President Donald Trump is using the US 250th anniversary to stage a major National Mall speech while his administration cuts funding and reshapes public history to downplay slavery and segregation.Historians say the Declaration of Independence contains deep contradictions: Thomas Jefferson wrote about equality while owning enslaved people, and scholars such as Jill Lepore point to a long tradition of dissent stretching from Frederick Douglass to Susan B. Anthony.Actors including
Robert De Niro, commentators including
Bill Maher, and museum leaders are clashing over patriotism, and many Americans say they will avoid official festivities and hope congressional elections will check the administration’s course.