NO. Not those Addams’!
THESE Adams’:THIS Adams…
Ah, July 4th, 1776.
I was at a grocery store once, and when the cashier finished, the total was $17.76. I joked (or tried to) with the cashier by saying “well! That’s a coincidence!” The cashier looked at me blankly (she was about 12), and I said, “1776? JULY?” “The fourth?” She just looked at me, mystified. I sighed and said “never mind!” With a bright smile on my face, inwardly mourning the complete lack of interest in the history of our country by just about everyone.
Let me say, first and foremost Dear Reader, that I am an unabashed patriot. I am proud of this country, and love it. It is always painful for me when our current leadership does not respect our most deeply held traditions. It also amazes me how under appreciated our freedoms are by over 70% of the American people. After all, you never miss what you take for granted, right?
But it also frustrates me, that most Americans don’t know the real events behind July 4th, just as they don’t even know that Lincoln intended for the new Thanksgiving holiday to help commemorate the dead at Gettysburg in late 1863. Why do we forget? I don’t really know. Maybe the past has no relevance for people anymore, in this world of instant gratification. Maybe they weren’t properly educated. Maybe they just don’t give a shit.
But, I remember, and perhaps that’s enough, I just don’t know. Maybe you will too, Dear Reader, if you’ve read this far.
OK. Let’s begin.
You really do have to start with John adams, a disgruntled lawyer/farmer from Massachusetts. In the early 1770s, he was with his family in Boston, trying to salvage his law practice, which wasn’t doing so well, because he wasn’t exactly the most charismatic of characters.
And it begins with the Boston Massacre.
This happening began when a group of British soldiers was surrounded y a group of rowdy Bostonians, who began to shower the soldiers with snowballs and other items like hooks and clubs. The soldiers were getting freaked out, and the younger soldiers were on a hair trigger then, apparently, someone in the crowd started yelling “fire! Fire!” And the soldiers began to fire into the crowd
No not like this. This is bullshit propaganda put out by the sons of liberty, courtesy Paul revere.
No. It was more like …
The British soldiers were apprehended by colonial forces and put on trial. No colonial lawyer would touch the case. Save for one. Yup. John adams.
Adams scoured the docks and found a few witnesses who saw what had happened and wanted to tell the truth. That didn’t make them popular with the populace of Boston. The authorities in Boston went foward and tried to bring the soldiers to justice, but there was a grey area in terms of who had legal jurisdiction, Massachusetts? Or England?
The trial commenced, and as Adams presented his case, it became clear that the soldiers had indeed been sorely provoked by the crowd. Now, while this did not excuse them firing into the crowd, apparently there was some mystery as to who yelled "fire!" It turned out, that this command was yelled from the crowd at the soldiers. With some of the British soldiers being young and newly recruited, the tragic end result was almost inevitable. Adams' defense was simply that the soldiers acted as if they were being threatened and attacked...which they were, in one sense.
The result of this trial, was that the soldiers were released, but it was soon learned that they had been returned back to Britain, to face a board of review. When Adams found out about this, he was understandably incensed, because in his view, the legal system of Massachusetts was being neither respected or honored. Which, by extension, meant that the civic rights of colonials were probably not going to be honored either.
After all, they were not even regarded by the British government as full citizens.
This was Adams' rebirth as a revolutionary. Why, should he remain loyal to a government that displayed such little respect? Adams began his involvement in the revolutionary movement, a man convinced of the rightness of this endeavor, he quickly rose to prominence. Electing Adams and his cousin Samuel, was really a foregone conclusion, when it came time to form the first Continental Congress.
I think that the experience of the first Congress was somewhat frustrating for Adams. The lack of concrete action. The constant bickering between its' members. When the congress recessed, he returned to Boston, disillusioned. He eventually returned for the second session, not with a renewed determination to accomplish what he knew to be the right decision, that of independence. It was around this moment, that Adams struck up a politically advantageous relationship with Benjamin Franklin. Franklin's contribution was to guide Adams diplomatically through the troubled waters of the second continental congress. And, slowly, he began to make some headway with his fellow members. Among his first supporters, he found Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson--all from the Virginia colony. Among them, Adams found support for his political hopes. It also began a sort of friendship with Thomas Jefferson--a relationship which would prove to be among the more important and demanding of his life...indeed, there is an old story that Adams' last words were "Jefferson lives."
One of more important historical sources from this time period, is Adams' correspondence with his wife Abigail. In their letters, there is a universe of emotion--from love, to friendship, and then to need. Although Adams' spent many years away from his wife, theirs is a relationship that is outstanding for its' mutual comprehension of one another's mind. As a wife, Abigail was not a woman of her time--she was well educated, and well informed about the political matters of her day. She also had definite opinions on unpopular issues, such as women's rights.
Meanwhile, back to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love...
It was through machination, that Adams was able to finagle a fragile coalition of support for his motion on independence--you must understand, Dear Reader, that his idea was not a popular one. No one thought that a series of militia men could successfully combat one of the largest, and most well trained army in the world (at that time, anyway). War with Britain, it was thought, was suicide. And, besides, why would they give up the hope that someday, they would enjoy the full rights of Englishmen, including perhaps the vote? And, some congressmen were simply English patriots, determined not to relinquish what they perceived to be their cultural heritage. Certainly, among this latter group, was a representative of Pennsylvania named John Dickinson, who would prove to be one of Adams' most staunch political enemies. Dickinson also led a faction of congressmen who were determined to keep both their property, and their tie to dear old England.
What these men failed to realize, is that after Lexington and Concord, England already viewed them in revolt.
It was slow going, and complex, but Adams' was finally successful in achieving his goal, and the congress ultimately unanimously voted for independence. It was during the summer (and not just July 4th), that most members of the congress signed Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, thus securing the direction of their perilous course towards revolution.
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