History is an uncertain science, at best.
Much of it is outright lies and balderdash. For example, Napoleon looked at history as "a set of lies agreed upon." Does it matter that he stole most of that line from Voltaire, who suggested, "History is a lie commonly agreed upon?"
George Santayana harbored significant doubts about the entire field, telling friends, "History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there."
Too much of history rests on the memories of old men, old men whose minds have grown soft. Even the best men have doubts and question themselves as time goes by. They question the history books.
Fifty years after signing the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote Thomas Jefferson, wondering, "Who shall write the history of the American Revolution? Who can write it? Who will ever be able to write it?"
Take, for example, the Declaration of Independence. The proceedings of congress were held behind closed doors. No records were kept. With the death of each member of congress, more of the story was lost. And the recollections that surfaced were suspect.
John Adams thought the published version of John Dickinson's speech against the Declaration was entirely unlike the one he heard that day. Thomas Jefferson questioned the claim that Samuel Chase was the first to suggest independence. He asked Adams, "do you remember anything of this? I do not."
If the two leading committee members tasked to oversee the Declaration of Independence questioned how it came about, how much of its history can we believe?
Like Jefferson and Adams, some readers will question this book. They will say it's not what they learned in school, and that's okay; no one agrees on everything. And, even if we were wallflowers, watching events unfold, our interpretations might differ?especially after forty or fifty years.
Some readers might object to my calling John Adams the red-headed stepchild of the Revolution, Thomas Jefferson a bumbling boob, and Benjamin Franklin, a cantankerous old letch. But guess what? Many of their contemporaries viewed them that way.
Get over it. Read the stories. Enjoy the ride, and understand I mean no harm calling our heroes this or that. My purpose is to show them as living, breathing men who met the challenges thrown at them. Can you say the same?
