The United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence , the country's founding document, in 2026. Twenty years later, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of President George Washington 's Farewell Address , which was published Sept. 19, 1796 . The two documents are the bookends of the American Revolution. That revolution began with the inspirational language of Thomas Jefferson , who wrote much of the Declaration of Independence ; it ended with