Coincidence or Fate?

Years ago, when I was teaching an 11th grade American History class, I asked "Does anyone know the date that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence?"  Not one student raised their hand to tell me the answer to a question which I thought was obvious.  Some of them pretended to be working intently on their assignment while others avoided eye contact.  Even under those daunting conditions, I was not ready to give up.  I gave them hints like "It's a big holiday...It's in the summer."  Still, the room was eerily quiet.  Finally after a very long awkward pause, a girl raised her hand and asked "Isn't it July 4th?"  Even though she was correct, her answer upset me.  Because the only student who knew the answer to that question was a FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT from Spain!  I was flabergasted that the only person who knew the answer wasn't even from America.  

July 4th is a very important date in our history.  It was the day that we officially declared our independence from England.  But did you know that the creators of this famous document died on the 50th anniversary of its signing?  Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence while John Adams was on the committee which helped him.  Was this a coincidence that both great men died on the same day or was it  fate?

The political atmosphere during the early years of America was charged with rivalry and borderline hatred.  Two political parties quickly emerged by the time George Washington was finished with his second term in office.  Each disagreed on the direction that this young country should take.  The Federalists won the first victory when John Adams took office as the second President of the United States.  However, the Democrat-Republicans claimed the evenutual victory when Thomas Jefferson won the next two elections.  Even though Adams and Jefferson had been in agreement when they wrote and signed the Declaration of Independece in 1776, the bitter presidential campaingns against each other had left them nothing less than enemies.  Even though Adams was older, he would often gleefully boast that he would outlive Jefferson.

Years after both men had left office and retired in the comfort of their homes in Virginia and Massachusetts, they began to correspond with each other.  Their friendship, which had existed in the early days of the Revolution, gradually returned.  Jefferson spent his final years in physical discomfort with what was probably cancer.  It did indeed look as if Adam's prediction of outliving him would come true.  As the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was approaching, Jefferson would often awake from his sleep asking what day it was.  It seemed as if he was waiting for July 4th.

Adams' health had begun to fail as well.  July 4, 1826 found both Adams and Jefferson lying in their death beds.  Jefferson died a few hours before Adams.  Adams did not know that Jefferson had died and it is rumored that Adams said "Thomas Jefferson survives" just before he died.  It seems appropriate that both great men died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  A date which will (hopefully) be remembered for generations to come.