The United States consistently highlights its long-standing diplomatic relations with Madagascar. Indeed, a U.S.-Malagasy treaty was signed in Antananarivo on May 13, 1881, and ratified by the U.S. Senate on February 23, 1883. A Malagasy embassy, led by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ravoninahitriniarivo, met with U.S. Secretary of State Frederick Frelinghuysen in Washington on March 12, 1883, sealing these positive relations through the exchange of signatures between the two plenipotentiaries. U.S. President Chester Arthur had initialed the treaty just days before receiving the Malagasy delegation.
Much like the United Kingdom, which dispatched Princess Anne for the bicentennial of the treaty of October 23, 1817, or Germany, which sought to revive the memory of the treaty of May 15, 1883 (signed in Berlin in both German and Malagasy), the U.S. Ambassador also commemorated this 145-year-old treaty on July 1, 2025.
On this 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the original thirteen American colonies, it is relevant to view Madagascar’s history in the long term, giving true meaning to the concept of the “return or restoration” of independence regarding June 26, 1960.
Our most famous legal act, the Code of 305 Articles, was promulgated on March 29, 1881. Its 271st article established compulsory schooling for boys and girls aged 8. It should be noted, however, that the principle of this compulsory education had already been proclaimed during a speech on June 6, 1876.
On this 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States of America, I draw largely from two previous columns written in 2019 (Independence Day) and 2025 (From the Hudson River to California).
These uncertain times paradoxically reinforce our certainties. The United States remains the global beacon of individual liberty, reaching far beyond New York and the mouth of the Hudson River.
Despite certain missteps driven by circumstantial ideological choices, America permits more freedoms than it restricts. America allows for more dreaming than it creates nightmares, and it offers total freedom of choice, whereas other regimes forcibly impose dress codes and prohibit religious or dietary free will.
“My America,” the America we refer to, is indeed the USA. While some critics rightfully point out that “America” also encompasses Canada and, more specifically, Latin America—the part of the “New World” that Swabian cartographer Martin Waldseemüller named in 1507 after the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1522).
Beyond the powerful symbolism of a speech from Mount Rushmore, what did the Declaration of July 4, 1776, essentially say?
“The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united STATES Of AMERICA: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another (…) We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”…
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another (…) We hold these truths to be self-evident: all men are created equal, they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (French translation by Thomas Jefferson himself).
The three cornerstones of the American foundation would be completed with the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The opening words of the Constitution offer an example of a text with universal reach, which, through its generic nature, can only garner consensus around common-sense aspirations: Justice, domestic Tranquility, common Defense, general Welfare, and Liberty: “We The People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessing of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”
Nasolo-Valiavo Andriamihaja
Captured & Published at: 2026-07-04 07:42:51 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/07/lamerique-eternelle-250-ans.html