Present at the founding of the American republic, the Adams family shaped both American independence and more than a century of the ensuing commemorations of the "great anniversary festival."
John Adams to Abigail Adams, 3 July 1776: The day after the Continental Congress voted for independence, John Adams wrote from Philadelphia to his wife Abigail Adams in Braintree informing her that "The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America" and commenting that "the great Anniversary Festival . . . ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, . . . Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more." While Adams correctly identified the way America would celebrate Independence Day, it was 4 July—the date the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence—that became a national holiday.
During John Adams's presidency, First Lady Abigail Adams wrote from Washington, DC, to her sister Elizabeth Smith Shaw Peabody on 7 July 1798 about the Independence Day celebrations in the nation's capital. This coincided with a fresh wave of patriotism stemming from the revelation of the XYZ Affair with France: "400 young Men, all in uniform and 60 Grenadeers . . . marching in Review as Volunters whose services had been tenderd to their Country in a free will offering to the Chief Majestrate of united America." Adams further commented, "To the Committee of young Men from Nyork I presented a cockade in the middle of which a small silver Eagle, being the Arms of the united states. they have been polite enough to Name them after me, & the whole volunteer Corps have adopted them."
Much like her 
mother-in-law Abigail Adams, Louisa Catherine Adams was no stranger to the political spirit of Washington, DC. In 1804 she attended the "Anniversary of an empire's birth," complete with an artillery salute from the Navy Yard, public dinners, and the President's House opened for well-wishers. "I followed the multitude to day and went to pay my respects to the President," she wrote to John Quincy Adams. "Every body attended that remain'd in town and we had as much Ice Cream and cake as we could eat."
In 1821, Louisa attended husband John Quincy Adams's Fourth of July oration at the US Capitol. Promoting ideas later codified as policies in the Monroe Doctrine, John Quincy argued for nonintervention in foreign conflicts: "She [America] goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher of freedom and independence of us all. She is the champion and vindicator of only her own." Mid-speech, Adams inserted a reading of the Declaration of Independence and observed that America's "glory is not dominion, but liberty."
A half century after his father delivered an Independence Day oration in Boston, Charles Francis Adams performed the same duties at Faneuil Hall. Prayers, hymns, and odes sung by students accompanied his words. Former President John Quincy Adams had not celebrated Independence Day in Boston since 1809. Once again, he ended the evening on Boston Common with fireworks breaking overhead. "No language can express the agitation of my feelings, and the remembrances of this day," he wrote in his diary on 4 July 1843.
A century after his grandfather John Adams helped write the Declaration of Independence, Charles Francis Adams delivered a Fourth of July centennial oration at Taunton, Massachusetts. Chronicling the nation from its revolutionary roots to the Civil War, Adams praised the denunciation of slavery found in early drafts of the Declaration: "there is no passage so fine as this in the Declaration. Unfortunately it hit too hard on some interests close at home which proved strong enough to have it dropped from the final draft," he proclaimed. Adams closed by calling for continued labor in securing the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to the "ever enlarging generations of mankind."
Additional Resources
Readers seeking additional primary source materials related to Independence Day or the Fourth of July may wish to explore the Declarations at the MHS website. Those interested in reading what various members of the Adams family wrote on or about Independence Day should visit the Adams Papers Digital Edition and the John Quincy Adams Digital Diary.
Students and educators can visit the primary source set "Revolutionary Abigail Adams" and "Analyzing the Meaning and Legacy of the Declaration of Independence," part of the MHS History Source.
Visit the Adams Bibliography for other suggestions on further reading.
This webpage was created with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
