The Meaning of Independence John Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson

Edmund S. Morgan looks at three men who may fairly be called the "architects of independence," the first presidents of the United States: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Anecdotes from their letters and diaries recapture the sense of close identity many early Americans felt with their country's political struggles. Through this perspective, Morgan examines the growth of independence from its initial declaration and discovers something of its meaning, for three men who responded to its challenge and for the nation that they helped create.