History test; Part One

     I recently finished watching the HBO miniseries "John Adams" a few days ago. It was very well done and I enjoyed it immensely. (There were some adult content and nudity, so...not a teen or child movie) Near the end of the series, John Adams speaks of his fear of us forgetting what our freedom cost. Here's the quote. If I try saying it in my own words, it'll bomb;
     "Oh posterity! You will never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope that you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it."(Youtube)
     And that got me thinking; have we forgotten? Have we forgotten what our freedom cost our forefathers? Have we forgotten what they went through to preserve our freedom? 

*cough cough* Obama *cough*

    
     This made me stop and think for a moment. See, I'm studying for a history test (CLEP...blaugh) so I thought I might do a little extra research and study some early American history.

     Take a look at this two dollar bill:

     Nothing wrong with the front, let’s take a look at the back:

     Unbeknownst to most, the artist John Trumbull, had taken a few creative liberties with his painting. First off, what does this picture portray? Doesn't it make you think everyone in the room signed the Declaration  and were all for Independence? In reality, not everyone fancied the idea of leaving good ol' jolly England.

     "The delegates were not unanimous, nor did they vote as one for independence," writes Gil Klein of History.org, "A substantial portion of the delegates believed America was fighting a defensive war against an overreaching Parliament grasping for power and taxes,(William) Hogeland said. Led by Dickinson, they argued that declaring independence would mean a long, destructive, and bloody offensive war against the greatest power on earth."(Klein, history.org)

     And it wasn't just the tranquility of the scene that was false, it was the people in the picture;

     "...historian John H. Hazelton found four likenesses of people who had not signed: Robert Livingston, standing behind Jefferson as one of the five drafting committee members, George Clinton, Thomas Willing, and John Dickinson. Nine signers didn’t make the painting: John Morton, James Smith, George Taylor, George Ross, John Penn, Thomas Stone, Thomas Nelson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, and Carter Braxton."(Klein, history.org)

     Was this merely for the sake of not having enough space? Did Trumbull not see this was an important piece of information that needed to be included?

     And another thing, why did Trumbull choose to paint the scene of the delegates stepping towards John Hancock (The Presentation) when no such event occurred?

     "Historians say no such scene of the whole committee approaching Hancock to present the draft ever happened. Franklin may not have been present.(Robert) Livingston, who opposed independence, for sure was not there."(Klein, history.org)

     And last, but not least, the date; The Declaration of Independence was not signed on July 4th. It was signed on July 2nd.

     "The committee delivered its draft June 28, and it lay on the table while the delegates debated something more important—whether to vote for independence. Declaring the result would come after. Congress voted for independence July 2, not July 4. True, it approved the Declaration on the fourth. But that was not the main event. The independence vote was separate from the vote to approve the Declaration."(Klein, history.org)

     As I sat on the couch, reading these articles, my mind began shooting out question after question after question; why was this scene changed and depicted differently then what really happened? What was Trumbull thinking when he altered "history"? How much more of our American history has been altered and changed to fit our standards of "noble" and "poetic"? If this little piece of history, (that seems somewhat trivial in the grand scheme of things) has been altered, how much more of our past has been changed? Just thinking about it gives me the shivers. Am I hearing the whole truth or just parts people want me to hear?

     “Do not let our posterity be deluded with fictions under the guise of poetical or graphical license.” John Adams (Stern, hnn.us)

Bibliography

John Adams Ending. Perf. Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney. 2010. Youtube

Klein, Gil. "Colonial Williamsburg." Whatâs Wrong With This Picture? : The Official History Site. History.org, 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter11/painting.cfm

Stern, Jeremy. "What's Wrong with HBO's Dramatization of John Adams's Story." HNN.com. Oct.-Nov. 2008. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. <http://hnn.us/articles/56155.html>