Patriotism is in the air as the United States prepares for the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence in July. Yet the true meaning of patriotism and how to cultivate it among citizens is a matter of fierce debate. Steven Smith attempts to bridge current ideological chasms and offer a unifying brand of American patriotism in his 2021 book Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes (Yale University Press).

The United States, from its inception, was a “creedal nation,” meaning that being an American meant adherence to a set of core beliefs: equality, individual rights, liberty, and limited government, among them. This is juxtaposed with an ascendant nationalism on the political right, and a cosmopolitan, or “citizens of the world” concept, prevalent on the left. Smith attempts to reclaim patriotism from these poles in this fraught political moment.

The author defines patriotism as “a form of loyalty to…one’s constitution or political regime.” American patriotism is aspirational: “To be an American is to be continually engaged in asking what it means to be an American.”

Moreover, patriotism, Smith writes, is a “learned disposition” as opposed to indoctrination. Instead, it is a “component of an educated mind.” In this sense, one of the strongest acts of patriotism we can all engage in for A250 is simply the learning and the seeking of knowledge and understanding of history and civics. 

Smith compares the Declaration of Independence and Constitution with core religious texts: the former emphasizes individual rights, while the latter establishes self-government through federalism. These seminal documents breed a form of “civic faith,” what Lincoln called the “political religion of the nation.”

We are therefore a textual people, participants in ongoing debates over the true meaning of our creed. These debates are core to American patriotism and its enlightened form that Smith elevates as the root of what makes America exceptional.

In this year of the semiquincentennial, may the teaching of American virtues, namely civility, rule of law, mutual respect, responsibility, and leadership, among others, flourish in our K–12 classrooms and cultural institutions as we pass along this precious birthright to our posterity.