|
|
 |
|
The
views expressed
on this page are soley those of the author and do not
necessarily
represent the views of County News Online
|
 |
Heritage Foundation
How One Man
Helped Propel the American Revolution
Lee Edwards
July 03, 2017
That the brilliant wordsmith Thomas Jefferson was the principal author
of the Declaration of Independence is indisputable, but a lesser-known
fact is that the man who played the indispensable role in its adoption
by the Continental Congress in July 1776 was John Adams of
Massachusetts, our second president.
Jefferson later confirmed Adams’ role as the tireless “floor manager”
of the declaration:
No man better merited than Mr. John Adams to hold a most conspicuous
place in the design. He was the pillar of its support on the floor of
Congress, its ablest advocate and defender against the multifarious
assaults encountered.
As historian David McCullough has written, tension in the congressional
debate was heightened by the sighting of a hundred British ships off
New York, the first arrivals of a fleet that would number over 400. So
serious a step as independence warranted unanimity among the colonies,
but Delaware and Pennsylvania remained question marks.
Just as the doors of Congress were about to be closed, Caesar Rodney of
Delaware arrived, “booted and spurred.” Although suffering from skin
cancer, Rodney had ridden 80 miles through the night, changing horses
several times, to cast his “aye” vote for independence.
More important to the cause, McCullough writes, were two empty chairs
in the Pennsylvania delegation. Unwilling to vote for independence, but
acknowledging the need for Congress to be unanimous, John Dickinson and
Robert Morris “had voluntarily absented themselves from the
proceedings,” placing Pennsylvania behind independence by the narrow
margin of 3-2.
On the final day of debate, when adoption of the declaration by all 13
colonies was still in doubt, Adams rose to speak “with a power of
thought and expression,” Jefferson wrote, “that moved us from our
seats.”
To Richard Stockton, a new delegate from New Jersey, Adams was “the
atlas” of the hour, “the man to whom the country is most indebted for
the great measure of independency.”
Today, some 241 years later, we remain awed by the courage of the
delegates assembled in Philadelphia who declared their independence
from England, then the most powerful nation in the world, and pledged
their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to a new nation—the
United States of America.
While Jefferson himself penned the Declaration of Independence, it was
Adams more than anyone else who was responsible for its adoption. He
more than any other delegate understood how consequential the
declaration would be, writing to his beloved wife Abigail:
The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the
history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by
succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.
It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of
devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and
parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and
illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this
time forward forever more.
So, let the illuminations begin!
Read this and other articles at The Daily Signal
|
|
|
|
