Re-enactors partake in the July 4 festivities!/Elizabeth Brown

The Founding Fathers had the radical idea that a government should be for the people. Today, America’s 400-plus National Parks represent this exact idea. Join the staff at Adams National Historical Park at the “Continental Congress” on Independence Day to debate, defend, compromise, and consider the meaning of independence.

Experience history through the performing arts as the staff salutes two of the nation's most celebrated Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and Founding Mother, Abigail Adams, in the stage play: Jefferson and Adams, by Howard Ginsberg.

Lend your voice to liberty as we read the Declaration of Independence, right outside and below the room that John Adams took his last breath on July 4, 1826, the Jubilee Anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Celebrate the 241st anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence at the home of one of the men who helped to write it. This annual tradition has brought thousands to take part in the celebration. The July 4, 2017 activities include:

Independence Forever: The Continental Congress

2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The Carriage House, 135 Adams Street, Quincy, MA

Become a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and re-enact the passage of the Declaration of Independence in the Adams Carriage House. This interactive and engaging event is an invitation to adults and children to take part in the debate about whether to remain loyal to the British crown, or to create a new nation.

The Reading of the Declaration of Independence

3:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Join the delegates at John Adams’s Old House at Peace field and lend your voice to the ceremonial reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson & Adams: A Stage Play

4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Beale House, 181 Adams Street, Quincy, MA

Witness a compelling dramatization of the friendship between John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Abigail Adams. Colonial Williamsburg reenactors Bill Barker and Abigail Schumann join actor Sam Goodyear in bringing to life the 50-year relationship – often contentious, sometimes turbulent, and ultimately enduring – of this dynamic trio who hold forth on life, love, and loss in their now famous correspondence. The play will take place under the tent at the neighboring Beale House.

The day’s events are free and open to the public. There is limited street parking. A free trolley from the Adams National Historical Park Visitor Center (1250 Hancock Street) will be available. Validated parking is located on the 4th and 5th floors in the Galleria Parking Garage.

Adams National Historical Park includes the birthplaces of the second and sixth presidents of the United States, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, along with the Old House at Peace field, home to both presidents and four generations of their distinguished family. During the open season, April 19 through November 10, tickets to the historic homes can be purchased at the Visitor Center located at 1250 Hancock Street, Quincy.

A free park trolley transports visitors from the Visitor Center to the Birthplaces and the Old House at Peace field for a two-and-a-half hour tour. The first tour leaves at 9:15 a.m. and the last tour leaves at 3:15 p.m., seven days a week including federal holidays. Tickets are $10 for adults (children 15 and under are free) and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.