Celebrate 200 Years of the American Revolution: 1976

An 8 ½ x 11 poster published by the People’s Bicentennial Commission calls for a march and rally at the U.S. Capitol July 4, 1976.

Upwards of 25,000 demonstrators took part in the march to a spot on the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol July 4, 1976 calling for an economic revolution on the bicentennial of the nation’s birth.

The protesters disdained the official celebration as a mockery of the Declaration of Independence.

They marched shouting out chants like “Mobil, Exxon, ITT; Down with Corporate Tyranny.”

On the Mall they heard a reading of a Declaration of Economic Independence to the backdrop of banners that read “Intendance from Big Business” and “Democracy for the Economy.”

Petitions were signed for a “second American revolution for a democratic economy” and endorsing the Declaration of Economic Independence.

The People’s Bicentennial Commission which organized the protest was started by Jeremy Rifkin was a relatively young anti-Vietnam War activist and John Rossen a former member of the Communist Party from the 1930s-50s.

Both took part in the founding of the New American Movement. In 1983 NAM merged with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee to form the Democratic Socialists of America.

A similar protest was organized in Philadelphia where the Puerto Rican Socialist Party urged intendance and Elaine Brown, known for her work in the Black Panther Party told the crowd that the country’s history has been one of “murder and plunder.”

Another protest in Philadelphia involved a march by women who read Susan B. Anthony’s speech which disrupted the 1876 bicentennial celebration.

Still in another protest by the Rich Off Our Backs Coalition in Philadelphia saw over 3,000 led by Vietnam veterans march through the working class neighborhoods of Philadelphia calling chanting “We’ve carried the rich for 200 years, let’s get them off our backs.”

Rifkin sought to keep the People’s Bicentennial going by forming the People’s Business Commission, later renamed the Foundation on Economic Trends which has done significant work on GMOs.

For a PDF of this 8 ½ x 11, one-sided poster, see washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/1976-b...

For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskt5piyp

Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Printed Ephemera Collection; Portfolio 242, Folder 48.

Some rights reserved

Taken on: January 1, 1976

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Sets appears in: • Bicentennial protests: 1976

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