07/05/2022
On July 4th, 1826, 50 years to the day after the approval of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams sat down in his study at his home, Peacefield, in Massachusetts, to read.
Soon after, his family found him unresponsive and carried him to bed. After a while he stirred, and commented that Thomas Jefferson still survived. Then John Adams died.
But he was wrong.
At his home in Virginia, Jefferson had been in bed, delirious, for a while.
That same morning, he opened his eyes and asked, "Is it the Fourth?" The response was yes. Soon after, Jefferson died, a few hours before his old friend, rival, and fellow revolutionary, John Adams.
Jefferson and Adams had been brought together by revolution, torn apart by party politics, and reconciled by the depth of their ancient bond.
Together they were called the North and South Poles of the American Revolution, and they both died on the same day, exactly 50 years after the Independence for which they strived together was finally declared to the world.
