A Great Series

I was right. The HBO series "John Adams" is masterful and addictive. Excellently depicted in it's historical detail, it captures the culture and uncertainty of the period.
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How people had the guts to rebel from the brutal British Empire, which had the most powerful military resources on earth, is still amazing to me. Adams, to this time, has had a tough go with his reputation by historians, and is often characterized as petty and jealous. He was not a striking physical person, and he was impetuous and impatient as a politician.
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But his correspondence with his wife, Abigail, which has survived virtually intact reveals a deeply sincere patriot, whose persistence and self-sacrifice was crucial to the formulaion of the country.
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His relationship with Thomas Jefferson was most intriguing. Jefferson was a southern plantation slave owner, and Adams was vehemently anti-slavery. Adams was open and forthright, while Jefferson operated behind the scenes with subtefuge and manipulation. They became openly opposed politically after the Revolution, Adams being the 2nd President and Jefferson the 3rd.
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In their elderly years, the two vigorously corresponded with each other, sending letters back and forth between Massachusetts and Virginia.
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On July 4, 1826, they were both on their deathbeds, exactly 50 years after they had both signed the Declaration of Independence. Adams' last words on that day were, "Thomas Jefferson Survives." Ironically, Jefferson had expired earlier that same day.
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I think that's pretty freaky.

Tuna Lips said...

O I wonders, if we dug deep enough, wuldnt we find out ole Johnny do good was not prancing around with jefferson, having a go at it with the ladies behind the wood pile? Its genetically dischargeable to all politico types. You can looks it up in any medicating journal.