A list of generations that have made up our 250-year-old American experiment...

In honor of the 250th anniversary of our Revolution and the founding of our Grand Republic, here is a list of the generations who have all contributed (for better and for worse) to the American Experience:

1. The Republican Generation (1742-1766): These men and women founded the United States of America.

2. The Compromise Generation (1767-1791): These men and women were involved in many of our nation's first great compromises and the consolidation of American power.

3. The Transcendental Generation (1792-1821): These were our Romantic idealists, abolitionists, and Transcendentalists.

4. The Gilded Generation (1822-1842): These men and women fought in the American Civil War and became robber barons as well as speculators.

5. The Progressive Generation (1843-1859): Likewise involved with the Civil War and Reconstruction, they became pragmatic institution-builders.

6. The Missionary Generation (1860-1882): Moral crusaders who added that extra "umph" to the Progressive Generation's causes.

7. The Lost Generation (1883-1900): Veterans of the Great War and victims of the Spanish Flu as well as the Great Depression.

8. The G.I. Generation (1901-1926): Known popularly as the "Greatest Generation." They won World War II, built post-war America, and were known for their "can do" spirit.

9. The Silent Generation (1927-1945): Conformists, risk averse, came of age under the shadow of the Great Depression and World War II.

10. The Baby Boom Generation (1946-1964): Known for the massive counterculture that erupted in the 1960s, idealistic and values-driven. Started the so-called "culture wars."

11. Generation X (1965-1981): Pragmatic, skeptical of institutions, known for grunge and entrepreneurship.

12. Generation Y (1982-1996): Popularly known as "Millennials." These are digital natives, anxious, and civic-minded.

13. Generation Z (1997-2012): Popularly known as "Zoomers." Grew up in the shadow of 9/11, always online, and noted for their protected childhoods.

14. Generation Alpha (2013-Present): Near-constant social media presence, rebellious, growing up in the shadow of the AI revolution.