Incredible happenings of July 4, 1826 are reminder of nation’s beginning | Appleyard – Pensacola News Journal

John Appleyard, Special to the News Journal Published 7:00 a.m. CT July 4, 2020

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Across the United States and beyond many already are preparing forevents that will help us celebrate Independence Day 2020 - perhaps in different ways than we have celebrated in the past.

On that day Americans will be heeding the urging which had been stated just into the 19th century by former President John Adams.He said that he hoped that due celebration of our birthday of freedom would always be cited and applauded for the unique happening that it represented.

July 4th, 1776 WAS dramatic, a day when compromise had been achieved among the 55 men who had gathered in Philadelphia as the Second Continental Congress.By June the men had discussed countless happenings, and by then the word 'independency' was entertained.

Finally, the chairman, John Hancock, appointed a committee of five men whose voices had been heard on the issue.These men, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, were to prepare a statement a declaration which might be addressed to the world, providing the legal reasons for seeking separation of the colonies from England, which had been the site of origin for members of the thirteen colonies represented in Philadelphia.

1776: This undated engraving shows the scene on July 4, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pa. The document, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman, announces the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. The formal signing by 56 members of Congress began on Aug. 2.(Photo: Associated Press)

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In words assigned to Hancock in a much heralded play and motion picture:We want the world to appreciate that what we have endured has been insufferable.Ours is not some simple revolution. We are acting upon principles voiced by men of good will for centuries.

Jefferson was chosen to be the declaration's penman.His work was appraised by the other four, who made the smallest changes.Next, the full Congress viewed Jefferson's work.Here adjustments were made, some dealing with specific colonial positions, a few related to language.Then, after proper hearings and debate, the document was approved, printed, signed and distributed, as far and as fast as possible.

July of 1776 was five years removed from when the guns of battle were laid down at Yorktown, when General Cornwallis had surrendered to General Washington.A peace treaty had determined national boundaries, and in 1789 a new government had become functional.Of the early national leaders, two of the Declaration's authors were in the vanguard.John Adams served as president 1797-1801, and Thomas Jefferson the two terms following.Then, decade after decade, those two men at times traded barbs and insults (as political parties took form).But, as their years were extended the two conducted an amicable correspondence, Jefferson from his home in Virginia, Adams from Braintree, Massachusetts.

Thomas Jefferson was an American statesmen, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, expert distiller of alcohol and Founding Father, who served as the third President of the United States, from 1801 to 1809. He too dreamed of an east to west national linkage. The country had vastly expanded since Washingtons time, and Jefferson worked to make it come true.(Photo: Image provided)

Then came July 4th, 1826 50years beyond the Declaration's signing date.As the hours passed into the date the aged Jefferson, now 83, asked a servant if this was indeed July 4th.Assured that it was the aged president settled back; death came to him at 12:30 p.m.

Hundreds of miles away Adams, 81, had been in ill health for some days.As the afternoon shadows of July 4th settled in he felt his grip on life easing.Tradition says that he turned to an aide murmuring Thank goodness Jefferson still lives!

President John Adams(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

At 5:30 p.m.John Adams, the second United States president, passed away.

As we schedule our 2020 July 4th celebration, it would be interesting to remember the amazing coincidence that those two authors of the Declaration, and United States presidents, should die within hours of one another, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of their declaration.When this occurred there were many including men in their pulpits who believed that here was another signal that God's hand had truly been with the men who were so much a part of the nation's beginning.

Coincidence? However one views the happening, that was the way it was.

John Appleyard is a Pensacola historian and writes a weekly historical column in the Pensacola News Journal. His 15-minute films about Pensacola are viewable, without charge, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in The Cottage, 213 E. Zaragoza St.

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Incredible happenings of July 4, 1826 are reminder of nation's beginning | Appleyard - Pensacola News Journal