July 4, 1826 was the fiftieth anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, of course. By that time the country had not only achieved independence, but it had also survived a second war with Britain, one which the United States provoked and which nearly caused New England to succeed from the union. And it had grown from 13 states, to 24.
It's probably best remembered in the United States for being the date on which both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. What's even more peculiar about that, however, is that while 90 year old John Adams was living in Quincy, Massachusetts and 83 year old Thomas Jefferson was in Monticello, Virginian, Adams knew when Jefferson died, and commented on it.
The two men were not very much alike temperamentally. Adams was a lawyer and a farmer who first entered the public's consciousness when he defended British troops in court following the Boston Massacre. He was truly one of those rare characters who loved the law, something made even better for him as he was a circuit riding lawyer who also loved horses. Active in farming his entire life, he was more closely matched Jefferson's yeoman ideal than Jefferson. Somewhat taciturn, he dreamed of being a soldier at the beginning of the Revolution, but his talents lay elsewhere and he never was.
His place in history is secure due to his being the second President of the United States, but by the 20th Century he was one who was very little focused on. His popularity enjoyed a resurgence, however, due to David McCullough 2001 book which is somewhat of a hagiography.
During his lifetime he had a falling out with Jefferson, who served as his Vice President, but they repaired their rift in later years.
If Adams was well known during his lifetime and the somewhat placed on the shelf, Thomas Jefferson has never been out of the public imagination. At the same time, probably no American President has had his character analyzed and reanalyzed as much.
From a Puritan background, Adams is problematic for modern American far right-wing Evangelist in that his religious views were unconventional. While a Congregationalist, he tended towards Universalist views and did not regard the Trinity as well founded. While we have argued here that the United States is a Protestant nation, figures like Adams cut against that argument. Adams was very much opposed to state established churches, for instance.
Like Adams, Jefferson was also a lawyer by training but what he really was by temperament and occupation was a planter. An absolute renaissance mind he dabbled in everything, including engineering and agronomy. One of the most influential figures of the founding generation, he served as the country's third President and was the first American President to engage in an undeclared war.
Regarded as a founding member of the Democratic Party, it was Jefferson's foresight that caused the U.S. to purchase Louisiana, converting the country from an Atlantic maritime power to a continental power. Arguably, no President is more responsible for what the US became than Jefferson, even though he did not see it becoming what it became. An Agrarian philosopher, he thought that it would take Americans 1,000 years to spread across the continent and that gave the country a 1,000 year chance at remaining a democracy.
Historians have been tortured by trying to define Jefferson's character ever since he died. He was clearly a genius but his personal life was often in grave conflict with his stated beliefs. Once hugely adored, in recent years his relationship with his sister in law and slave, Sally Hemings, has caused a great deal of debate on his personal morality.
That the country had survived fifty years was somewhat amazing. The War of 1812, not well remembered in the United States, had been a US war of choice that had not been supported by New England and which the United States, in spite of what is commonly claimed, lost. The central seaboard South, which had favored the war, proved to retain a sizable population that retained strong sympathies with the United Kingdom. The US Army was twice very badly defeated by Canadian militias which gained ground in the Midwest, something also rarely noted. Only the logistical difficulties faced by the British and a high desertion rate of its troops kept the country from returning to British possession.
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