Generation Opportunity, a millenial advocacy group with a freedom and economic opportunity agenda, celebrates Independence Day by reminding us that the heroes of the American Revolution were mostly in the same age group as today’s millenials. In 1776:
- Thomas Jefferson was 33. He had graduated from William & Mary at age 19, was admitted to the Virginia bar at age 24, and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses starting at age 26.
- Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, was 31. She was a strong advocate for the rights of women, especially regarding education.
- John Jay, co-author of the Federalist Papers, was 30. He was a strong advocate for the abolition of slavery.
- James Madison, who with Jay and Hamilton co-authored the Federalist Papers, was 25. He was also the youngest delegate at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.
- Alexander Hamilton was 21. He wrote essays arguing for independence from Britain in his teens.
- The Marquis de Lafayette was 18 in 1776, when he was offered the rank of Major General in the American army. He was 19 when he finally arrived in America and took the command he had been offered. He was instrumental in winning the Revolutionary War.
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