Most of what I have written here comes from other sites. No, I am not plagiarizing (if I was, I would call the writing my own, which I do not claim it as my own). Consider today's post a sort of Reader's Digest version of the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Independence Day - the 4th of July - in this year of 2026, is a special anniversary for more than one reason. While nearly everyone is celebrating the 250th year of the Birth of our great Nation, contrary to what mainstream media states, (as am I), some of us are also remembering the deaths of two great men who were Founding Fathers.
But they weren't just Founding Fathers~~~
John Adams, one of the writers and signers of the Declaration, lived to be 90. He died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. And, incredibly, it was also the very same day and date - July 4, 1826 - that another former president, writer, and signer of the Declaration also died: Thomas Jefferson, who died at age 83---entwined with Adams in death as in life.
Methinks Providence had a hand in this.
> > >
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| Land that I love... |
Because the original 1776 handwritten and signed engrossed copy on parchment, done by Timothy Matlack, began fading, and as the Revolutionary generation began passing away from life and memory, Congress authorized 200 exact copies of the Declaration to be created and distributed as an educational project. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, son of John and Abigail Adams, commissioned William J. Stone in 1823 to create these exact physical replicas. For Stone to make an exact copy without any means of a copy machine or photograph, he pressed damp parchment directly against the original document to lift the ink, transferred it to a copperplate, and engraved it.
Only 31 of these survive today.
What this means is nearly all modern reproductions and facsimiles we purchase today stem from these 1823 engravings made on that copperplate by Mr. Stone. That same copperplate, which is housed by the National Archives, is the master template for the vast majority of replicas available.
Where are Those Two Hundred Copies Now?
Of the original two hundred prints on parchment, 31 have been located. Twenty-three of these are in public institutions:
American Philosophical Society
Boston Public Library
Carroll Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village (Dearborn, Michigan)
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| Here is one of the 31 that have been located. It's also one of the 23 in a public institution - The Henry Ford Museum. |
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| In the center of the photograph. The Henry Ford Museum - Dearborn, Michigan |
Harvard University, Houghton Library
Indiana University, Lilly Library
Jefferson County Court House, Kentucky
Library of Congress [2 copies]
Maryland Historical Society
Massachusetts Historical Society, Adams Papers [2 copies]
New Hampshire Archives [2 copies]
New Haven Historical Society
New York Public Library
Rhode Island State Archives
Tennessee State Archives
Smithsonian Institution; note: in 1888, Stone's elderly widow (Elizabeth J. Stone), donated his personal impression on parchment to the Smithsonian Institution
Sweet Briar College
Virginia State Library Archives
The White House
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| Benjamin Rush Born: January 4, 1746 Died: April 19, 1813 |
"Another of our friends of 76 is gone, my dear Sir, another of the Co-signers of the independance of our country. and a better man, than Rush, could not have left us, more benevolent, more learned, of finer genius, or more honest. we too must go; and that ere long". was written by Thomas Jefferson to John Adams in a letter dated May 27, 1813. Jefferson was informing Adams of the death of Benjamin Rush, a mutual friend, fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the man responsible for reconciling the two former presidents after their bitter political rivalry.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson continued to remember when a long-time friend had passed away. Those 56 men who signed that most important of American documents had a connection - a relation - unlike we could ever know.
And today we commemorate two more of our friends from '76, who left "ere long"...
Yes...two more of my American heroes...
The death of Adams and Jefferson, like their lives, left an indelible mark in our country's history, for here is something that I feel is more than a coincidence - Providence, mayhaps? - concerning these two founding fathers:
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| Thomas Jefferson |
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| John Adams |
both men, co-writers of the Declaration of Independence, died on the same day, date, and year. That in itself is remarkable enough. But then let's add something you just can't make up: that the shared day, date, and year of the passing of these
two revolutionaries occurred on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day of the Declaration's adoption.
Simply chilling...
And now we can add to this 200 years ago to the date of this blog's publishing.
Their death signaled the end of the Revolutionary era, for, at that point, there was only one signer left alive, Charles Carroll, who lived six more years, until 1832.
So this post commemorates both Adams and Jefferson - a bit about their lives, but mostly about their deaths.
",,,and that ere long" indeed!
As everyone knew, according to David McCullough in his book John Adams, “Jefferson had been the author of the Declaration of Independence and Adams had been its chief advocate on the floor of Congress. One was ‘the pen’ the other ‘the voice,’ of independence, and the presence of either at any Independence Day celebration, large or small, would give it significance as nothing else could.
In 1826, the time was past when either Adams or Jefferson could leave home. Adams was ninety, Jefferson would be eighty-three in April, and each grew steadily more feeble.
After calling on Adams that spring, Benjamin Waterhouse wrote to John Quincy, ‘To the eyes of a physician your father appeared to me much nearer to the bottom of the hill.’ Yet he was determined to make it to the fourth of July.
On June 24, writing from Monticello, after considerable labor, Jefferson completed a letter to the mayor of Washington declining an invitation to the Fourth of July celebration at Washington. It was his farewell public offering and one of his most eloquent, a tribute to the ‘worthies’ of 1776 and the jubilee that was to take place in their honor. Within days it was reprinted all over the country:”
Jefferson wrote of their work to found the nation, “May it be to the world, what I believe it will be (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government…All eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man.
The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view and palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few, booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God. These are the grounds of hope for others; for ourselves, let the annual return to this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.”
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| Signed... |
It was said that scripture tells us that God had His hand on the American Founding, and many leaders and foot soldiers carrying the unnoticed work for freedom thought so too - (though the Bible does not explicitly mention the United States or its founding, it contains several verses that the American Founders and modern religious thinkers use to argue that God’s "Providential hand" guided the nation's birth). I've read that both Jefferson and Adams spoke later in life about this divine work they had done—the struggle to create a world where humanity could have what was each person’s inalienable right – freedom.
(Directly from Boston Tea Party page):
"Thomas Jefferson was born April 13, 1743, on his father’s plantation located along the Rivanna River in central Virginia at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton, a widow, in 1772. With her he fathered six children, though only two daughters survived to adulthood.
At the age of 33, Jefferson was one of the youngest delegates to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. He became acquainted with John Adams, a leader of the Congress, and through this budding friendship, Jefferson was appointed to the Committee of Five that was tasked with drafting the Declaration of Independence.
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| Thomas Jefferson...the... |
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| ...main author of the Declaration |
Over the next 17 days, he would create the first draft. Jefferson is considered by many to be the primary author of the document because the committee left intact more than 75 percent of his original draft. Many believed that John Adams would be the primary author of this important document, but he had persuaded the Committee to choose Jefferson instead. The preamble is regarded as one of the most enduring statements of human rights and the phrase “all men are created equal” is considered one of the most well-known expressions in the English language. Jefferson was an eloquent writer, but did not fancy himself a public speaker, and chose to show his support of the Patriot cause through written correspondence.
The relationship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams deepened through years of letter-writing, including letters written between Abigail Adams, wife of John, and Jefferson. John and Thomas spent years in France together as the two men served as trade ministers in Europe. They remained close friends despite their political differences; that is, until Jefferson beat Adams in the Election of 1801 to become President of the United States. They resumed their close friendship after about 10 years of separation.
Early in his presidency, Jefferson was able to achieve one of the greatest acquisitions of his political career with the Louisiana Purchase, which more than doubled the size of the United States.
Jefferson and Adams also share the distinction of being the only Declaration of Independence signatories who would later serve as President."
(from Boston Tea Party page)
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| "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." |
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| Artist, Thomas Sully, traveled to Jefferson’s home, Monticello, early in 1821 to create this image of the retired president and statesman, then age 78, which was the final portrait of Thomas Jefferson painted directly from life. |
The interpreter you see in the photo below of Thomas Jefferson (with yours truly on the left) was amazing. He spoke with a southern gentleman's accent and casually used 18th century slang, verbiage, & humor to give the audience a sense of immersion, to give the impression we were actually listening to the Thomas Jefferson of 200 years ago.
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| Here I am with Thomas Jefferson in Colonial Williamsburg. This guy was great! |
According to Robley Dunglison, who was Thomas Jefferson's attending physician, Jefferson slept through the day on July 3 and woke in the evening, thinking it was morning. He asked upon waking, "Is it the Fourth?" Dunglison replied, "It soon will be." Dunglison then recorded these words as the last words he heard Jefferson speak. Nicholas Trist, Jefferson's grandson-in-law, wrote Jefferson's question in a slightly different form: "This is the Fourth?" Trist pretended not to hear the question so he wouldn't have to inform Jefferson that it was still July 3. But Jefferson was insistent: "This is the Fourth?" he asked again. This time Trist nodded. Thomas Jefferson Randolph, who was also there, said there is no questioning Jefferson's remarks on waking, "This is the Fourth of July." Randolph goes on to say that the former President was roused a few hours later, at 9 p.m., to be given a dose of laudanum. But Jefferson refused the opiate, saying, "No, doctor, nothing more."
(Taken from the Monticello page)
"At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson had been unconscious since the night of July 2, his daughter Martha, his physician (Dunglison), and others keeping watch. At about seven o’clock the evening of July 3, Jefferson awakened and uttered a declaration, ‘This is the Fourth,’ or ‘This is the Fourth of July.’ Told that it would be soon, he slept again. Two hours later, at about nine, he was roused to be given a dose of laudanum, which he refused saying, ‘no, doctor, nothing more.’
Here is another very similar take on the evening of July 3, 1826:
“Jefferson died at approximately one o-clock in the afternoon on July 4, as bells in Charlottesville could be faintly heard ringing in celebration in the valley below.
On the morning of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Tuesday, July 4, 1826, only three signers of that most famous of historical American documents were still living; Thomas Jefferson would pass away around 1:00 that afternoon, John Adams' time to meet his Maker was later that same day, around 6:00 pm. After that, only eighty-eight year old Charles Carroll of Washington became the lone signing survivor. He would live just a bit longer than six more years.
From the Wonders Untold Facebook page:
"Those at his bedside believed Jefferson had held on deliberately. His last question was both practical and something else. The man who had written "all men are created equal" wanted to know whether he had made it to the day those words turned fifty. He had. The republic he helped build had endured a half century. Jefferson closed his eyes in the same house where he had drafted most of its founding documents. He never learned that John Adams would follow him five hours later, in Quincy, Massachusetts, whispering the wrong thing."
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| Jefferson's Monticello bedroom is preserved and open to visitors, with his bed alcove, writing table, and personal library intact in the room where he died on July 4, 1826. (photographed taken from the Monticello page) |
The 4th of July is my 2nd favorite holiday - only Christmas tops it. But Independence Day a close 2nd. And, yes, I love all the booming fireworks!
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"July 2nd will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Act of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of the Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."
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For those who get their historical information from Facebook memes or armchair historians, they like to state that July 2nd actually is the real Independence Day, based on the letter John Adams excitedly sent to his wife (click HERE). I have absolute proof that whoever says that is truly wrong, and they show their lack of intelligence upon such a statement.
Look at the Declaration of Independence itself. The actual document. It gives you the date at the top:
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events...
So...don't bet against July 4 because you'll lose.
July 2nd, 1776 was the day that the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia passed the resolution for independence from Britain with no opposing vote cast.
So why do we celebrate July 4th as Independence Day and not July 2nd as John Adams noted in his letter?
We do so because the Declaration of Independence itself was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, making it "official," hence, the date on the original printings
in 1776: July 4.
John Adams sort of jumped the gun.
From what I've read, fireworks were first officially used for the Fourth of July on July 4, 1777. Congress authorized the celebration in Philadelphia to mark the first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which featured a grand showing of fireworks including exactly 13 rockets to represent the original colonies.
The tradition was heavily inspired by Founding Father John Adams, who, as previously noted, envisioned Independence Day as a massive festival celebrated with "pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations."
Alongside Philadelphia's celebration, the Sons of Liberty also launched a grand fireworks display that same evening over the Boston Common.
Yet fireworks etc., in celebration for this holiday stemmed from Adams himself!
John Adams famously and frequently worried about being forgotten or overshadowed by his contemporaries, particularly George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He predicted that he would be a "forgotten" founder, writing in 1819 that "Monuments will never be erected to me... romances will never be written, nor flattering orations spoken, to transmit me to posterity in brilliant colors". He felt that his critical roles in the Revolution and his presidency were ignored, while figures like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson received the majority of the acclaim.
Adams felt robbed of recognition for his work on the Declaration of Independence, leading to a lingering fear that history would overlook his own massive efforts on the floor of Congress to pass it. He famously acknowledged he was considered "obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular," leading him to encourage Jefferson to write the Declaration instead of him.
Despite his fears, John Adams is now widely recognized for his immense contributions, particularly after the publication of David McCullough’s biography.
We know he admitted to being obnoxious, et al, but he was still an amazing founder.
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John Adams painted by John Trumbull in 1793 |
It’s true that among the most prominent Founders — Ben Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams — Adams has been the least known. Part of that is due to the fact that he was a cranky guy, and because he broke ranks with Thomas Jefferson. Part of that is due to the fact that his presidency was ultimately (considered) a failure, though not entirely of his own doing, and he was crushed in his re-election bid — by Thomas Jefferson.
John Adams has not traditionally been viewed as one of the great presidents of the United States. Much of the lingering criticism of Adams can be traced to his re-election campaign of 1800, which he lost to Thomas Jefferson, becoming the nation's first one-term president. During the campaign, he was criticized by both the Republicans, who supported Jefferson, and his own party, the Federalists.
And part of that is due to the fact that Adams was an intellectual and a philosopher — and one of the most widely read men in American history — and his prose is more challenging to read than some of his contemporaries.
But then...
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Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney as John & Abigail Adams from my favorite period movie/series, HBO's John Adams. |
"All of that changed in the Spring of 2001, when historian David McCullough published his landmark biography “John Adams,” which won the Pulitzer Prize and numerous other awards, and spent close to two years on The New York Times bestseller list, including 14 weeks in the #1 spot. Sales of the book were boosted, and John Adams became known to a larger segment of Americans in the Spring of 2008 when HBO aired a 7-part drama based on the book starring Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, which also won numerous awards (including 13 Emmy Awards)."
(the above came from James Keenley's response to a question on Quora, the online knowledge sharing platform where users can ask and answer questions, as well as the Teaching History web site - HERE ~)
I absolutely cannot recommend the John Adams HBO series enough - simply put, it is amazing. It brought the book and the times to life in ways no other movie has. In fact, it brought John Adams up to the top five of the founders for me - even above Jefferson - something I never would have even thought about back when I was younger.
So, yes, John Adams was pretty much ignored up until the late great David McCullough "rescued" him from almost being thrown into the realm of obscurity.
My question is, why did McCullough write about John Adams, of all founders, when Adams was supposedly nothing to write home about?
Well, his book was originally intended to be a dual biography of Adams and Jefferson, and as he researched his subjects, McCullough was increasingly drawn to Adams and away from Jefferson. The author spent six years studying Adams, reading the same books he had read and visiting the places he had lived. McCullough was particularly drawn to Adams's letters with his wife, Abigail, which he says provided a chance to tell the story of a genuine love affair. The book draws from more than one thousand surviving letters between the two, nearly half of which had never been published.
McCullough also believed that Adams was a true patriot who served the country with uncommon ability and force. McCullough's biography portrays Adams as a human man and evokes his time. It covers topics such as politics, war, social issues, human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal. Some reviewers have called it "the best biography of Adams ever written" and "a masterwork of storytelling".
David McCullough noted, “Adams attempted to write nothing so ambitious, and probably, given his condition, it would have proved impossible for him…
“But when on Friday, June 30 (1826), a small delegation of town leaders made a formal call on Adams, he received them in his upstairs library seated in his favorite armchair. They had come, they told the old patriot, to ask for a toast that they might read aloud at the town of Quincy, Massachuetts' celebration on the 4th of July.
“’I will give you,’ Adams said, ‘Independence forever!’ Asked if he would like to add something more, he replied, ‘Not a word.’
“The following, July 2, Adams was so weak he could barely speak. Family physician and granddaughter Louisa Smith and other family remained at his bedside around the clock.
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The exterior of Peacefield - the final home of John Adams. Photo Credit: Bethany Bourgault Photo courtesy of
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“Early on the morning of Tuesday, July 4, as the first cannon of the day commenced firing in the distance, the Reverend George Whitney arrived at the house to find ‘the old gentleman was drawing to his end. Dr. Holbrook was there and declared to us that he could not live more than through the day. Adams lay in bed with his eyes closed, breathing with great difficulty. Thomas sent off an urgent letter to John Quincy to say their father was “sinking rapidly.”
As efforts were made to give Adams more comfort, by changing his position, he awakened. Told that it was the Fourth, he answered clearly, “It is a great day. It is a good day."
“At Quincy the roar of cannon grew louder as the hours passed, and in midafternoon a thunderstorm struck—’The artillery of Heaven,’ as would be said—to be followed by a gentle rain.
“Adams lay peacefully, his mind clear, by all signs. Then late in the afternoon, according to several who were present in the room, he stirred and whispered clearly enough to be understood, ‘Thomas Jefferson survives.'
“…At about six-twenty his heart stopped. John Adams was dead.
Cannons were booming, crowds were outside. It was raining. And when he died, according to all the accounts written at the time, the skies cleared, and this huge burst of sunlight came in. And nobody could ever forget it, who was present."
“As those present would remember ever after, there was a final clap of thunder that shook the house; the rain stopped and the last sun of the day broke through dark, low hanging clouds—‘bursting forth…with uncommon splendor at the moment of his exit…with a sky beautiful and grand beyond description,’ young messenger John Marson would write to John Quincy [Adams]."
By nightfall the whole town knew.
Said McCullough about the day and date of the death of Adams, "If it were a movie, and you recreated it exactly as it was, people would say, 'Well, that was overdoing it.' Cannons were booming, crowds were outside. It had started to rain. And when he died, according to all the accounts written at the time, the skies cleared, and this huge burst of sunlight came in. And nobody could ever forget it, who was present."
And now we have~~~
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He was a true patriot" - David McCullough |
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I searched far & wide for a decanter of John Adams. |
In the cool grandeur of the National Archives in Washington, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are enshrined, historian David McCullough is anything but cool about how history has treated one of the major forces behind those two documents: John Adams.
"There's no statue to him in Washington," McCullough told correspondent Rita Braver. "There's no face on Mount Rushmore. There's no monument. There's no picture of John Adams on our money. There isn't a postage stamp in circulation with John Adams' picture on it. This is a disgrace!"
But now McCullough, one of the most influential historians of our time, has become an Adams advocate, using his skills and his celebrity to introduce Americans to this forgotten patriot, mostly through his biography, "John Adams."
As McCullough told a Congressional hearing (175 years after Adam's death), "The idea that he has stood in the shadows all these years does not reflect well on any of us. The time is long past due to give him his place in the American pantheon and in our American hearts."
John Adams, as I mentioned earlier, truly did worry that future generations would forget him and only Washington, Jefferson, and Ben Franklin would be remembered.
"As I sat at the (2008) Emmy awards last Sunday in Los Angeles, I hoped, somewhere, that John Adams was smiling. He'd won best actor while those three great men were competing only for the best supporting role. And he would appreciate the irony: an English filmmaker directed his story."
Betsy Reed - Editor, Guardian US
(John Adams information came directly from a number of different sites)
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Click HERE to purchase the book. |
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Click HERE to purchase the HBO miniseries |
"John Adams was one of our best ever," says the author. "He was brave. He was honest. His devotion to the service of the country, the public good, was beyond almost any other public example. He was a true patriot in every sense of the word."
Adams lived to be 90.
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| This is the last portrait of former U.S. president John Adams, completed shortly before his death. Oil on canvas by Gilbert Stuart, 1826. |
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| Peacefield surrounded by living historians. |
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| Well, Mr. McCullough, looks like your complaints worked, for here in 2026 we finally have a John Adams "forever" stamp! Well done! |
As David McCullough told a Congressional hearing (in 2001, 175 years after Adam's death), "The idea that he has stood in the shadows all these years does not reflect well on any of us. The time is long past due to give him his place in the American pantheon and in our American hearts."
John Adams, by the way, worried that future generations would forget him and only Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin would be remembered.
"As I sat at the (2008) Emmy awards last Sunday in Los Angeles I hoped, somewhere, that John Adams was smiling. He'd won best actor while those three great men were competing only for the best supporting role. And he would appreciate the irony: an English filmmaker directed his story."
Betsy Reed - Editor, Guardian US
(Unless otherwise noted, John Adams information in today's posting came from a number of different sites)
David McCullough concludes, “That John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had died on the same day, and that it was, of all days, the Fourth of July, could not be seen as a mere coincidence: ‘It was a visible and palpable manifestation of ‘Divine Favor’ wrote John Quincy in his diary that night, expressing what was felt and would be said again and again everywhere the news spread.”
And, though a part of a larger collection, you can see to the right, here, we now have a John Adams stamp!
The poet W.B. Yeats anticipated a time when “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold…The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
This Fourth of July, what if we turned that idea on its head, and, instead of the worst being full of passionate intensity who would take your freedom away, let the best of us be full of passionate intensity for the liberty of every soul, for the freedom that is our birthright? That would be a celebration.
By Maurine Proctor · July 3, 2023
Could the Declaration of Independence and the revolution that followed be waged today by this generation, or would we choose safety over freedom...choose comfort and popularity over eternal truths?
It is the 3rd of July as this blog post is published - here is a quote for the 4th:
"Freedom Forever!" - John Adams (quote for the 4th of July given on June 30th, 1826)
Until next time, see you in time.
Sources for this blog post came from all over, including various quotes. If you read the post, I have been documenting my sources throughout. Some I even pulled from a blog post I wrote a couple of years earlier - click HERE
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| Here are a few books in my collection where I have found many other bits of my John Adams & Thomas Jefferson information. The bottom left shows three Adams videos. The two 1776 pieces top center left go together - one is the book and the other is its slipcover. Great reading and watching! |
Have a safe and wonderful 4th of July.
Postscript:
Throughout the years I have been taking part in some serious living history, deeply researching America's past, and writing in this Passion for the Past blog, I have come to look at our history - and oftentimes, history in general - quite differently than I used to.
Postscript:
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| James Monroe also died on July 4th, but in 1831. |
James Monroe, our fifth president, by a striking historical coincidence, passed away exactly five years after Adams and Jefferson, also on July 4th, in 1831. Monroe did not sign or have any direct involvement in the creation of the Declaration of Independence. I just thought this would be an interesting postscript to today's post. Instead of participating in anything with the Declaration, Monroe fought in the Revolutionary War. He was heavily involved in military actions, most notably crossing the Delaware River with George Washington and sustaining a severe shoulder injury at the Battle of Trenton in late 1776.
He became the fifth President of the United States in 1817 and is considered by many to be the last of the Founding Father presidents (though John Quincy Adams, son of John Adams, followed Monroe directly after in the line of Presidents. Due to his direct lineage, many consider him to be the last---I see a good argument for both).
Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe have been the only US Presidents to die on July 4th.
I hope you do, too.
And I hope what I have written here in this blog has helped you on your journey to the past.
Again:
Until next time, see you in time.
Happy 4th of July.
Freedom Forever!
"Something special happened nearly two and a half centuries ago. But is that story being told and promoted? And to do that, you also have to be willing to promote what makes America special. That's not very PC/woke these days, but maybe it's time to start celebrating America again, especially in the run up to the 250th in 2026."
And here are links to help you to understand this holiday's history:
Declaring Independence: The Spirits of '76 - I had a conversation with Benjamin Franklin for this posting. Check it out and see! There is a lot of cool information about the writing of the Declaration and of those who signed it.
Unsung Patriots: The Printing of the Declaration of Independence - We have all heard on how those who signed the Declaration of Independence were putting their own lives on the line by signing such a treasonous document, right? But what about those who printed it? They were also putting their lives on the line as well. And just how did they spread the word and distribute this most important of all America's papers? How long did it take to get it from the printer's to other cities and towns?
Yep---you'll find the answers here!
The Great Declaration of July 4th, 1776: Reactions From Those Who Were There - So now we've learned about the Declaration of Independence and of its printing in the above posts. But how did the public respond when they first heard it??
Independence Day: A "Passion for the Past" History of This Grand Holiday - So, just what were the causes for the Founding Generation to want to claim Independence from Britain, and what were some of the events that occurred?
Here is a post of links to other postings I wrote on those issues.
August 2nd, 1776: The Signing of the Declaration of Independence - Contrary to popular belief, the Declaration was not signed on the 4th of July.
Wha---?
Yep--it's true. Here, click the link and see for yourself.
With Liberty and Justice For All - A pretty amazing collection of American history, many of the earlier items displayed here were a part of the The Struggle and the Glory exhibit from the Bicentennial.
I've also written on and about people and things from America's founding generation called Buried Treasure: Stories of the Founding Generation - there are some very cool stories and objects here I think you may be interested in.
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