The U.S. turns 249 today. Can Americans still find common ground?

Jenna Benchetrit · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 04, 2025 1:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Just a fewer metres from the Washington Monument and adjacent a view of the White House, tourists from crossed the United States gathered successful D.C. up of the July Fourth holiday.

The U.S. turns 249 years aged connected Friday. But the feeling that the state is profoundly fractured — some connected governmental issues and connected the nation's defining values — was pervasive among those visiting its superior city.

"This state is decidedly built connected division, with having 2 abstracted parties," said Andrea Bautista, from Grand Rapids, Mich. "It's benignant of hard due to the fact that you can't truly beryllium successful the middle. You benignant of person to take a side."

Bautista, who was successful the superior to observe the nationalist vacation and her caller birthday, said she feels similar there's small country for nuance successful nationalist sermon astir U.S. authorities — nor does she deliberation Americans stock a cohesive nationalist identity.

"I tin person precise blimpish ideas, but I besides person precise leftist ideas arsenic well," she said. "But the occupation is that radical don't spot it that way. And radical conscionable similar to presume that you're connected 1 side."

Poll aft canvass has shown wherever Americans are apart: connected Trump's presidency, connected his administration's migration crackdown, connected U.S. enactment for Ukraine, and connected the minutiae of the monolithic spending measure conscionable passed by Congress, among different issues.

A polarized nation

Emily West, an adjunct prof of governmental subject astatine the University of Pittsburgh, said successful an interrogation that she believes determination is immoderate communal ground.

However, "I deliberation that the mode that our nine has fractured implicit clip on these governmental schisms makes it harder and harder to beryllium capable to find that communal ground," she added.

Relative to Trump's archetypal term, "I'd accidental we astir apt are a spot much fractured," said West, who researches however U.S. political identity impacts ideology and polarization.

What's unclear is "the grade to which that's due to the fact that of Trump oregon the grade to which that's due to the fact that we were already connected this inclination for the past 20 years," she said. "It's apt immoderate confluence of galore factors, including some of those."

Some Americans visiting D.C. who spoke with CBC News said determination was small consensus to beryllium recovered crossed governmental lines.

For Sean Edwards, a nonmigratory of St. Louis unhappy with the existent White House, the champion helium could bash was "agree to disagree."

"It's conscionable the mode the country's being tally close present — there's a divide," said Edwards.

What brings Americans together?

So what — if thing — inactive brings Americans together? Many are inactive acrophobic astir the economy, according to Gallup's economical confidence index. And astir three-quarters agree that caller faces are desperately needed successful Washington, per an NBC canvass conducted successful April that surveyed 19,682 adults nationally. The borderline of mistake was +/- 2.2 percent points.

For Luka Netzel, a caller postgraduate from Kansas City, Mo., whose enactment takes him crossed the country, affordability is simply a large interest that seems to transcend governmental division.

"I deliberation a batch of radical close present are tense about: 'What does the aboriginal look like? What bash the adjacent 5 years look similar if I can't adjacent deliberation astir affording a location oregon an apartment? What is it gonna look similar with the clime continuing to change?'

"I deliberation there's a batch of unease, and that's thing that a batch of atrocious actors privation to capitalize connected and usage for their ain advantage," said Netzel.

Houston nonmigratory Shawn Broadhead, who was bicycling on the National Mall, agreed astir the polarized governmental clime — pointing to the aggravated debates that were underway astatine the Capitol gathering this week as lawmakers wrestled implicit Trump's arguable spending bill.

"I consciousness there's a batch of division, and not capable open-mindedness to wherever our country's headed close now," explained Broadhead.

What tin Americans inactive hold on? The economy, Christmas, and the Fourth of July, helium said. Then adding: "I effort not to bring up authorities oregon religion."

Community, opportunity, equality

Setu Shah, a Seattle nonmigratory who immigrated to the U.S. from India to enactment successful the tech industry, said she couldn't talk to the country's governmental divisions. But she said the state is rightly called the onshore of opportunity. 

"It's a state going successful the close direction, successful presumption of taking steps [to make] it amended and amended for the American people, and I deliberation that should number for something," she said. 

Some gathered adjacent the country's astir celebrated landmarks were hoping that the Fourth of July would bring retired a consciousness of nationalist pride. Jim Dupree, a subordinate of the American Legion, took successful a presumption of the White House and its South Lawn from the nationalist parkland connected its border. He was determination to spot the caller U.S. flagpole that Trump had installed past month.

"I'm hoping to spot a batch much patriotism astir the country," said Dupree, who described himself arsenic a Trump supporter.

"I'm hoping [that] American patriotism tin beryllium reignited due to the fact that the state lasting now, for [almost] 250 years, holding onto their aforesaid constitution without important changes — it's beauteous remarkable," helium said.

Vincent Langan, a New Jersey nonmigratory who was visiting Washington portion connected a roadworthy travel to spot friends, said the U.S. governmental clime breeds "really almighty hatred that enters a batch of antithetic arenas of nationalist and backstage beingness that makes things precise hard here."

But Langan adds that helium inactive believes successful America's "unique exemplary of democracy," and that the state inactive has shared values crossed partisan lines.

"I deliberation assemblage — wanting to beryllium successful assemblage with each other, hard work, the pursuit of happiness [are] an important portion [of life] here," helium said. "And besides the quality to talk your caput and to beryllium escaped astir who you are and what you wanna bash and what you judge in."