Background
The plans for the Bicentennial began when Congress created the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission on July 4, 1966. Initially, the Bicentennial celebration was planned as a single city exposition that would be staged in either Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or Boston, Massachusetts. After 6½ years of tumultuous debate, the Commission recommended that there should not be a single event, and Congress dissolved it on December 11, 1973, and created the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA), which was charged with encouraging and coordinating locally sponsored events.
In October 1973, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it would issue coins with special designs as part of the Bicentennial celebrations. An open contest to select suitable designs for the quarter, half dollar, and silver dollar was held and more than 1,000 designs were submitted. Three coins had Bicentennial-inspired designs added to their reverse sides for 1976 issuance: the quarter featuring a colonial drummer and a torch encircled by thirteen stars, designed by Jack L. Ahr; the half dollar with Independence Hall, designed by Seth G. Huntington; and the silver dollar with the Liberty Bell superimposed over the Moon, designed by Dennis R. Williams. These coins bore the date "1776-1976." The two-dollar bill, which was discontinued in 1966, was reintroduced with a new reverse featuring the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence.
The official Bicentennial events began on April 1, 1975, when the American Freedom Train launched in Wilmington, Delaware, to start its 21-month, 25,388-mile tour of the 48 contiguous states. On April 18, 1975, President Gerald Ford came to Boston to light a third lantern at the historic Old North Church, symbolizing America's third century. The next day he delivered a major speech commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, which began the military aspect of the American Revolution against British colonial rule.
Read more about this topic: United States Bicentennial
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