This has prompted celebration, but also reflection, and ERR took a vox pop on the streets of the historic city of Philadelphia, the very place independence from Great Britain was declared in 1776.

"I feel proud to be an American – to know that we're a relatively young country but what we've been able to accomplish in the course of 250 years is pretty impressive," one member of the public, Tyler, said.

The intervening two and a half centuries saw the U.S. emerge as the world's undisputed leading economic power, an accolade it still holds today, for instance hosting both the bulk of the current FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. A big part of that success story lies in the concept of the "American Dream," that anyone can raise themselves up and become prosperous, regardless of origin. However, many believe that the success once thought to be within the reach of anyone who wanted it and who was prepared to put in the required amount of hard work and perseverance, has become much harder to attain.

"I think the American dream is similar to what it's always been, it just feels sometimes harder to obtain, right? Being able to own something and being able to say that: 'This is mine, this is what I can accomplish if I, you know, put my mind to it,' and being able to leave something back and leave a legacy for the next generation has always been part of the American dream," Tyler noted on this.

The parades, fireworks and other celebrations seen on this date do not alter the historical fact that many in the U.S. were not equal citizens until relatively recent decades. The history of slavery south of a line drawn before the independence declaration by English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon may have been an effort to resolve a colonial border dispute. However, it took on greater significance following independence and the westward expansion from the original 13 colonies. Many of the founding fathers, as representatives of the gentry landowning class, owned slaves: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison among them. To this legacy the civil rights struggle and continuing racial inequalities can be added.

McKinley, a Black American, summed up his experience. "I got maybe the American dream: I went to college, I had a good job, but I look at what my father, my parents went through, and I look what's happening now – I've had a good life, but a lot of people around me did not."

"I have never flown an American flag my whole life, and the reason being was that we always felt that as a family, my father was a sharecropper, he was destitute, poor as a child," McKinley added.

Despite these tensions, America has retained through its history its symbolic chance for vast numbers of immigrants to start a new life. But the sharp political divisions of recent years and the current administration's stance have led some to question whether the country still lives up to the promises set out 250 years ago in this aspect either.

One immigrant, Kristof, said it broadly had, or at least until recent years.

"I came to this country in 1987 and I became a citizen I think during Obama. I really loved living in this country, because regardless of all the – imperfections that were happening here, there was always hope, and I always witnessed something good happening. And that unfortunately kind of ended two years ago," Kristof said.

Jeff had the last word on what he thought the 56 founding fathers, the independence declaration's signatories, might have thought of the America of today.

"That we are still in existence; that we still have our freedoms; that – I think we're doing what they wanted to, basically. There are some things that are extremes on either side of it, but I would hope that they'd be pleased with what they would see," Jeff said.

The "Aktuaalne kaamera" segment is below.

Meanwhile in Estonia, Tallinn's TV Tower is being illuminated in red, white and blue, to honor the day.

On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Tallinn TV Tower was illuminated in the colours of the U.S. flag.

For Estonians, the TV Tower is a symbol of our struggle for freedom. Today, it also honours the values of liberty and democracy that have long united our two nations.… pic.twitter.com/0EFLiA4TXF

— Estonian MFA | #StandWithUkraine (@MFAestonia) July 4, 2026

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