5. A clean appearance substituted for personal hygiene
For several of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson among them, an impeccably dressed appearance made up for a lack of personal cleanliness. Clean shirts, neckcloths, and stockings, worn under brushed and stain-free suits, went a long way to creating a favorable reception. Jefferson stressed the appearance of clothing in a letter to his daughter Martha, written in 1783. He made little reference to personal hygiene, no mention of bathing, and did not recommend to her she emulate his example of bathing his feet. Instead, he stressed she maintain an outward appearance without so much as a “pin amiss, or any other circumstances of neatness wanting”.
The Founders’ reliance on the appearance of clothing appeared when Samuel Adams was dispatched to the First Continental Congress. The often slovenly Adams paid little attention to either hygiene or appearance, and his supporters in Boston purchased new clothes for him to wear in Philadelphia. His unkempt appearance left unfavorable impressions on his more pristine colleagues. Samuel Adams cared little for his appearance, and even less about matters of personal hygiene. As such, he was more in line with the common artisans and mechanics of his native Boston than with his esteemed colleagues among the planters and lawyers of Congress. His once considerable influence in Congress waned following Independence, though he remained active in politics for many years.