"the febble engines of depotism"

July 4, 2022 1:46 PM

Many Gentlemen in high Stations and of great Influence have been duped, by the ministerial Bubble of Commissioners to treat .... And in real, sincere Expectation of this e̶f̶f̶o̶r̶t̶ Event,"

"Thomas Jefferson's last letter to John Adams written on 25 March 1826, he compares their roles in the Revolution to those of the Argonauts of Greek mythology: "It was the lot of our early years to witness nothing but the dull monotony of Colonial subservicence, and of our riper ones to breast the labors and perils of working out of it."

“"Thomas Jefferson Survives”: The Last Letters of Jefferson and Adams"

and even should the cloud of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and liberties of Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore light and liberty to them. in short, the flames kindled on the 4th of July 1776. have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism. on the contrary they will consume these engines, and all who work them.
-Jefferson to Adams, 1821.

Jefferson and Adams die hours apart, July 4, 1826

posted by clavdivs (7 comments total)

"When my Garden and Potato Yard are quite enough for me to attend to, why I shall have to travell from one farm to the other,..."

-Abagail Adams.
posted by clavdivs at 1:50 PM on July 4, 2022 [10 favorites]

Those flames kindled reached season 3 of Star Trek: Picard: Don't be a fascist in 2024. Make it so.
posted by k3ninho at 2:55 PM on July 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

July 2 or July 4?
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:01 PM on July 4, 2022

I don't think John Adams gets enough credit for writing the Massachusetts Constitution.

• Ratified in 1780, among the oldest functional governing documents in the world.
• Slavery declared unconstitutional in 1781 before the United States even had a constitution. Elizabeth Freeman and Quock Walker literally sued for their freedom and won.
• No idiotic 2nd Amendment.
• Goodridge v. Department of Public Health cited Article I. in 2003 when establishing the right to same-sex marriage

posted by RonButNotStupid at 6:37 PM on July 4, 2022 [6 favorites]

"It [the Fourth of July] ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."

This makes me wonder if John Adams meant from New Hampshire to South Carolina, or if he really envisioned a nation "from sea to shining sea" all the way back in 1776. I tend think of that era as being before Manifest Destiny, and Adams in particular as not much of a land speculator.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 9:22 PM on July 4, 2022

It is kind of obvious in hindsight where our nation's true priorities have always been given how many of the first presidents were either plantation owners from Virginia, members of prominent Virginia families, or just from the South in general. Apart from the two Adamses and Martin Van Buren, there just aren't any presidents coming from the north until the mid 1800s.

Is this because the office of President was different then and most northern revolutionaries/politicians favored working in Congress or even local state legislatures? Or was that part of the already baked-in constitutional power grab that the southern states had made to ensure they could continue slavery?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:31 AM on July 5, 2022

If you haven't watched these yet, here they are all in one place.

Day 1 06/09:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr3z2ObaWQM

Day 2 06/13:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywy1MMWLRug

Day 3 06/16:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6_6NL5gNok

Day 4 06/21:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COIWTrg7ni4

Day 5 06/23:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjMNdMqxuiQ

Day 6 06/28:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30zBo0GV_w8
posted by hypnogogue at 7:01 AM on July 5, 2022 [1 favorite]