It feels to me like it's more like the beginning of an empire, in the sense of existing under an emperor.
> I think our lives are short enough that it can be easy to perceive something like America as “always was, always will be” and the rest is just trivia you learn in history class.
I think it very interesting that one of the things the USA is going to have to grapple with, in the middle of the most contentious presidency in its history, is the semiquincentennial of independence itself.
The bicentennial of independence in 1976 was I think largely an uncontentious thing even though the Vietnam conflict had ended only a couple of years beforehand and the presidency was in the hands of a guy who had taken over the job from, and pardoned, a crook who was forced to resign. Internationally people were pretty kind and generous to the USA.
I don't think anyone, anywhere on the planet, is prepared diplomatically for how it will play out this time. Next year is going to be a heck of a year.