JANUARY 12, 2026 – Once every 50 years, the United States throws milestone Independence Day celebrations. This year marks the nation’s 250th birthday and fifth semicentennial celebration.
The first was held July 4, 1826, and was known as a “jubilee” celebration. That morning, soldiers, sailors, Marines and state militia, along with political officials, gathered at Lafayette Square in front of the White House to enjoy a performance by the Marine Band.
Service members then paraded onto the White House grounds and gave a passing salute to President John Quincy Adams, who stood on the steps to observe the procession.
Afterward, military personnel escorted Adams, Vice President John C. Calhoun and top-ranking military officers to the Capitol, where participants read the Declaration of Independence to commemorate a half-century of freedom from tyrannical British rule. Following the reading, Adams returned to the White House to host an open house, a tradition started by Thomas Jefferson, America’s third president.
That evening, Washingtonians celebrated the nation’s 50th birthday with a massive fireworks display on the South Lawn of the White House.
Days later, the nation’s jubilee celebrations were overshadowed by news that both Jefferson and John Adams, America’s second president, had died that day, just hours apart.
The year 1826 was relatively peaceful, with the most recent conflicts being the War of 1812, which ended in 1815, and the First Seminole War in Florida, which ended in 1818.
In 1826, James C. Barbour served as secretary of war, leading the Army, and Samuel Southard was secretary of the Navy, which included the Marine Corps.
Soldiers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were busy that year building fortifications. They also worked on vital civil works projects, including building canals and roads, improving river navigation and dredging harbors. There were no railroads or telegraphs yet.
The Navy maintained squadrons in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, focusing on commerce protection and presence. All of the Navy’s ships were made of wood and propelled by sail.
In 1826, the warship USS Vincennes was launched and became the first Navy ship to circumnavigate the globe, projecting American power into the Indo-Pacific. The ship would later blockade the Confederate coastline during the Civil War.
By David Vergun
Pentagon News