How the Trump era echoes the messy truth behind the founding of America

According to ABC News Australia, this Independence Day reveals a truth many prefer to overlook: America's founding was far messier than the traditional story suggests. The Fourth of July has long been celebrated as straightforward—a tale of liberty and revolution. But historians recognize the contradictions woven in: ideals of freedom coexisting with slavery, democratic principles shadowed by disenfranchisement. In the Trump era, that complexity has become politically charged. How Americans interpret their founding—what they emphasize, what they downplay—now reflects and fuels broader political divisions. The meaning of Independence Day itself is no longer settled.

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