Bicentennial Series

Last updated February 29, 2024

The Bicentennial Series was a lengthy series of American commemorative postage stamps.

It began with the issuance of a stamp showing the logo for the Bicentennial celebrations on July 4, 1971, and concluded on September 2, 1983, with a stamp for the Treaty of Paris. While many of the stamps showed the Bicentennial logo as a design element or contained the words "US BICENTENNIAL" or "BICENTENNIAL ERA", not all did.

After the initial issue, few other stamps were issued through 1974. An annual issue of four stamps took place (usually on July 4 of each year): in 1972, honoring Colonial craftsmen; in 1973, Colonial communications; in 1974, the First Continental Congress. In addition, a block of four stamps was issued in 1973 for the bicentennial of the Boston Tea Party.

In 1975, with the bicentennial of the start of the Revolutionary War, the series swung into high gear. Four stamps were issued honoring relatively obscure "Contributors to the Cause", of which the best known was Haym Salomon. On July 4, a block of four stamps was issued showing Revolutionary War uniforms, and with the bicentennial of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first of a standardized set began—showing a detail from a painting depicting the event commemorated, with the name of the event and year, and US BICENTENNIAL XX Cents (between 10 and 20). This "painting" format continued with an issue for the Battle of Bunker Hill in June.

1973 Rise of the Spirit of Independence issue
1973 Rise of the Spirit of Independence issue
1973 Rise of the Spirit of Independence issue
1973 Rise of the Spirit of Independence issue
1974 First Continental Congress issue
1974 First Continental Congress issue
1974 First Continental Congress issue
1974 First Continental Congress issue
1975 Contributors to the Cause issue
1975 Contributors to the Cause issue
1975 Contributors to the Cause issue
1975 Contributors to the Cause issue
1975 Revolutionary War uniforms issue
1975 Revolutionary War uniforms issue
1975 Revolutionary War uniforms issue
1975 Revolutionary War uniforms issue
1977 "Skilled Hands for Independence" issue
1977 "Skilled Hands for Independence" issue
1977 "Skilled Hands for Independence" issue
1977 "Skilled Hands for Independence" issue
1973 Boston Tea Party issue

On January 1, 1976, a set of three stamps (lacking any text related to the Bicentennial other than the words SPIRIT OF 76) was issued, showing the well-known painting. On February 23, a pane of 50 stamps with the State Flags was issued, each stamp containing the Bicentennial logo and the words "BICENTENNIAL ERA 1776-1976". Four souvenir sheets were issued for the INTERPHIL international stamp exhibition in May, showing famous paintings depicting Revolutionary War events. It was followed with a Bicentennial stamp honoring Benjamin Franklin.

Originally, the United States Postal Service had planned to issue another 50-stamp pane, showing the entire Declaration of Independence. Plans were shelved after the American Philatelic Society threatened the USPS with a "black blot" for excessive stamp issuance. Instead, a strip of four stamps showing part of the John Trumbull painting showing the presentation of the Declaration (often believed to show its signing) was issued on July 4 (parts of Trumbull paintings were used for the issues for Bunker Hill and Saratoga, as well).

A painting-format stamp was issued January 3, 1977 for Washington's successful battle at Princeton. Similarly painting stamps were issued to commemorate the Battle of Oriskany and the Battle of Saratoga. Four stamps were issued on July 4 to honor craftsmen with the legend "Skilled Hands for Independence". Additional stamps honored the Articles of Confederation and the arrival of Lafayette. One of the Christmas stamps that year, though not formally part of the series, showed Washington kneeling at Valley Forge.

By 1978, not only was the nation losing interest in the Bicentennial, but most of the events familiar to citizens from school history books had already had their bicentennials pass. Only a single stamp, noting the French Alliance, was issued that year. One Bicentennial stamp was issued in 1979, depicting John Paul Jones.^[3] The next stamp issue would not occur until 1981, when two stamps marked the Battle of Yorktown. The final stamp in the series, noting the Treaty of Paris in the painting format, was issued in 1983.

A number of items of postal stationery were issued. Notably, the USPS found issuance of postal stationery a convenient way of marking the bicentennial of some of the more obscure, but important battles of the war (such as 1781's Battle of Cowpens) without the need to issue a stamp. Instead, a postal card was issued.

A number of other issues, while not part of the series themselves, had Bicentennial themes. The standard definitive postal card, throughout the Bicentennial Era, honored figures of that time such as John Hancock and Charles Thomson. The 7.7 cent coil stamp for bulk rate issued in 1976 contains the inscription "Beat the Drum for Liberty and the Spirit of 76" (it depicts a drum). Envelopes, cards, and aerogrammes all had Bicentennial themes.

Related Research Articles

The Washington Bicentennial stamps of 1932 are postage stamps issued by the United States government in 1932 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of U.S. President George Washington's birth. Twelve stamps were issued as a collection, with each one depicting the President in a different period in his life.

Postal service in the United States began with the delivery of stampless letters whose cost was borne by the receiving person, later encompassed pre-paid letters carried by private mail carriers and provisional post offices, and culminated in a system of universal prepayment that required all letters to bear nationally issued adhesive postage stamps.

Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park. Independence Hall was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and as a World Heritage Site in 1979.

The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memory of the American Revolution. The Bicentennial culminated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Founding Fathers in the Second Continental Congress.

The United States Bicentennial coinage is a set of circulating commemorative coins, consisting of a quarter, half dollar and dollar struck by the United States Mint in 1975 and 1976. Regardless of when struck, each coin bears the double date 1776–1976 on the normal obverses for the Washington quarter, Kennedy half dollar and Eisenhower dollar. No coins dated 1975 of any of the three denominations were minted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salem Poor</span> African-American Revolutionary War soldier (1747–1802)

Salem Poor (1747–1802) was an enslaved African-American man who purchased his freedom in 1769, became a soldier in 1775, and rose to fame as a war hero during the American Revolutionary War, particularly in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

The Betsy Ross flag is a reconstructed early design for the flag of the United States, which is conformant to the Flag Act of 1777 and has red stripes outermost and stars arranged in a circle. These details elaborate on the 1777 act, passed early in the American Revolutionary War, which specified 13 alternating red and white horizontal stripes and 13 white stars in a blue canton. Its name stems from the story, once widely believed, that shortly after the 1777 act, upholsterer and flag maker Betsy Ross produced a flag of this design.

Bahrain first used the postage stamps of British India before eventually issuing its own stamps in 1960.

The Surrender of General Burgoyne is an oil painting by the American artist John Trumbull. The painting was completed in 1821 and hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the Philippines.

Presidents of the United States have frequently appeared on U.S. postage stamps since the mid-19th century. The United States Post Office Department released its first two postage stamps in 1847, featuring George Washington on one, and Benjamin Franklin on the other. The advent of presidents on postage stamps has been definitive to U.S. postage stamp design since the first issues were released and set the precedent that U.S. stamp designs would follow for many generations.

The Bicentennial of Chile took place on September 18, 2010. The celebration commemorates the beginning of the Independence process in Chile, with the first Government Junta of Chile on September 18, 1810, and Chile's becoming a free and independent country eight years later. Several activities were prepared for this occasion by the Chilean Government.

Territories of the United States on stamps discusses commemorative postal issues devoted to lands that have been ceded to the nation or purchased by treaty in conjunction with both war and peace. Thirteen states have been created from colonial territories, two from independent republics, four from previous states in the Union, and an additional thirty-one from United States territories.

The history of Virginia through the colonial period on into contemporary times has been depicted and commemorated on postage stamps accounting for many important personalities, places and events involving the nation's history. Themes are particularly rich in early American and new nation history, historical landmarks, and Virginia-born presidents.

George Washington, also entitled George Washington and William Lee, is a full-length portrait in oil painted in 1780 by the American artist John Trumbull during the American Revolutionary War. General George Washington stands near his enslaved servant William Lee, overlooking the Hudson River in New York, with West Point and ships in the background. Trumbull, who once served as an aide-de-camp to Washington, painted the picture from memory while studying under Benjamin West in London. He finished it before his arrest for high treason in November. The portrait, measuring 36 in × 28 in, is on view in Gallery 753 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Originally in the possession of the de Neufville family of the Netherlands, it was bequeathed to the museum by Charles Allen Munn in 1924.

General George Washington at Trenton is a large full-length portrait in oil painted in 1792 by the American artist John Trumbull of General George Washington at Trenton, New Jersey, on the night of January 2, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. This is the night after the Battle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, and before the decisive victory at the Battle of Princeton the next day. The artist considered this portrait "the best certainly of those which I painted." The portrait is on view at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, an 1806 gift of the Society of the Cincinnati in Connecticut. It was commissioned by the city of Charleston, South Carolina, but was rejected by the city, resulting in Trumbull painting another version.

Commemoration of the American Revolution typifies the patriotic sentiment surrounding the American Revolution and the desire to preserve and honor the "Spirit of '76". As the founding story of the United States, it is covered in the schools, memorialized by a national holiday, and commemorated in monuments, artwork, and in popular culture. Independence Day is a major national holiday celebrated annually. Besides local sites such as Bunker Hill, one of the first national pilgrimages for memorial tourists was Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate, which attracted ten thousand visitors a year by the 1850s.

Molly Pitcher is a nickname given to a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. She is most often identified as Mary Ludwig Hays, who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Another possibility is Margaret Corbin, who helped defend Fort Washington in New York in November 1776.

American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Agreement with Great Britain, also known as the Treaty of Paris, is an unfinished 1783 painting by Benjamin West depicting the United States delegation that negotiated the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the American Revolutionary War. Peace negotiations began in Paris on June 25, 1783, and the eventual signing of the treaty took place on September 3, 1783 at the Hotel York at 56 rue Jacob. The green drapery in the painting's background and the distant landscape with a classical colonnaded building emphasize the scene's formality.

References

↑ Vadukul, Alex (February 18, 2021). "Bruce Blackburn, Designer of Ubiquitous NASA Logo, Dies at 82". New York Times. New York.
↑ Schwab, Katherine (November 22, 2016). "Reprinting America's Forgotten 1970s Graphics Standards Manual". fastcompany.com. Fast Company & Inc. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
↑ Scott 2017 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. Sidney, Ohio: Amos Media. 2016. p. 61, vol. 1. ISBN 9780894875076.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Vadukul, Alex (February 18, 2021). "Bruce Blackburn, Designer of Ubiquitous NASA Logo, Dies at 82". New York Times. New York.

[2] Schwab, Katherine (November 22, 2016). "Reprinting America's Forgotten 1970s Graphics Standards Manual". fastcompany.com. Fast Company & Inc. Retrieved August 15, 2021.

[3] Scott 2017 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. Sidney, Ohio: Amos Media. 2016. p. 61, vol. 1. ISBN 9780894875076.

[3]