Today, I am thankful for two pioneers who bitterly rivaled one another but never lost sight of setting our country on its rightful path towards glory.
Happy Birthday, America!
A few days ago, I shared the tale leading up to the most famous vote in the history of our young nation. After nearly two months of debate at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia (what would later become known as Independence Hall), the delegates from 13 colonies audaciously voted to severe the ties with the British Empire – essentially a proclamation of war. Although July 2, 1776, remains as the valid date of that acclaimed vote, we celebrate our nation’s birthday on July 4, the day the Declaration of Independence was officially ratified by the Second Continental Congress.
The document that would catapult its author, the Virginian Thomas Jefferson, into fame is regarded as a political masterpiece, emulated and imitated by so many around the world. The story by which Jefferson was selected as its primary author is worthy of further discussion. As the delegates awaited input from their home colonies regarding the vote of independence, a “Committee of 5”, was chosen by the Congress in early June of 1776 to pen a statement justifying to the English monarch their decision to seek sovereignty. Among the committee’s 5 members was the relatively unknown Virginian farmer, Thomas Jefferson, and Massachusetts’s favorite son, John Adams, Both men were pro-independent delegates specifically selected for their literary skill. The 5 members recognized that the authoring of the document by consensus would be laborious and time-consuming, so they opted to have one person take the lead. Adams and Jefferson were asked to decide among themselves who should take the first crack at the task. Jefferson suggested Adams, who immediately retorted that Jefferson should do it. Jefferson vehemently opposed at first. Then, Adams shared his three-part rationale. First, as Jefferson was from Virginia, he was the natural choice, as the primary resolution for independence had originated with the southern colony. Second, Adams acknowledged that he was fully self-aware of his Massachusetts snobbery, and his obnoxious personality had made him unpopular among his southern friends. Finally, Adams paid Jefferson a compliment: “You can write ten times better than me.” Quietly, Jefferson acquiesced and sauntered off to pen the first draft.
Adams and Jefferson would remain bitter political rivals over the next quarter a century. As a New England federalist, Adams would support in a strong central government. As an agrarian aristocrat from Virginia, Jefferson and his the Democratic-Republican party preferred states’ rights. As members of Washington’s cabinet, the two rivals bitterly disagreed and repeatedly berated one another. Jefferson deplored Adams’ irascible nature and uncompromising philosophy. Adams’ detested Jefferson’s somewhat aloof belief that individual liberties were at the core of good government. Even when Jefferson served as the Vice President to Adams, beginning in 1796, the two openly opposed one another, to the point that Jefferson spent much of his time as Vice President back at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jefferson ran against Adams in 1800, narrowly winning that election against his rival (and Aaron Burr).
Following their retirement from the political world in the 19th Century, the two founding fathers remained enemies for some time. However, in 1812, at a time the US was reentering another war with England, they rekindled a friendship. Through letters, they built a strong relationship, lamenting the evolving political landscape in Washington and the natural divide between the North and South. For the next 14 years, they wrote one another, espousing the importance of the maintaining a single ’national’ mindset.
As the US approached the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, these two titans were asked to come to Washington to deliver speeches as part of the celebration. However, illness struck both the 90 year-old Adams and the 83-year old Jefferson. Sadly, on this day (July 4) in 1826, on the 50th birthday of our nation, both men would pass away.
Supposedly, Adams’ last words were “Jefferson still survives.” He was wrong, as Jefferson had died a few hours earlier that day.
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