposed Christian foundation. The passage focuses on humility and obedience to God, promising deliverance or destruction based on the nation’s faithfulness.

Quote [04:01]: “When the Lord says to Solomon, if my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

4. Historical Reality: The Secular Founding of the US

[05:01–06:37]

Richardson emphasizes that “the United States of America was not founded as a Christian nation,” citing the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli, which clearly stated the US government “is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”
Founding Fathers like Jefferson and Madison argued passionately for separating government and religion.

Quote [05:56], Jefferson: “Religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship. The legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not religious opinions.”

Quote [06:21], Madison: “The establishment of one religion over others attacked a fundamental human right, an unalienable right of conscience... If lawmakers could destroy the right of freedom of conscience, they could destroy all other unalienable rights.”

5. America’s True Civic Religion: Self-Government and Citizen Responsibility

[06:38–08:15]

Rather than founding the country on religion, the framers instilled reverence for “core political values, especially the right of self government and the checks and balances that made that self-government possible.”
This civic identity required citizens to “think for themselves, question elected officials, and take an active role in their government.”

Quote [08:03]: “They must think for themselves, question elected officials, and take an active role in their government.”

6. The Dangers of Christian Nationalism & Redefining Citizenship

[08:16–09:29]

Richardson warns that promoting Christian nationalism undermines the active, questioning, and participatory role Americans are supposed to play in democracy, instead turning citizens into obedient subjects.
She notes this “theme of obeying the leader runs deep in Trump’s politics and in MAGA more generally,” spotlighting how the biblical passage (used again at the January 6 insurrection) is being leveraged to equate loyalty to Trump with obedience to God.
At the event, buttons handed out read “wives submit, husbands love, children obey”—reflecting a vision of hierarchical, unquestioning obedience.

Quote [08:52]: “But blindly obeying authority has never been the story of America. From its origins in resistance to the British government, the story of America has been the opposite of obeying.”

7. America’s True Story: Active Citizenship and Struggle for Equality

[09:30–09:50]

The episode concludes by reaffirming that the nation’s legacy is one of “questioning, debating, criticizing leaders and working to build a more perfect union,” not blind obedience.
Richardson underscores that America’s central narrative is the ongoing—and often incomplete—effort to fulfill the ideals of equality and participatory government.

Quote [09:44]: “The story of America is how those who believed in the principles of democracy... have struggled to make the belief that we are all created equal and have a right to have a say in our government come true.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the redefinition of civic identity:
“Replacing Americans civic identity with Christian nationalism destroys that vitally important understanding of the role of citizens in a democracy. Instead, it demands that Americans do as they are told, turning them into subjects.” [08:20]
On historical context:
“The United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion and has no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of Muslims.” [05:24, quoting Treaty of Tripoli]
On American values:
“...the story of America has been the opposite of obeying. It has been about questioning, debating, criticizing leaders and working to build a more perfect union, as the framers charged us to do.” [09:01]

Important Segment Timestamps

[00:07] – Introduction: Rededicate 250 event context and purpose
[01:41] – Politicization of America 250 celebrations, funding, and sponsorships
[03:33] – Messaging at the event and Christian nationalist framing
[05:01] – Refuting the myth of America as a Christian nation (Treaty of Tripoli)
[05:56] – Quotes from Jefferson and Madison on separation of church and state
[06:38] – America’s true civic values and civic religion
[08:16] – Dangers of replacing civic engagement with religious obedience
[09:30] – Conclusion and affirmation of American ideals

Tone and Original Language

Richardson maintains a clear, fact-based, and historically grounded narrative. Her tone is urgent yet measured, invoking direct historical evidence and primary sources to counter modern-day political rhetoric. She places current events within the larger story of American democracy and the ongoing struggle for equality and self-government, appealing to both reason and national identity.

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Transcript3 lines

[00:07]
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May 17, 20206 thousands of people gathered today on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to engage in an eight hour taxpayer funded evangelical worship event to rededicate the nation to Christianity. The Rededicate 250, a national Jubilee of prayer, praise and thanksgiving, is part of the Trump administration's attempt to use the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence to rewrite America's history, turning it from one that champions the Enlightenment values of natural rights, equality and self government to one that requires Americans to accept that some people are better than others and to defer to their leaders. This was not Congress's intent when it established a bipartisan America 250 Commission in 2016 to plan and orchestrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But shortly after he took office for the second time in January 2025, Trump and his loyalists began to take over the planning for the nation's birthday celebration. As Dan Friedman and Amanda Moore of Mother Jones explained, right wing operatives, including the company that staged the January 6, 2021 rally near the White House before the attack on capital, jumped into the management of America 250. But Trump chafed under the idea of congressional oversight and a pretense of bipartisanship. So in December 2025 he created his own new organization, Freedom 250. Congress appropriated $150 million for the Department of the Interior to distribute to organizations for celebrations of the 250th. Of that money, America 250 has been allocated $50 million and Freedom 250 has been allocated $100 million. Although as of February, America 250 had received only 25 million. Freedom 250 has also solicited donations in exchange for access to Trump. According to Carissa Waddick of USA Today, sponsors include ExxonMobil, MasterCard, Deloitte Palantir and IndyCar. Donors can also request anonymity. As Kenneth P. Vogel, Lisa Friedman and David Fahrenhold of the New York Times explained in February, Freedom250 has planned events that showcase Trump rather than important events and themes in the nation's history. Those include an IndyCar race around the National Mall, the construction of a triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial, an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on the White house lawn on Trump's 80th birthday in June, and today's Rededicate 250 event. President Trump was golfing today, but he, along with Vice President J.D. vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke on video to the crowd, assuring them that the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, spoke in person. All but one of the 19 clergy and faith leaders who spoke were Christian and most were right wing evangelical Protestants. The video of Trump the organizers played was the same one he recorded three weeks ago for America Rea the Bible. The passage was 2 Chronicles 7, 11:22 one Christian nationalists believe marks the US as a Christian nation. When the Lord says to Solomon, if my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. But the United States of America was not founded as a Christian nation. The Founders were quite clear about that. In the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli, ratified unanimously by the Senate just a decade after the Constitution went into effect, U.S. leaders said the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion and has no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of Muslims. They went on to say that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the US And Tripoli. Thomas Jefferson, the key author of the Declaration of Independence, and James Madison of Virginia, the key thinker behind the Constitution, both wrote explicitly about the importance of keeping the government separate from religion. Jefferson wrote that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship. The legitimate powers of government reach actions only, he wrote, and not religious opinions. In 1785, Madison explained that what was at stake in keeping the state and religion separate was not just religion but also representative government itself. The establishment of one religion over others attacked a fundamental human right, an unalienable right of conscience. If lawmakers could destroy the right of freedom of conscience, they could destroy all other unalienable rights, including those enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and codified in the Constitution. Those in charge of government could throw representative government out the window and make themselves tyrants. Rather than basing the United States on religion, the nation's founders and framers as well as Americans of later generations, sought to instill in Americans reverence for the nation's core political values, especially the right of self government and the checks and balances that made that self government possible. In speeches and memorials, novels and poems, they emphasized the sacrifices Americans had made to protect the the values embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. That civic religion unified the nation, but it did more than that. It also instructed Americans on the rights and duties of citizens who live in a nation that rests on we the people. They must think for themselves, question elected officials, and take an active role in their government. Replacing Americans civic identity with Christian nationalism destroys that vitally important understanding of the role of citizens in a democracy. Instead, it demands that Americans do as they are told, turning them into subjects. The theme of obeying the leader runs deep in Trump's politics and in maga more generally. The Bible passage Trump read on video today emphasizes obedience, warning the chosen people that if they forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, then they will be destroyed. Cowboys for Trump founder Coy Griffin read the same passage at the January 6, 2021 insurrection, suggesting that overturning democracy for Trump was obeying the Lord. Laura Jadeed of Firewalled Media reported that vendors at today's event handed out buttons that said wives submit, husbands love, children obey, but blindly Obeying authority has never been the story of America. From its origins in resistance to the British government, the story of America has been the opposite of obeying. It has been about questioning, debating, criticizing leaders and working to build a more perfect union, as the framers charged us to do. The story of America is how those who believed in the principles of democracy, those ideals articulated by the Founders, however imperfectly they live them, have struggled to make the belief that we are all created equal and have a right to have a say in our government come true.
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Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dedham, MA. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss,
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it.