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Editorial
November 9, 1826
Martinsburg Gazette And Public Advertiser
Martinsburg, Berkeley County, West Virginia
What is this article about?
An American editorial denounces a British newspaper's false assertion that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died from excessive drinking while celebrating the 50th anniversary of U.S. independence, cautioning against relying on prejudiced sources for history.
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Full Text
We have a precious sample of the truth, candour and kind feeling of an English ministerial editor in the following paragraph, which the National Gazette has copied from a London paper called the John Bull, of the 6th August last.
"By a curious coincidence, Adams and Jefferson, two of the revolted colonists, who signed the declaration of American independence, died on the 4th of July, that being the fiftieth anniversary of their rebellion triumph over the mother country. This coincidence is rendered less curious by a statement which has reached us, that these patriarch malcontents brought on their sympathetic deaths by too liberal potations in honor of their unnatural ingratitude."
What reliance can be placed on any statement of an editor who could gravely assert so despicable a falsehood as is contained in the last sentence of the above?—yet from such lying sources will future historians, with prejudices similar to the John Bull Editor, derive the facts for history.
"By a curious coincidence, Adams and Jefferson, two of the revolted colonists, who signed the declaration of American independence, died on the 4th of July, that being the fiftieth anniversary of their rebellion triumph over the mother country. This coincidence is rendered less curious by a statement which has reached us, that these patriarch malcontents brought on their sympathetic deaths by too liberal potations in honor of their unnatural ingratitude."
What reliance can be placed on any statement of an editor who could gravely assert so despicable a falsehood as is contained in the last sentence of the above?—yet from such lying sources will future historians, with prejudices similar to the John Bull Editor, derive the facts for history.
What sub-type of article is it?
Foreign Affairs
Partisan Politics
Press Freedom
What keywords are associated?
Adams Jefferson Deaths
British Press Bias
American Independence
Historical Falsehoods
What entities or persons were involved?
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
John Bull Editor
National Gazette
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Critique Of British Press Falsehood On Adams And Jefferson Deaths
Stance / Tone
Strongly Critical Of British Bias And Falsehoods
Key Figures
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
John Bull Editor
National Gazette
Key Arguments
The British Editor's Claim Of Adams And Jefferson Dying From Excessive Drinking Is A Despicable Falsehood
Biased And Lying Sources Like The John Bull Will Mislead Future Historians