For America 250

To coincide with the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, National History Day's® (NHD) 2026 theme is Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History. As NHD prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, Hawaiʻi History Day would like to highlight both national and local historical research resources. These resources can point to the diverse stories of people, places, and events. There is no one American story—instead, there are millions of them.

This year, we hope that exploring what makes our communities unique will inspire teachers and students to discover examples of revolution, reaction, and reform in history in our own backyards.

Sample Topics for America 250

National History Day is continuing a series that started in 2025 and will appear across theme books through 2030. Each year, NHD asks affiliates to contribute topics to inspire students to explore the annual theme through the lens of local history. Local topics from ten affiliates follow. Each page includes an image (a painting, sketch, photograph, etc.) that connects to local history and is accompanied by a description and questions to encourage students to consider the topic in light of the 2026 NHD theme, Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History. We hope these topics will provide inspiration to students across the nation and around the world as they work to identify their NHD topics.

See Sample Topics from NHD

2025-2026 General Theme Resources
This year, the theme for History Day is “Revolution, Reaction, and Reform in History.” For more details on the theme for this year, see the 2025–2026 theme description.

Hawaiʻi-Specific Topics for America 250

We can find the ways U.S. History influences Hawaiʻi and how the history of Hawaiʻi influences the U.S. Below is a list of Hawaiʻi-specific topics–More than a few can connect to America 250. This resource was created with much care by teachers Amy Boehning and Dorian Langi.

See Sample Hawaiʻi-Specific Topics

See the Resources in Our Own Backyard–Explore Hawaiʻi's 1978 Constitutional Convention

Did you know that Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities supports organizations that also focus on our civic history in Hawaiʻi? The Past’s Plan for Hawai‘i’s Future, a project looking at the time leading to Hawaiʻi's 1978 Constitutional Convention, is an excellent resource if you would like to explore this time or event in connection to America 250, and the theme, Revolution, Reaction, Reform.

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Research Resources from NHD

Explore these NHD resources that address and celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. All are created by teachers and for teachers and are available for free download on the NHD website.

Revolutionary Ideals

Building a More Perfect Union

Revolutionary Ideals is a resource created by teachers who participated in a 2022 NHD teacher institute in Providence, Rhode Island. The book, created in partnership with the Rhode Island Historical Society, includes two essays and 15 lesson plans created by NHD teachers. These lessons explore the ideals that drove the American Revolution and how they were (or were not) applied. The book includes lessons that explore the Gaspee Raid, the Philadelphia Tea Party, the Regulator Rebellion, the role of a free press, the Rhode Island First Regiment, mercantilism and the Triangle Trade, the Indigenous roots of revolutionary ideas, and the impact of the American Revolution in France and Haiti. Teachers can download the lesson plan book or the individual lessons, which include the supporting materials (primary sources, graphic organizers, student instructions, and more).

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Building a More Perfect Union is a two-part resource series (published in 2021 and 2023) that explores how individuals and groups have worked to make the United States a better place for all its citizens. Developed in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the series includes four historical essays and 30 lesson plans. The topics span from the colonial period to modern American history and include inquiry-based lessons in which students explore primary source content using active learning strategies. The lessons are designed to be used in full, mined for primary source content, or modified or adapted to meet the needs of learners.