The fiftieth anniversary "Jubilee" celebration of American Independence (July 4th, 1826) brings a startling development that convinces a new nation of its providential protection. On that festive day, the two patriotic heroes most responsible for declaring independence—Thomas Jefferson and John Adams—both lived to share in the festivities, but passed into eternity before the end of that same Glorious Fourth. Daniel Webster, the greatest orator of the era, and contemporary historians calculate the odds against such an undirected coincidence as utterly overwhelming.

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