Friday, August 16, 2013

What Age Were They When The Deceleration of Independence was Signed?

A partial list of the Founding Fathers’ ages on July 4, 1776:

Marquis de Lafayette, 18

Aaron Burr, 20

Alexander Hamilton, 21

James Madison, 25

John Jay, 30

Thomas Jefferson, 33

Thomas Paine, 39

John Adams, 40

George Washington, 44

Samuel Adams, 53

Benjamin Franklin, 70

Historian David McCullough explained the phenomenon of picturing our Founding Fathers as older than they actually were:
We tend to see them as much older than they were. Because we’re seeing them in portraits by Gilbert Stuart and others when they were truly the Founding Fathers — when they were president or chief justice of the Supreme Court and their hair, if it hadn’t turned white, was powdered white. We see the awkward teeth. We see the elder statesmen. At the time of the Revolution, they were all young. It was a young man’s–young woman’s cause.

(Via AEI)

10 comments:

  1. At the time of the Revolution, they were all young? Right, 70 years young.

    John Adams, 40

    George Washington, 44

    Samuel Adams, 53

    Benjamin Franklin, 70

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    1. Oh come on. Your trolling activities should be better than this. These are all in the list. What part of McCullough's statement about graying hair don't you get? Do you think Adams at 40 and Washington at 44 had gray hair?

      You are a disgrace to trolls everywhere.

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    2. To follow up on Jerry's "nit", it seems irrelevant to count gray hairs during an era when the average life expectancy was 35 to 40 (at best). This could hardly be called a movement of youth when over half the founding fathers were past "middle" age. Unless of course you meant who was fighting and dying on the battle fields. Then as always the youth were cannon fodder for their elders.

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    3. "A disgrace to trolls everywhere" - is this that biggest Internet insult possible? Love it.

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    4. Ignore him- I do.

      Dale Fitz

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    5. As much as I paid attention is history classes and read a lot now, I'm sorry to say, I too, saw them, "as much older than they were." I was surprised at the young ages of these guys:

      Marquis de Lafayette, 18

      Aaron Burr, 20

      Alexander Hamilton, 21

      James Madison, 25

      John Jay, 30

      Thomas Jefferson, 33

      Thomas Paine, 39

      Thank you for the extra enlightenment, EPJ.
      Seeing those ages was like seeing a lightning-bolt strike nearby.
      Exhilarating!

      - IndividualAudienceMember

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  2. Dear Bob,
    No, the Deceleration of Independence was the Constitution!

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  3. Deceleration of Independence? Is this a play on words? Deceleration? Or a misspelling?

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  4. I've got 1776 by McCoullough....it sits on my bookshelf and I have no motivation to read it currently.

    Of course, I read his books on Adam's and Truman...and when I started cross checking his portrayal of Truman I started to become appalled at how much he got wrong.

    I'm not saying 1776 isn't a good book or accurate....but after investing so much in Truman I felt like I had been betrayed.

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