ARLINGTON, Va. - s4story -- -- by Michael F. Bishop for David Bruce Smith's Grateful American Book Prize

The 50^th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1826, the United States celebrated its first half-century of existence, while John Quincy Adams commemorated the simultaneous deaths of his father, President John Adams, and President Thomas Jefferson.

As the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson had been invited to the festivities in Washington, DC, but by June of that year, he was too ill to attend; he composed a letter from Monticello, which praised the significance of the document—and its importance to mankind—forevermore:

"May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government ... All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God. These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."

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For more information, the Grateful Book Prize recommends Pauline Maier's American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1997).

History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize. For more book recommendations, information about the annual award, or to submit a book for the 2026 Grateful American Book Prize, visit https://gratefulamericanbookprize.org/.