3 United States Presidents died on July 4th, including the 2 Founding Fathers most responsible for the Declaration of Independence…
John Adams (1735--1826) and Thomas Jefferson (1743--1826)
From Python.net
Both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, which also happened to be the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. As we all know, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration in committee with John Adams (and Benjamin Franklin).
After George Washington retired from the Presidency, John Adams became President and Thomas Jefferson became Vice-President. The two men had disagreed politically throughout the Washington Administration, and were only both elected because in those days, whomever came in second in the Presidential vote became Vice-President.
During the Adams Administration, the two differed on almost every issue, and Jefferson defeated Adams and took the Presidency in 1800. To make a long story short, although they had worked together in the cause for independence, Adams and Jefferson became truly bitter enemies when political parties began to form around each of them.
Fortunately, Adams and Jefferson reconciled in their retirement and they became the absolute best of friends as they lived out their final years. Both men were conscious of living to see the fiftieth Fourth of July, and both, despite knowing they were on their death beds, made genuine efforts to hang on to dear life until the day had come.
John Adams’s final words were (supposedly), “Thomas Jefferson survives.” But he was wrong. Jefferson had died just hours earlier at Monticello.
Edited From Wikipedia
Writing the Declaration Of Independence
On June 11th the members of the Committee were appointed: Mr. John Adams, Mr. Benjamin Franklin, Mr. Thomas Jefferson, Mr. Robert R. Livingston, and Mr. Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson was tasked by the other four members of the committee to write the first draft.
During the following two weeks Jefferson’s evolving draft was critically reviewed by other Committee of Five members, likely Adams and Franklin, who suggested minor changes; and after just 17 days the document was formally presented to the Continental Congress, on Friday, June 28th.
Throughout the following Monday, July 1st, the Congress debated the question of whether or not to declare independence; and during the next day’s afternoon, July 2nd, by voted resolve the Congress declared the independence of the United Colonies. Right after this the Committee of the Whole commenced the review of the precise wording of the proposed text for the broadside Declaration.
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson (3 of the Committee of Five), edit the Declaration.
Two passages in the Committee of Five draft were rejected by the Congress — an intemperate reference to the English people and a scathing denunciation of the slave trade. Otherwise, the Declaration was adopted without significant change two days later when the Congress reached agreement during the late morning of July 4th, following intensive review sessions conducted during the afternoons of July 2nd and July 3rd.
Another President Died On the 4th of July…
James Monroe (1758--1831)
Edited From Wikipedia
James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States (1817–1825). His administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida (1819); the Missouri Compromise (1820), in which Missouri was declared a slave state; the admission of Maine in 1820 as a free state; and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), declaring U.S. opposition to European interference in the Americas, as well as breaking all ties with France remaining from the War of 1812.
Monroe fought in the Continental Army, serving with distinction at the Battle of Trenton, where he was shot in his left shoulder. He spent the next three months in Bucks County, PA, recovering from his wound. He is depicted holding the flag in the famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware. Following his war service, he practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Washington "Crossing the Delaware"
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