Thomas Jefferson image by Wikipedia

John Adams image by Wikipedia

They were very different people, but shared common goals that overcame their cultural differences.  Their respect and affection for each other was undeniable.

Adams was from New England; Jefferson, an aristocrat, from the South.  Both were farmers; Adams from very humble beginnings; Jefferson, the graceful horseman and land baron – much of his wealth acquired through inheritance.  Both were college educated.  Adams never owned a slave and abhorred slavery; Jefferson owned slaves until he died.

Contrary to any criticism leveled against either of them throughout history, it is highly unlikely that America would have won its independence from Great Britain by 1783 without them.

The Jefferson-Adams split begun in 1789 when Jefferson believed the United States should offer significant support to French revolutionists who were overthrowing the French monarchy as France was fighting a series of wars against Great Britain.

Jefferson believed that the spirit of the French revolution was very much like that of the American revolution.  And, it was America’s responsibility to extend its new found freedom and guiding principles to people everywhere that were willing to stand up to, and overthrow tyrannical monarchies.  (Ironically, if it wasn’t for the French monarchy that was being overthrown, and the military assistance it provided to the American colonies in rebellion, America would probably have not gained its independence from Great Britain by 1783.)  To Thomas Jefferson, a monarchy was a monarchy, and they all needed to go.

President George Washington and Vice President Adams did not want to not get involved with France’s problems and did not equate the raging bloodbath that was occurring in France as an identical twin of the American Revolution.  Washington and Adams believed America’s long-term survivability necessitated that the young government should do all possible to remain neutral and, to establish some sort of peace with its former enemy, Great Britain.

Although Adams had a deep-seeded resentment toward Britain, he was a realist and believed that America had gone through a costly war with Britain and was in need of time to recover economically to grow up as a nation.  As Adams predicted, history would show that Britain would remain the global power of the 19th century, not France.  And, it was clear to Adams that America should remain at peace with Britain.

Adams also knew that that post-Britain America did not have many close friends in Europe.  America’s new government throughout Europe was viewed as an experiment that could easily fail.

None of this sat well with Jefferson or his growing group of followers, a new coalition of government leaders that formed a political party that the press deemed the Democratic-Republicans.  They labeled Adams a monarchist and plotted to unseat him in the next election for his behavior toward France and Britain.

It seems very apparent that Vice President Thomas Jefferson was undermining and attempting to disrupt President Adams’ political agenda.  In doing so, he went so far as to hire a Philadelphia muckraker reporter, James Callender (who previously exposed Alexander Hamilton’s extramarital affair to the public) to try to convince the public, through a series of political pamphlets, that Adams was a closet monarchist, a person with an explosive temper that made him an insane leader.

In the election of 1800, Jefferson barely managed to defeat both Adams and the first runner up for President, Aaron Burr – an intriguing figure who became most famous in 1804 for shooting and killing Alexander Hamilton, in an arranged pistol duel.   

James Callender, would surface again later, asking President Jefferson for a payback by appointing him to Postmaster of Richmond, Virginia.  Jefferson now viewed Callender as too radical and would not approve his appointment.

Callender responded by unleashing a barrage of scandalous information about Jefferson; revealing that Jefferson had funded his pamphleteering against President Adams and, as proof, Callender published Jefferson’s letters to him decribing those events!  But, that wasn’t enough – Callender went even further by publishing a series of articles stating that Thomas Jefferson fathered children by his slave, Sally Hemmings.  And, Jefferson had attempted to seduce a married neighbor decades earlier, to which Jefferson later admitted.

Most of us in America know that Thomas Jefferson became the most famous of the two patriots.  He went on to a second term as President, with significant accomplishments.  His name and accomplishments are recognized and acknowledged to this very day. 

In fact, Jefferson’s image is carved into Mount Rushmore, along with an elite group including George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

But, you may ask, whatever happened to James Callender?

After his serious fallout with Jefferson, Callender was scheduled to provide testimony for a New York trial that involved libel charges against a publisher, Harry Croswell, who had reprinted claims that Thomas Jefferson paid Callender to defame George Washington.

President Jefferson responded by beginning a selective campaign against individual newspaper critics.

However, on July 17, 1803, during Jefferson’s first term as President, Callender drowned in two feet of water in the James River, reportedly too drunk to save himself.

In the 1850’s, Edward Belcher was searching for the Northwest Passage in a ship know as the Resolute when he became stuck in the arctic ice.  The ships were abandoned and two years later they were found by an American fisherman named James Buddington. The remains were taken back to Queen Victoria and assembled back into a boat.  The boat was used in the Royal Navy for another 23 years until it was decommissioned and made into what is now known as the resolute desk.  The desk was then given to President Hayes in November of 1880 and has been in the White House ever since.  Since President Hayes the desk has gone through two major changes, a panel was installed to hide FDR’s wheelchair and the desk was raised so that Ronald Regan’s chair he brought from California could fit underneath it.

Statue of Liberty

After discussing a suitable gift to celebrate the Centennial of the Declaration of Independence the Frenchman Frederic Bartholdi was commissioned to create a statue.   He created two smaller models one in Paris and the other in Maceio Brazil in order to get an idea for the one in he was to create in New York City.  The United States agreed to create the base if the French would create and assemble the statue.  The statue came in 350 pieces which were shipped over in 214 crates.  The construction was finished on August 11, 1885 and was unveiled by President Cleveland on October 28, 1886.  Since then the statue has undergone renovation including adding floodlights and repairing damage caused by the Black Tom Explosion during WWI.

Mount Rushmore

Doane Robinson wanted to promote tourism in South Dakota.  He had an idea to sculpt the faces of presidents into the rocks in South Dakota.  He contacted a sculptor named Gutzon Borglum to make sure that it was even possible to complete a task of that magnitude.  He said that the original spot where Robinson wanted it was to thin to support the structure.  However he found a suitable place close by.  He was able to get approval from congress and President Coolidge to feature Washington, two republicans and a democrat.  Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt were then selected because of their role in protecting the republic and expanding its territory.  Work began on October 4th 1927.  Jefferson was originally to appear on Washington’s right but because of the rock formation it would have been impossible so they instead carved him on Washington’s left.  Washington head was finished first followed by Jefferson Lincoln and Roosevelt.  The total cost of the project was $989,992.32 and because of the lack of available funds many of the additions that were planned were never were built including the head a Susan B Anthony, a panel in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase commemorating the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  The four presidents were also going to be carved all the way down to their waist.  In 1991 George H W Bush officially dedicated Mount Rushmore.  Today Mount Rushmore attracts over 2 million visitors a year.

Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal is located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.  It is the largest train station in the world with 44 platforms and 67 tracks on two different levels.  Construction began in 1903 and the terminal opened on February 2, 1903.  It was the first train station to feature ramps to ease traffic through the station instead of the traditional staircases.  In 1976 Grand Central Terminal was listed on The National Register of Historic Places.  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has begun a project that would bring the Long Island rail road trains through grand central station instead of Penn Station.  The tunnel is being excavated more than 90 feet below Park Avenue.  The project is expected to be finished in 2012.  Grand Central Terminal is often incorrectly referred to as Grand Central Station which is the name of a nearby post office. Today there are over 125,000 commuters a day and 123 retail businesses.

Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge connects the city of San Francisco and the Marin county.  As a part of both Route 101 and State Route 1 it was the largest suspension bridge span in world when it was completed in 1937.  The bridge crosses over the Golden Gate a 400 foot strait that serves as the mouth of the San Francisco bay, hence the name Golden Gate Bridge.  Before the bride was built the only way across the bay was by ferry which was very inefficient for a growing city.  An engineer named Joseph Strauss was given the task of designing and overseeing the construction of the bridge.  After many years of opposition, construction finally began on January 5th 1933.  A total of eleven people were killed during the construction which ended in April of 1937.   The cost of building the bridge was 1.3 million under budget costing only 35 million.  The bridge contains 1,200,000 rivets and to date has raised over39 million dollars in tolls.  The bride is considered to be the most common place to commit suicide with 1,200 people jumping to there deaths.  There have been only 26 people known to have survived the fall all with broken bones and internal bleeding.

White House

The White House has been the official residence of every United States President since John Adams.  Construction began on October 13^th 1792 what at the time was known as the president’s palace.  Most of the manual labor that was needed was done by largely by enslaved African Americans as well as immigrants many of which didn’t have citizenship.  After nearly 8 years of work and at a cost of 232,371.83 dollars the palace was ready for occupancy.  Originally the presidential palace was supposed to five times larger but shortages in supplies, money, and labor forced the plans to be changed.  In 1814 during the war of 1812 the presidential palace was set ablaze by the British army destroying the exterior and charring the interior walls. Reconstruction began immediately to repair the damage.  During the reconstruction it is believed that white paint was used to hide the damage done; the name White House was used shortly after and has been used since.  The west and east Wings and Oval office were also added.  Today the White one of the most recognized icon in America.

Space Needle

The space Needle located in Seattle, Washington is 605 feet high and 138 feet wide.  The idea originally came from Edward Carlson who wanted to create a tower with a restaurant on top for the 1962 World Fair.  The idea was almost scraped because there wasn’t any land to build it on.  A small plot of land was purchased for 75,000 at the last minute and the project began.  The project was privately financed by the Pentagram Corporation.  The Space Needle was designed to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and in 1965 it was tested by a 6.8 earthquake that sloshed water out of toilets but it suffered no severe structural damage.  It was also designed to be able to withstand a category five hurricane.  At the top of the Space needle is a restaurant called the SkyCity that features Pacific Northwest cuisine.  The restraint rotates 360 degrees in exactly 47 minutes.  A light known as the legacy light was unveiled on December 31, 1999 in time for New Years Eve.  The light is used only for national holidays and special occasions in Seattle.