You’re a grand old flag. You’re a high-flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave
You’re the emblem of The land I love
The home of the free and the brave.
The inspiring tribute was written a century after the founding of our country. George M. Cohan’s life was filled with song, dance and true love of country. After the birth of this nation, many died to assure that we keep the rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Two who lived, sometimes in friendship, sometimes in contest of wills died on the same day.
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, while offering sometimes opposing thoughts on the best way to govern a conglomeration of partly wilderness country with a mélange of humanity, had been friends while both were in France seeking good will toward this nascent nation.
Here were ranking British aristocracy and hardworking former Europeans looking for a better life while threatened indigenous people and slaves longing for freedom lived in a nation preparing to risk fighting for freedom, but not for them.
Now the contentious question. Who of those gathered to pull together this disparate group of would-be nation-framers should draft the historic announcement to the King of England?
Adams writes in his account of the episode in a letter to Timothy Pickering, a politician from Massachusetts and a good friend of Adams: “Thomas Jefferson was chosen, but had no interest. So, the argument between two friends began. John Adams writes,” Jefferson proposed to me to make the draft. I said, ‘I will not,’ ‘You should do it.’ ‘Oh! no.’ ‘Why will you not? You ought to do it.’ ‘I will not.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Reasons enough.’ ‘What can be your reasons?’ ‘Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can.’ ‘Well,’ said Jefferson, ‘if you are decided, I will do as well as I can.’ ‘Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting.’”[i]
You remember that he held “these truths to be self-evident”, but do you know the first sentence? “WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them … they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.”[ii]
Nearly thirty assertions of intolerable grievances followed. And then,
“We therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress…with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”[iii]
Adams agreed that Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration was great, and the world now agrees. But their contest continued. From the birth of the nation ‘til now Presidents have believed that neologism was important. Creating an American language was deemed vital to America. Allan Metcalf has written a book on “Presidents as Neologists”. Of the top ten new words, on the third line we have” lengthy” (Adams) and “lengthily” (Jefferson).
When the time came for the contest to end, while losing life, John Adams said, “Thomas Jefferson still survives,” though his old friend and political sparring partner had died a few hours before, July 4, 1826 on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
As for Cohan, he added to his fame and our good fortune with:
I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, Yankee Doodle do or die.
A real live nephew of my uncle Sam, born on the Fourth of July.
Cohan was in fact born not on the Fourth of July, but July 3 ,1848.
This Independence Day, wave the flag proudly and have a
party. John Adams said so. And I’m sure Thomas Jefferson would agree.
[i] https://www.constitutionfacts.com
[ii] Declaration of Independence
[iii] Ibid
.