Most Americans know—or should know—that today marks the anniversary of the unanimous adoption by the Second Continental Congress of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and, consequently, July 4th is celebrated as the birthday of our country. If the U. S. Constitution establishes the framework for the laws and government of the United States, the Declaration provides the spirt, the underpinnings, for the Constitution.
Most of the posts you’ll see about the Fourth of July will remember that day but I’d like to remind you of another day—fifty years later—when the nation was celebrating the Jubilee of Independence and two of the young country’s great heroes, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, lay dying. They had been men of learning, patriots, friends, co-conspirators, political opponents, presidents, and lifelong correspondents.
Jefferson was at Monticello, the magnificent home in Virginia that he had designed and built. Still eager to know whether the anniversary of the birth of the country he had helped to create had arrived he asked “Is it the fourth?” and died.
John Adams lay at Quincy, his home in Massachusetts. Not knowing that Jefferson had died a bare few hours earlier, he turned to his niece, Louisa Smith, said “Thomas Jefferson survives”, and breathed his last. (I realize that there is some question about what Adams’s actual last words were but there’s little doubt that he spoke Jefferson’s name and I choose to believe the myth.)
Adams had been the second president elected from the Federalist Party. The Federalists believed in mercantilism and a stronger federal government capable of maintaining order in a diverse country that included large and small landowners, slaves and freemen. Jefferson had been the first president from the Democratic-Republican Party, or Jeffersonian Republicans as they were called at the time (the present-day Democratic Party is descended from this party although the term “Democratic-Republican” wasn’t used until the time of Jackson). The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in the rights of individuals protected from the federal government especially by the ownership of property and creating a citizenry more capable of ruling the republic wisely through education.
They were rivals and political opponents but they were also friends and maintained an atmosphere of civility and respect throughout their substantial correspondence. As John Adams wrote to Jefferson: “You and I ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other.”
The occasion of the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor marks the beginning of what is sure to be a vigorous debate both within the United States Senate and within the nation at large about the future of our nation. May all partisans recognize that there may be opposition without enmity and ardent disagreement while maintaining an environment of civility and mutual respect.
And, especially in the wake of Kelo v. New London, may the new Supreme Court justice recognize that the rights of individuals and, particularly, the right to property may periodically require defense from federal, state, or local governments.
Then, perhaps, we’ll all be able to murmur along with John Adams, “Thomas Jefferson survives”.
Other July 4th posts that are worthy of your attention:
- Done With Mirrors reminds us of some of Edmond Burke, the famous conservative’s, views on America.
- Tigerhawk has an Independence Day meditation mostly culled from the works of Dave Kopel that is simply not to be missed.
- In my own post, Anthems, I reflect on our three national anthems.
- You also might enjoy another post of mine, Five short quotes on America.
