George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Ben Franklin may have debated these constitutional questions at the Middleton Tavern, a seaside pub in Annapolis, Maryland, that is older than the country itself. The tavern boasts that everyone drank there in the early days of the new republic.

There I met Lorraine Ross, who was celebrating her own milestone: her 60th birthday. She said she also wanted to enjoy America’s birthday, but was worried about the country’s future.

“I’m not going to go around saying, yes, America, we’re free,” he told me.

She said she was particularly concerned about cuts to financial assistance for needy families and children with special needs. He expressed anger at Congress for “simply letting him [Trump] run amok and ignore all the laws” that have restricted the behavior of presidents in the past.

Other Americans I spoke to at the tavern were simply looking forward to the Fourth of July festivities that the Trump administration promised will be bigger and better than ever.

John Knox told me he didn’t want to obsess over the politics surrounding the current president.

Knox, who was visiting from Atlanta, told me that if people disagree with Trump, the time to express it is in the November midterm elections, not during the Fourth of July celebrations.