John Adams despised one Virginian in particular, calling him ‘obscene,’ ‘profane’ and ‘impious.’ It wasn’t Jefferson.

John Adams despised one Virginian in particular, calling him ‘obscene,’ ‘profane’ and ‘impious.’ It wasn’t Jefferson.

This week marks the 250th anniversary of American independence. To mark that, I’ll have a series of 250th-themed columns this week. When it came time to sign the Declaration of Independence — something that didn’t happen until Aug. 2, 1776 — one delegate described the mood as “pensive and awful silence.” Those who inked their names to the document knew that while they were signing the Declaration of Independence, they might also be signing their…