An imagined gathering
1776 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Adams brings the delegates who will vote for independence together over oysters and johnnycake on the eve of the decision.
The resolution for independence has been postponed once already, and Adams has spent weeks working the delegations one by one. Tonight he has gathered the men whose votes he needs: Franklin, the oldest and most famous; Jefferson, who has been asked to draft the declaration; Washington, down from the army; and Henry, whose oratory has already carried Virginia.
They talk about what the declaration must say and what it must not, and about the long war that will follow either way. Henry argues for the boldest language; Franklin counsels prudence; Jefferson says little and thinks about the draft waiting at his lodgings. They eat oyster stew, fried oysters, and johnnycake, finish with a baked rice pudding, and drink spruce beer. Within days the Congress will vote.
Host: John Adams
Benjamin Franklin — The Congress's most famous member and a voice for careful compromise.
Thomas Jefferson — At work on the draft declaration in his rooms nearby.
George Washington — In Philadelphia to consult with Congress about the army.
Patrick Henry — Fresh from the Virginia Convention and its resolutions for defense.
First course
a period dish
Side
a period dish
Drink
a period dish
John Adams
Adams's long campaign in the Continental Congress to turn colonial resistance into a declaration of independence.
Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson's draft, its argument from natural rights, and the compromises the Congress made in editing it.
Patrick Henry
Henry's speech to the Virginia Convention of 1775 and the oratory that made him the voice of the coming revolution.
This gathering is an editorial recreation grounded in the biographies of those present; it did not necessarily take place as described.