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We Differ As Rational Friends

A Debate Between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson  

Jefferson and Adams were two of our Founding Fathers. But, they were close friends for much of their lives. Learn their story in this performance from the AHT. Ages 12 and up are welcome.

On July 4, 2026, America will celebrate 250 years of independence. 

Performed by the American Historical Theater. 

Bitter political rivals and close personal friends: Adams (Peyton Dixon) and Jefferson (Steve Edenbo) discuss, debate, and sometimes decry the revolutionary storms they weathered throughout a relationship spanning fifty years. They recall their bumpy collaboration on the Declaration of Independence in 1776, parting ways on its final content and even on the most appropriate date for commemorating American independence. They clash on Constitutional issues such as term limits, freedom of speech, Presidential powers, the Tenth Amendment, the First Amendment, as well as the virtues and vexations of a two-party system. By means of this dialogue between their differing visions for The United States, their contrasting views of human nature, and their political careers that inter weaved collaboration and opposition, our 2nd and 3rd Presidents find the common ground that inspired Benjamin Rush to dub them “rival friends”. 

This is a debate, but not one fueled by party animosity or reciprocal hatred. Rather it is fueled by a shared love of America, seasoned with passionate, diverging beliefs regarding how best to protect and foster the nation these two men helped to find. 

“On the question, What is the best provision? you and I differ; but we differ as rational friends, using the free exercise of our own reason, and mutually indulging it’s errors.”

Thomas Jefferson to John Adams: October 28, 1813.

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