On a recent visit to the public library in Nashville, Tenn., with my sister Geneva and her husband Bill Davis, I saw a very attractive and interesting display about the famous family of John and Abigail Adams. It put me in mind of the fact that Independence Day is coming up before my next column is due, and I don’t want to miss my opportunity to express my thankfulness for this historic family and the part they played in the direction this country took during those days. You know, we have good reason today to look at the decisions of earlier times to see perhaps some benefit of hindsight.

First of all, we must not be too discouraged by the fact that there is a difference of opinion as to the proper course of action today concerning important proposals being considered by our government. This is certainly nothing new. For example, Pennsylvania and New York delegates during the discussions about independence also had strong disagreements. Pennsylvania, for example, as well as New York delegates felt bound to avoid separation from England. One important delegate, John Dickinson, who had earlier been a friend of John Adams in the First Congress and had written eloquently against duties levied on the colonies in the Townshend Acts, did a complete turnabout in the Second Congress and began to speak our for reconciliation with England.

But in spite of these negative attitudes, on May 15, 1776, a resolve and preamble passed by a majority vote. Here is what John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail about the future as he saw it (the capitalization and spelling are his own also): “Great Britain has at last driven America to the last Step, a compleat separation from her, a total absolute Independence, not only of her Parliament but of her Crown ... I have Reasons to believe that no Colony, which shall assume a Government under the People, will give it up. There is something very unnatural and odious in a Government 1000 Leagues off. An whole Government of our own Choice, managed by Persons who We love, revere and can confide in, has charms in it for which Man will fight.”

The demand for independence gained momentum, although mainly with lower levels of society more than with the professional and upper-class population which made up most of the delegates to the Congress.

Even by July 1, the resolution favoring independence was still not approved by everyone. The aforementioned Dickinson led the opposition, and his eloquent speech caused a very “long and awkward silence.” No one seemed to have an appropriate rebuttal until John Adams at last stood up. Adams was described as being “plump, rubicund, awkward” and was said to lack the “presence” and “the voice of an orator.” He had no illusions about himself and readily admitted his lack of eloquence. However, he had a series of facts which he was adept at placing before the Congress. He took the proposal step by step and laid out like a geometry problem the controversy between England and the colonies. He knew and stated the legal arguments, the crisis which had arisen, the attempts to reconcile the issues. But he concluded that there was no road open but that of independence.

Yet, at the close of the meeting, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South Carolina were still opposed to independence. After a long night spent talking, “persuasion and maneuvering” paid off. The momentum was such that even the “dubious felt themselves carried away in the emotional current.” Adams was elated, and as he talked with delegate after delegate, he became more and more confident that the resolution would pass.

The next morning things slowed down. It rained and nothing was done until after lunch when time came to make a decision one way or another. South Carolina had backed down, and Pennsylvania could cast a vote in favor of the resolution because “Dickinson had agreed not to take his seat.” There was even a “last minute” vote for independence cast by Delaware which sent “a mud-streaked delegate” arriving “posthaste” just in time to change its negative to a positive vote. That left only New York abstaining, while 12 other former colonies stood up for independence. Although Adams confessed that it would give a great deal of power to the “People.” (Notice that I showed you the capital letter on that last word.) And he closed with these words: “But I must submit all my Hopes and fears, to an overruling Providence in which unfashionable as the Faith may be, I firmly believe.”

(This column is written to honor James Blair Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Facts are from “Adams: An American Dynasty,” by Francis Russell.)

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Gelene Simpson is a Daily Sun columnist. Her column appears on Tuesdays.

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