MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds that only 26% of Americans have read or heard a lot about the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence coming on July 4. Another 57% say they have heard some about the Semiquincentennial, while 17% have heard nothing at all about it.
This modest size of the group most engaged, accompanied by a larger share who are moderately engaged, is a theme running through the findings of this poll of how Americans feel about their country on this commemoration of the nation’s birth. Relatively small percentages are the most involved with, most proud of, and most optimistic about the country, while a considerably larger share are positive in their feelings but not strongly so.
A consistent minority express relatively negative views of the current state of the nation and its future prospects.
This pattern was also found 50 years ago on the 200th anniversary of the Declaration. In a Roper Organization poll conducted June 12-19, 1976, 28% said they were following news about the Bicentennial closely, with 50% following casually and 22% paying no attention. Raw data from the 1976 survey were provided by the Roper Center data archive at Cornell University, with analysis conducted by Marquette Law School Poll staff.
Interest in the 250th commemoration is also mixed, with just 17% who say they are very interested and another 39% who are fairly interested, while 31% are not too interested and 13% are not at all interested. Here, too, the similarity to 1976 is striking. In the Roper poll, 18% were very interested, 43% fairly interested, 26% not too interested, and 11% not at all interested.
The new Marquette Law survey was conducted June 9-15, 2026, interviewing 1,514 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-2.7 percentage points.
One substantial difference from 50 years ago is found in the partisan patterns of interest and attention to the Declaration’s anniversary. President Donald Trump has emphasized the 250th anniversary and assumed control of some related celebrations, recently declaring it will be the “most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all” on his Truth Social account. This association of the July 4 events with the president is reflected in more substantial interest in the event among Republicans and Trump supporters and much less interest among Democrats and those who disapprove of the president.
Those who strongly approve of Trump are most likely to say they are very or fairly interested in the 250th celebrations, while interest declines as approval declines, as shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)
Table 1: Interest in 250th anniversary, by Trump approval
Among adults
| Trump approval | Interest in 250th | |
| Very/fairly interested | Not too/not at all interested | |
| Among all adults | 57 | 43 |
| Strongly approve | 88 | 12 |
| Somewhat approve | 71 | 29 |
| Somewhat disapprove | 58 | 42 |
| Strongly disapprove | 39 | 61 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey June 9-15, 2026 | ||
| Question: How interested are you personally in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence? | ||
This pattern is also clear by partisanship, with Republicans much more interested than independents or Democrats. In contrast, in 1976 there was very little difference across partisan categories, as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Interest in Semiquincentennial and Bicentennial, by party identification
Among adults
| Party ID | Interest | |
| Very/fairly interested | Not too/not at all interested | |
| Semiquincentennial | ||
| Among all adults | 57 | 43 |
| Republican | 76 | 24 |
| Independent | 50 | 49 |
| Democrat | 43 | 57 |
| Bicentennial | ||
| Among all adults | 61 | 38 |
| Republican | 66 | 33 |
| Independent | 56 | 44 |
| Democrat | 63 | 35 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey June 9-15, 2026. Roper Organization national survey, June 12-19, 1976 | ||
| Question: Marquette 2026: How interested are you personally in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence? | ||
| Question: Roper 1976: How interested are you personally in the Bicentennial Celebration? | ||
Beyond general interest, 20% say they have recently watched a television show or a movie about the American Revolution, and 18% have recently read a book or an article about it. Unlike general interest in the anniversary, there is little partisan difference in viewing shows or reading about the revolution.
Views of the country
A majority of adults have positive views of the country, but more are moderately positive rather than strongly so.
A sizable 75% either strongly or somewhat agree that America is a better country than most other countries. This positive view is about evenly divided, with 35% who strongly agree and 40% who somewhat agree. Only 7% strongly disagree, with 19% who somewhat disagree.
A similar view holds of how well the country has succeeded in achieving the ideals of the founding, with 71% saying a great deal or a fair amount, but with more saying a fair amount, 53% rather than a great deal, 18%. Among those saying we have fallen short of the revolution’s ideals, 24% say we have “not very much” achieved the ideals, while 5% that those ideals have been not at all achieved.
Sixty-six percent are very or somewhat proud of who we are as a country, with 28% very proud and 38% somewhat proud. Almost a quarter, 24%, are not very proud and 10% are not at all proud.
Americans are evenly divided on the country’s future as a democracy, with 52% who are very or somewhat optimistic. Here, limited optimism is much greater, with 41% who are somewhat optimistic and only 11% very optimistic. A sizable 36% are not very optimistic, and 12% are not at all optimistic about the future.
There are significant differences across partisan and generational lines in these views, with more modest differences by race. Republicans and older adults are more positive than are Democrats and younger people, though majorities remain positive on these topics except pride in the country and optimism for the future, where some groups fall short of a positive majority.
Majorities of each partisan, age, and racial or ethnic group strongly or somewhat agree that America is better than most other countries. Racial and ethnic groups are generally similar in their positive views, while partisan gaps are large, as are differences by age. These comparisons are shown in Table 3.
Table 3: America is better than most countries, by party identification, age, and race/ethnicity
Among adults
| America is better | ||
| Strongly/somewhat agree | Strongly/somewhat disagree | |
| Party ID | ||
| Republican | 93 | 7 |
| Independent | 59 | 41 |
| Democrat | 62 | 38 |
| Age | ||
| 18-29 | 58 | 42 |
| 30-44 | 70 | 30 |
| 45-59 | 79 | 21 |
| 60+ | 85 | 15 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| White | 77 | 23 |
| Black | 65 | 35 |
| Hispanic | 70 | 30 |
| Other/Multiple | 80 | 20 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey June 9-15, 2026 | ||
| Question: How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Generally speaking, America is a better country than most other countries? | ||
Opinion of how well the country has achieved the ideals of the American Revolution show majorities saying we’ve achieved a great deal or a fair amount of those ideals, but with differences across groups in the size of that majority. Black adults and independents make up the smallest majorities saying these ideals have been achieved. These results are in Table 4.
Table 4: How much of the ideals of the revolution have been achieved, by party identification, age, and race/ethnicity
Among adults
| Achieved how much of the ideals | ||
| Great deal/fair amount | Not very much/not at all | |
| Party ID | ||
| Republican | 83 | 17 |
| Independent | 56 | 44 |
| Democrat | 63 | 37 |
| Age | ||
| 18-29 | 61 | 39 |
| 30-44 | 66 | 34 |
| 45-59 | 74 | 26 |
| 60+ | 78 | 22 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| White | 74 | 26 |
| Black | 57 | 42 |
| Hispanic | 67 | 33 |
| Other/Multiple | 73 | 27 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey June 9-15, 2026 | ||
| Question: Looking at America, how much do you think we have succeeded over these 250 years in achieving the ideals for which this country was founded, as you understand them? | ||
A related question was asked in the 1976 Roper survey. In 1976, 18% said the country still represented the ideals of the founding, while 46% said it had moved somewhat away from those ideals and 30% thought the country had moved far away from the founding ideals. With the difference in wording, these percentages are not directly comparable to the question of how much the country has achieved the ideals of the founding in the current survey. But this comparison over 50 years does show that, in 1976, the views about shifting ideals were barely related to partisanship, age, or race, whereas there are larger gaps across each of these three groups in 2026. The results for 1976 are shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Country still represents ideals of the founding, by party identification, age and race, 1976
Among adults
| Represents ideals | |||
| Still represents ideals | Moved somewhat away | Moved far away | |
| Party ID | |||
| Republican | 22 | 47 | 26 |
| Independent | 14 | 46 | 34 |
| Democrat | 17 | 45 | 31 |
| Age | |||
| 18-29 | 16 | 48 | |
