John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died 199 years ago today. I once wrote a time-travel story where, on their dying day, Adams and Jefferson were brought together on the shores of New Jersey to watch the fireworks display at the Bicentennial celebration in New York City, and to see proof through the night that the flag was still there.
I sent the story off to a magazine to which I'd sold stories before and the editor sent me a note saying he liked the story, but something about it didn't quite work. He couldn't place his finger on what it was so he was going to pass on the story. I mentioned this to a writer friend of mine, who said, “Send me the story; I'll tell you what's wrong with it.” So off went the story, and a short time later, my friend wrote back, “Well, I read the story, and I liked it, but there's something about it that doesn't quite work, and I can't tell you what it is.
On Independence Day, I often reflect on what the founders of our nation would think of what we have become, nearly 250 years later. Could they imagine traversing the continent in five hours? Would they be astounded that a trip to Paris or London would take less than a day, when it took them at least a month at sea each way? Mail (of the electronic variety) is now instantaneous. Medicine is light years ahead of where it was in 1776. We sent people to the moon! Of these I think they would be impressed.
But what of our stewardship of the constitution they created? I've read biographies of many of the founders. I've read their diaries and letters. For some, I feel as if I know them as friends. And yet I am not sure what they might think of the job we've done over the last 249 years. I frequently imagine bringing John Adams and Thomas Jefferson back to life in 2025 (not so different from how Jason Heller imagined bringing Taft back in 2012). What would they think of our republic? What would our leaders think of them upon meeting them in person, and being able to ask them the questions: Is this what you imagined? Did we do it right?
Perhaps after looking around and talking to people, they, like my editor and friend, would say that they liked much of what they saw and heard, but that there was something that didn't quite work, and they couldn't tell us what it was.
