In the first three months of 1775 John Adams wrote a series
of 12 essays entitled Novanglus that were published in the
Boston Gazette from January 23 to April 17.
Here a few highlights from them:
In order to effect their purpose, it was necessary
to concert measures with the other colonies.
Dr. Franklin, who was known to be an active
and very able man, and to have great influence
in the province of Pennsylvania, was in Boston
in the year 1754, and Mr. Shirley communicated to him
the profound secret,—-the great design
of taxing the colonies by act of parliament.
This sagacious gentleman, this eminent philosopher
and distinguished patriot, to his lasting honor,
sent the Governor an answer in writing, with the following
remarks upon his scheme, remarks which would have
discouraged any honest man from the pursuit.
The remarks are these:—-
“That the people always bear the burden best, when
they have, or think they have, some share in the direction.
“That when public measures are generally distasteful
to the people, the wheels of government
must move more heavily.
“That excluding the people of America from all share
in the choice of a grand council for their own defense,
and taxing them in parliament, where they have no
representative, would probably give extreme dissatisfaction.
“That there was no reason to doubt the willingness
of the colonists to contribute for their own defense.
That the people themselves, whose all was at stake,
could better judge of the force necessary for their defense,
and of the means for raising money for the purpose,
than a British parliament at so great distance.
“That natives of America would be as likely to consult
wisely and faithfully for the safety of their native country,
as the governors sent from Britain, whose object
is generally to make fortunes, and then return home,
and who might therefore be expected to carry on the war
against France, rather in a way by which themselves
were likely to be gainers,
than for the greatest advantage of the cause.
“That compelling the colonies to pay money
for their own defense, without their consent, would show
a suspicion of their loyalty, or of their regard
for their country, or of their common sense,
and would be treating them as conquered enemies,
and not as free Britons, who hold it for their undoubted right,
not to be taxed but by their own consent,
given through their representatives.
“That parliamentary taxes, once laid on, are often
continued, after the necessity for laying them on ceases;
but that if the colonists were trusted to tax themselves,
they would remove the burden from the people
as soon as it should become unnecessary
for them to bear it any longer.
“That if parliament is to tax the colonies, their assemblies
of representatives may be dismissed as useless.
“That taxing the colonies in parliament for their
own defense against the French, is not more just,
than it would be to oblige the cinque-ports,
and other parts of Britain, to maintain a force
against France, and tax them for this purpose,
without allowing them representatives in parliament.
“That the colonists have always been indirectly taxed
by the mother country, (besides paying the taxes
necessarily laid on by their own assemblies);
inasmuch as they are obliged to purchase the manufactures
of Britain, charged with innumerable heavy taxes,
some of which manufactures they could make,
and others could purchase cheaper at markets.
“That the colonists are besides taxed
by the mother country, by being obliged to carry
great part of their produce to Britain, and accept
a lower price than they might have at other markets.
The difference is a tax paid to Britain.
“That the whole wealth of the colonists centers at last
in the mother country, which enables her to pay her taxes.
“That the colonies have, at the hazard of their lives
and fortunes, extended the dominions and increased
the commerce and riches of the mother country;
that therefore the colonists do not deserve to be deprived
of the native right of Britons, the right of being taxed
only by representatives chosen by themselves.
“That an adequate representation in parliament
would probably be acceptable to the colonists, and would
best raise the views and interests of the whole empire.”
The last of these propositions seems not to have been
well considered; because an adequate representation
in parliament is totally impracticable;
but the others have exhausted the subject….
Now, let me ask you, if the Parliament of Great Britain
had all the natural foundations of authority, wisdom,
goodness, justice, power, in as great perfection
as they ever existed in any body of men since Adam’s fall;
and if the English nation was the most virtuous, pure,
and free that ever was; would not such an unlimited
subjection of three millions of people to that parliament,
at three thousand miles distance, be real slavery?
There are but two sorts of men in the world,
freemen and slaves.
The very definition of a freeman is one who is bound
by no law to which he has not consented.
Americans would have no way of giving or withholding
their consent to the acts of this parliament,
therefore they would not be freemen.
But when luxury, effeminacy, and venality
are arrived at such a shocking pitch in England;
when both electors and elected are become
one mass of corruption; when the nation is
oppressed to death with debts and taxes,
owing to their own extravagance and want of wisdom,
what would be your condition under
such an absolute subjection to parliament?
You would not only be slaves, but the most abject
sort of slaves, to the worst sort of masters!1They know that the resistance against the Stamp Act,
which was made through all America, was, in the opinion
of Massachusettensis and George Grenville, high treason;
and that Brigadier Ruggles and good Mr. Ogden pretended
at the congress of New York to be of the same mind,
and have been held in utter contempt and derision
by the whole continent for the same reason ever since;
because, in their own opinion, that resistance was a noble
stand against tyranny, and the only opposition to it
which could have been effectual;
that if the American resistance to the act for destroying
your charter, and to the resolves for arresting persons here
and sending them to England for trial, is treason,
the lords and commons, and the whole nation,
were traitors at the revolution.
They know that all America is united in sentiment,
and in the plan of opposition to the claims
of administration and parliament.
The junto, in Boston, with their little flocks of adherents
in the country, are not worth taking into the account;
and the army and navy, though these are divided
among themselves, are no part of America;
in order to judge of this union, they begin
at the commencement of the dispute,
and run through the whole course of it.
At the time of the Stamp Act, every colony expressed
its sentiments by resolves of their assemblies, and everyone
agreed that parliament had no right to tax the colonies.
The house of representatives of the Massachusetts Bay
then consisted of many persons who have since figured
as friends to government; yet every member of that house
concurred most cheerfully in the resolves then passed.
The congress which met that year at New York expressed
the same opinion in their resolves, after the paint,
paper, and tea act was passed.
The several assemblies expressed the same sentiments;
and when your colony wrote the famous circular letter,
notwithstanding all the mandates and threats and cajoling
of the minister and the several governors,
and all the crown-officers through the continent,
the assemblies, with one voice,
echoed their entire approbation of that letter,
and their applause to your colony for sending it.
In the year 1768, when a non-importation was suggested
and planned by a few gentlemen at a private club
in one of our large towns, as soon as it was proposed to
the public, did it not spread through the whole continent?.2The resolves of the house of burgesses of Virginia
upon the Stamp Act did great honor to that province,
and to the eminent patriot, Patrick Henry,
who composed them.
But these resolves made no alteration
in the opinion of the colonies, concerning
the right of parliament to make that act.
They expressed the universal opinion of the continent
at that time; and the alacrity with which
every other colony, and the congress at New York,
adopted the same sentiment in similar resolves,
proves the entire union of the colonies in it, and their
universal determination to avow and support it.3But “where is the British constitution,
that we all agree we are entitled to?”
I answer, if we enjoy, and are entitled to more liberty
than the British constitution allows, where is the harm?4Their agents, deputies, and servants
only were to come to America.
And if this had taken place, nobody ever doubted
but they would have been subject to parliament.
But this intention was not regarded on either side;
and the company came over to America,
and brought their charter with them.
And as soon as they arrived here, they got out
of the English realm, dominions, state, empire,
call it by what name you will,
and out of the legal jurisdiction of parliament.
The king might, by his writ or proclamation,
have commanded them to return; but he did not.5
In late January 1775 the British Secretary of State for American Affairs
William Legge, the Earl of Dartmouth, ordered General Thomas Gage
to suppress the rebellion and arrest the leaders.
His army of 6,000 men arrived in Boston on April 14.
He also had 800 soldiers in Concord where there was an arsenal.
Citizens there learned that it was going to be destroyed, and riders
such as Paul Revere and William Dawes alerted Americans.
The militia from Lexington got to Concord before the British who came on April 19.
The British “redcoats” had ten times as many troops as the local militia.
When the British commanded the militia to disarm, the shooting began.
Eight of the militia were killed, and nine were wounded.
Lexington’s commander was shot and then killed with a bayonet.
The British forces began marching toward Boston,
and sharpshooters ambushed them along the way.
The British regulars had 73 killed, 174 wounded, and 53 missing.
The colonials suffered 49 killed, 39 wounded, and 5 missing.
John Adams rode on horseback to Lexington to observe the scene on April 22.
He became ill.
On April 23 the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts
voted to form an army of 13,600 men.
Abigail lent John her sulky carriage with young Joseph Bath.
A crowd welcomed Adams in New York, and in a parade
the horse reared up, and the carriage was overturned.
Bath was bruised while Adams was riding with friends.
Later Massachusetts paid for the destroyed carriage.
Adams wrote to Abigail how the Americans were rising up
against the British in North Carolina, and New Jersey, and
small armies were being raised in Connecticut and Rhode Island.
British soldiers in Massachusetts had started a Civil War, and for the Americans
it would become a War for Independence or the Revolutionary War.
About 25,000 loyalists in America would fight for the British.
Some in native nations or tribes chose to support one side or the other,
and the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederation were divided.
John Adams reached Philadelphia on May 10
as the Second Continental Congress was opening.
John Hancock had joined his delegation.
Thomas Jefferson was there, and New York sent George Clinton and Philip Schuyler.
Boston had an army of 16,500 besieging the British troops.
John Dickinson led the conservatives at Philadelphia.
He had married a rich Quaker and was for solving issues without violence.
Liberals were led by Thomas Jefferson who had published
A Summary View of the Rights of British America in 1774.
In the north Benedict Arnold led New England militia, and with
Ethan Allen’s yankees they took over Fort Ticonderoga by the border of Canada.
Conservatives proposed “Olive Branch Petition to King George III for negotiations.
This was approved, and everyone waited for the response.
John Adams disagreed with Dickinson.
They had a falling out and never spoke to each other after that.
On June 2 those resisting the British with a government in
Watertown, Massachusetts asked the Continental Congress to
take over the siege army in Boston and make it a national army.
The assemblyman Artemas Ward commanded the siege army.
John Adams had talked with George Washington and was very impressed by him,
and he proposed the experienced and wealthy Virginian as the commander.
On June 10 John Adams in a letter to Moses Gill wrote,
It would be a Relief to my Mind, if I could write freely
to you concerning the Sentiments Principles, Facts
and Arguments which are laid before us, in Congress:
But Injunctions, and Engagements of Honor
render this impossible.
What I learn out of Doors among Citizens, Gentlemen,
and Persons of all Denominations is not so sacred.
I find that the general Sense abroad is to prepare
for a vigorous defensive War, but at the Same Time
to keep open the Door of Reconciliation—
to hold the sword in one Hand and the Olive Branch
in the other—to proceed with Warlike Measures,
and conciliatory Measures Pari Passu.
I am myself as fond of Reconciliation,
if We could reasonably entertain Hopes of it
upon a constitutional Basis, as any Man.
But, I think, if We consider the Education of the Sovereign,
and that the Lords the Commons, the Electors, the Army,
the Navy, the officers of Excise, Customs &c., &c.,
have been now for many years gradually trained and
disciplined by Corruption to the System of the Court,
we shall be convinced that the Cancer is too deeply rooted,
and too far spread to be cured by any thing
short of cutting it out entire.
We have ever found by Experience that Petitions,
Negotiation every Thing which holds out to the People
Hopes of a Reconciliation without Bloodshed is greedily
grasped at and relied on—and they cannot be persuaded
to think that it is so necessary to prepare
for War as it really is.
Hence our present Scarcity of Powder &c.
However, this Continent is a vast, unwieldy Machine.
We cannot force Events.
We must Suffer People to take their own Way
in many Cases, when We think it leads wrong—
hoping however and believing, that our Liberty and Felicity
will be preserved in the End,
though not in the Speediest and Surest Manner.6
After a debate on June 14 the Congress voted to establish the Continental Army.
The next day John Adams nominated George Washington to be
the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and he was easily elected.
Ward, Charles Lee, and Horatio Gates were appointed major generals.
On July 5 the Continental Congress approved the Olive Branch Petition to George III
that was proposed by John Dickinson and was also
written by Benjamin Franklin and John Jay.
John Adams signed it even though he often disagreed with the conservative Dickinson.
In two years Adams would be on 90 committees and was chairman of 25.
Dr. Benjamin Rush called him “the first man of the House.”
John Adams wrote Novanglus essays describing the history of this American revolution.
He believed the War for Independence was a just war because
it was a “people’s war” with a “moral duty” to overcome despotism.
In July the Congress agreed to advise the colonies to develop privateering fleets.
On July 23 John Adams in a letter to Abigail wrote about Benjamin Franklin:
Dr. Franklin has been very constant in his Attendance
on Congress from the Beginning.
His Conduct has been composed and grave
and in the Opinion of many Gentlemen very reserved.
He has not assumed any Thing, nor affected
to take the lead; but has seemed to choose that
the Congress should pursue their own Principles
and sentiments and adopt their own Plans:
Yet he has not been backward:
has been very useful, on many occasions,
and discovered a Disposition entirely American.
He does not hesitate at our boldest Measures,
but rather seems to think us, too irresolute, and backward.
He thinks us at present in an odd State, neither
in Peace nor War, neither dependent nor independent.
But he thinks that We shall soon assume
a Character more decisive.
He thinks, that We have the Power of preserving
ourselves, and that even if We should be driven
to the disagreeable Necessity of assuming
a total Independency, and set up a separate state,
We could maintain it.
The People of England, have thought that the Opposition
in America, was wholly owing to Dr. Franklin:
and I suppose their scribblers will attribute the Temper,
and Proceedings of this Congress to him:
but there cannot be a greater Mistake.
He has had but little share
farther than to cooperate and assist.7
On July 24 he wrote this candid letter to his friend James Warren:
In Confidence,—I am determined
to write freely to you this Time.
A certain great Fortune and piddling Genius
whose Fame has been trumpeted so loudly,
has given a silly Cast to our whole Doings.
We are between Hawk and Buzzard.
We ought to have had in our Hands a Month ago, the whole
Legislative, Executive and Judicial of the whole Continent,
and have completely modelled a Constitution,
to have raised a Naval Power and opened all our Ports wide,
to have arrested every Friend to Government
on the Continent and held them as Hostages
for the poor Victims in Boston.
And then opened the Door as wide as possible
for Peace and Reconciliation.
After this they might have petitioned and negotiated
and addressed, &c. if they would.
Is all this extravagant? Is it wild?
Is it not the soundest Policy?
One Piece of News:
Seven Thousand Weight of Powder arrived here last Night.
We shall send along some as soon as we can.
But you must be patient and frugal.
We are lost in the extensiveness of our Field of Business.
We have a Continental Treasury to establish,
a Paymaster to choose, and a Committee of
Correspondence, or Safety, or Accounts, or something,
I know not what that has confounded us all Day.
Shall I hail you Speaker of the House, Counsellor or what?
What Kind of an Election had you?
What Sort of Magistrates do you intend to make?
Will your new Legislative and Executive
feel bold, or irresolute?
Will your Judicial hang and whip,
and fine and imprison, without Scruples?
I want to see our distressed Country once more.
Yet I dread the Sight of Devastation.
You observe in your Letter the Oddity of a great Man.
He is a queer Creature.
But you must love his Dogs if you love him,
and forgive a Thousand Whims
for the Sake of the Soldier and the Scholar.8
After meeting for four months they adjourned on August 1,
and the Massachusetts delegates took some time off to go home.
Adams visited the siege in Boston to talk with Washington.
John and Samuel Adams each rode a horse back to Philadelphia in late August.
Delegates from New Hampshire suggested that the provinces break away
from the British which Massachusetts had been promoting for six months.
John Adams proposed that colonies could
elect conventions to found new governments.
He urged negotiating with France and Spain to get allied support.
On October 3 Rhode Island asked for the authority to build warships.
Washington reported that the British had two transport
ships carrying munitions from Nova Scotia to Boston,
and the Congress agreed to establish a Naval Committee.
John Adams supported this as long as it was only for defensive purposes.
In November they learned that George III had rejected
their petition as he proclaimed them rebels.
On November 14 John Adams in a letter to William Tudor wrote,
I lament the Dishonor which falls upon the Colony
by the mean, mercenary Conduct of some of her Servants.
But in all Events I hope no Instance of Fraud or Peculation
will be overlooked, but Strictly and impartially punished,
until every Rascal is banished from the Army,
whatever Colony may have given him Existence.
It behooves the Congress, it behooves the Army
to Shew that nothing but a rigid inflexible Virtue,
and a Spotless Purity of Character,
can preserve or acquire any Employment.
Virtue, my young Friend, Virtue alone is or can be
the Foundation of our new Governments,
and it must be encouraged by Rewards,
in every Department civil and military.
Your Account of the Doctors Defense
at the Bar of the House is every entertaining.
I should have formed no Idea of that Hearing
if you had not obliged me, with an Account.
I think with the Candid, that Contempt is
due to him for his Timidity and Duplicity.
But I cannot wholly acquit him of something worse.
He mentions in his Letter his having in a former Letter given
his Correspondent a Hint of the Design against Bunkers Hill.
Now I never can be clearly freed from Jealousy,
until I see that Letter.
The Hint he mentions might have occasioned
our Loss of that Post, and of all the Lives
which were destroyed on the 17th of June.
However I have hitherto kept my Mind in suspense.
I wish you would let me know who Bellidore is.
What Country man, and in what Language he wrote—
what was his Station Employment and Character.
We must make our young Genius’s perfect Masters
of the Art of War, in every Branch.
I hope America will not long lie under the Reproach
of not producing her own officers and Generals,
as England has done a long Time.
Wearing an Uniform, and receiving Pay is not all.
I want to see an Emulation among our young Gentlemen,
which shall be the most perfect Master of all the Languages
and Arts which are subservient to Politics and War.
Politics are the Science of human Happiness
and War the Art of Securing it.
I would fain therefore have both perfectly understood.9
Later that month they learned that Virginia’s Governor Dunmore
promised slaves freedom if they fought with the British army.
Congress approved a fleet of seven warships and authorized
building 13 more and raising two battalions of marines.
John Adams advised that they pay the seamen
which the British Navy notoriously did not.
The General Court of Massachusetts on October 28 with 126 of 129 votes
re-elected John Adams the Chief Justice of their Supreme Court.
He saw this as an opportunity to provide “more equal liberty.”
He did not serve because Massachusetts was not independent of Britain,
and he resigned in February 1777.
He found that Americans in the west were calling for independence.
The national Congress advised Massachusetts to develop a government
like that of the Charter of 1691 which had favored those in the east.
Adams wanted to reduce factionalism.
He returned home in December, and at Watertown he served on eight committees.
He was re-elected a delegate to the Continental Congress
along with Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
An American assault on Quebec was defeated.
General Montgomery was killed, and Col. Arnold was seriously wounded.
On 6 January 1776 John Adams was home in Braintree
and wrote this to General George Washington who was in Boston:
As your Excellency has asked my Opinion of General Lee’s
Plan, as explained in his Letter of the fifth instant,
I think it my Duty to give it, although I am obliged
to do it in more Haste than I could wish.
I Suppose the only Questions which arise upon that Letter
are whether the Plan is practicable; whether it is expedient;
and whether it lies properly within your Excellency’s
Authority, without further Directions from Congress.
Of the Practicability of it, I am very ill qualified to judge;
but were I to hazard a conjecture, it would be that
the Enterprise would not be attended with much Difficulty.
The Connecticut People who are very ready upon such
Occasion in Conjunction with the Friends of Liberty in
New York I Should think might easily accomplish the Work.
That it is expedient, and even necessary to be done,
by Some Authority or other, I believe will not be doubted
by any Friend of the American Cause, who considers
the vast Importance of that City, Province, and the
North River which is in it, in the Progress of this War,
as it is the Nexus of the Northern and Southern Colonies,
as a Kind of Key to the whole Continent, as it is a Passage
to Canada to the Great Lakes and to all the Indians Nations.
No Effort to secure it ought to be omitted.
That it is within the Limits of your Excellency’s Command,
is in my Mind, perfectly clear.
Your Commission constitutes you Commander
“of all the Forces now raised or to be raised, and
of all others, who shall voluntarily offer their Service,
and join the Army for the Defense of American Liberty,
and for repelling every hostile Invasion thereof:
and are vested with full Power and Authority to act
as you shall think for the good and well fare of the service.”
Now if upon long Island, there is a Body of People, who
have Arms in their Hands, and are intrenching themselves,
professedly to oppose the American system of Defense;
who are supplying our Enemies both of the Army and Navy,
in Boston and elsewhere, as I suppose is undoubtedly
the Fact, no Man can hesitate to say that this is an hostile
Invasion of American Liberty, as much as that now made
in Boston, nay those People are guilty of the very Invasion
in Boston, as they are constantly aiding, abetting,
comforting and assisting the Army there; and that
in the most essential Manner by supplies of Provisions.
If in the City a Body of Tories are waiting only for a Force
to protect them, to declare themselves on the side
of our Enemies, it is high Time that City was secured.
The Jersey Troops have already been ordered into that City
by the Congress, and are there undoubtedly
under your Command ready to assist in this service.
That N. York is within your Command as much
as the Massachusetts cannot bear a Question.
Your Excellency’s superiority in the Command,
over the Generals, in the Northern Department as it is called
has been always carefully preserved in Congress, although
the Necessity of Dispatch has sometimes induced them
to send Instructions directly to them, instead of first sending
them to your Excellency, which would have occasioned a
Circuit of many hundreds of Miles, and have lost much Time.
Upon the whole sir, my opinion is that General Lee’s is
a very useful Proposal, and will answer many good Ends.
I am, with great Respect,
your Excellency’s most obedient humble servant.10
On January 8 the Continental Congress learned about George III’s speech
that they found “full of rancor and resentment,” as Washington said.
Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense
that promoted independence and sold 150,000 copies.
John Adams criticized how he attacked the monarchy
and rejected a unicameral legislature.
Those in the Congress wanting independence were a majority
while conservatives were glad that the American Prohibitory Act
passed by the British might stop American commerce.
The British were also planning to send 25,000 troops to crush the rebellion.
Adams considered it a declaration war, though negotiation was still possible.
As the British traded with other nations, some colonies approved
letters of marque for privateers to take over British ships.
News also arrived that Britain had hired German mercenaries.
On 18 January 1776 John Adams agreed to continue as a member of Congress.
On the 19th the General Court of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay
issued this Proclamation written by John Adams.
The frailty of human nature, the wants of individuals,
and the numerous dangers which surround them,
through the course of life, have in all ages,
and in every country impelled them
to form societies and establish governments.
As the happiness of the people is the sole end
of government, so the consent of the people is
the only foundation of it, in reason, morality,
and the natural fitness of things.
And therefore every act of government, every exercise
of sovereignty, against, or without, the consent
of the people, is injustice, usurpation, and tyranny.
It is a maxim, that in every government,
there must exist somewhere, a supreme,
sovereign, absolute, and uncontrollable power;
but this power resides always in the body of the people,
and it never was, or can be delegated, to one man,
or a few, the great creator having never given to men
a right to vest others with authority over them,
unlimited either in duration or degree.
When kings, ministers, governors, or legislators therefore,
instead of exercising the powers entrusted with them
according to the principles, forms and proportions stated
by the constitution, and established by the original compact,
prostitute those powers to the purposes of oppression;
to subvert, instead of supporting a free constitution;
to destroy, instead of preserving the lives, liberties
and properties of the people; they are no longer to be
deemed magistrates vested with a sacred character;
but become public enemies, and ought to be resisted.
The administration of Great Britain, despising equally
the justice, the humanity and magnanimity
of their ancestors, and the rights, liberties and courage
of Americans have, for a course of years, labored
to establish a sovereignty in America, not founded
in the consent of the people, but in the mere will of persons
a thousand leagues from us, whom we know not,
and have endeavored to establish this sovereignty over us,
against our consent, in all cases whatsoever.
The colonies during this period, have recurred to every
peaceable resource in a free constitution, by petitions
and remonstrances, to obtain justice; which has been
not only denied to them, but they have been treated
with unexampled indignity and contempt and at length
open war of the most atrocious, cruel and sanguinary kind
has been commenced against them.
To this, an open, manly and successful
resistance has hitherto been made.
Thirteen colonies are now firmly united
in the conduct of this most just and necessary war,
under the wise councils of their congress.
It is the will of Providence, for wise, righteous,
and gracious ends, that this colony should have been
singled out, by the enemies of America,
as the first object both of their envy and their revenge;
and after having been made the subject of several merciless
and vindictive statutes, one of which was intended to
subvert our constitution by charter, is made the seat of war.
No effectual resistance to the system of tyranny prepared
for us, could be made without either instant recourse
to arms, or a temporary suspension of the ordinary powers
of government, and tribunals of justice:
to the last of which evils, in hopes of a speedy reconciliation
with Great Britain, upon equitable terms
the congress advised us to submit.
And mankind has seen a phenomenon without example
in the political world, a large and populous colony subsisting
in great decency and order, for more than a year
under such a suspension of government.
But as our enemies have proceeded to such barbarous
extremities commencing hostilities upon the good people
of this colony, and with unprecedented malice
exerting their power to spread the calamities of fire,
sword and famine through the land, and no reasonable
prospect remains of a speedy reconciliation
with Great Britain, the congress have resolved:—
“That no obedience being due to the act of parliament
for altering the charter of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay,
nor to a governor or lieutenant governor,
who will not observe the directions of,
but endeavor to subvert that charter;
the governor and lieutenant governor of that colony are
to be considered as absent, and their offices vacant.
And as there is no council there, and inconveniences arising
from the suspension of the powers of government
are intolerable, especially at a time when General Gage
hath actually levied war and is carrying on Hostilities against
his majesty’s peaceable and loyal subjects of that colony;
that in order to conform as near as may be to the spirit
and substance of the charter, it be recommended
to the provincial convention to write letters:
to the inhabitants of the several places which are entitled
to representation in assembly requesting them
to choose such representatives, and that the assembly,
when chosen, do elect counsellors; and that such assembly
and council exercise the powers of government,
until a governor of his majesty’s appointment
will consent to govern the colony, according to its charter.”
In pursuance of which advice, the good people
of this colony have chosen a full and free
representation of themselves, who, being convened
in assembly have elected a council; who,
as the executive branch of government
have constituted necessary officers through the Colony.
The present generation, therefore, may be congratulated
on the acquisition of a form of government,
more immediately in all its branches under the influence
and control of the people, and therefore more free
and happy than was enjoyed by their ancestors.
But as a government so popular can be supported
only by universal knowledge and virtue,
in the body of the people, it is the duty of all ranks,
to promote the means of education, for the rising generation
as well as true religion, purity of manners,
and integrity of life among all orders and degrees.
As an army has become necessary for our defense,
and in all free States the civil must provide for
and control the military power, the major part of the council
have appointed magistrates and courts of justice
in every county, whose happiness is so connected
with that of the people that it is difficult to suppose
they can abuse their trust.
The business of it is to see those laws enforced
which are necessary for the preservation
of peace, virtue and good Order.
And the Great and General Court expects and requires that
all necessary support and assistance be given,
and all proper obedience yielded to them,
and will deem every person, who shall fail of his duty
in this respect towards them, a disturber of the peace
of this colony and deserving of exemplary punishment.
That piety and virtue, which alone can secure the freedom
of any people may be encouraged and vice and immorality
suppressed, the Great and General Court have thought fit
to issue this proclamation, commending and enjoining it
upon the good people of this colony, that they lead sober,
religious and peaceable lives, avoiding all blasphemies,
contempt of the Holy Scriptures and of the Lord’s Day
and all other crimes and misdemeanors, all debauchery,
profaneness, corruption venality all riotous and
tumultuous proceedings and all immoralities whatsoever;
and that they decently and reverently attend the public
worship of God at all times acknowledging with gratitude
his merciful interposition in their behalf, devoutly confiding
in him, as the God of armies, by whose favor and protection
alone they may hope for success, in their present conflict.
And all judges, justices, sheriffs, grand-jurors,
tithing-men, and all other civil officers, within this colony,
are hereby strictly enjoined and commanded that
they contribute all in their power, by their advice, exertions,
and example towards a general reformation of manners,
and that they bring to condign punishment, every person,
who shall commit any of the crimes or misdemeanors
aforesaid, or that shall be guilty of any immoralities
whatsoever; and that they use their utmost endeavors,
to have the resolves of the congress, and the good and
wholesome laws of this colony duly carried into execution.
And as the ministers of the gospel, within this colony,
have during the late relaxation of the powers
of civil government, exerted themselves for our safety,
it is hereby recommended to them, still to continue
their virtuous labors for the good of the people,
inculcating by their public ministry and private example,
the necessity of religion, morality, and good order.11
On January 24 the Congress formed the
Board of War with John Adams as its head.
In February while in New York he discovered a copy of Common Sense
by Thomas Paine, and he sent two copies to Massachusetts.
Some people believed that he wrote it.
John Adams welcomed its call for independence
and criticized Paine’s ideas on government.
In a letter to Abigail on March 19 Adams wrote,
You ask, what is thought of Common sense.
Sensible Men think there are some Whims, some Sophisms,
some artful Addresses to superstitious Notions,
some keen attempts upon the Passions, in this Pamphlet.
But all agree there is a great deal of good sense,
delivered in a clear, simple, concise and nervous Style.
His Sentiments of the Abilities of America,
and of the Difficulty of a Reconciliation with G.B.
are generally approved.
But his Notions, and Plans of Continental Government
are not much applauded.
Indeed this Writer has a better Hand
at pulling down than building.
It has been very generally propagated through
the Continent that I wrote this Pamphlet.
But although I could not have written any Thing in so manly
and striking a style, I flatter myself I should have made
a more respectable Figure as an Architect,
if I had undertaken such a Work.
This Writer seems to have very inadequate Ideas
of what is proper and necessary to be done,
in order to form Constitutions for single Colonies,
as well as a great Model of Union for the whole.12
On March 17 the Congress learned that Washington
had arranged a deal that let the British evacuate Boston
so that they and the city would not be damaged.
On April 16 John Adams in a letter to Mercy Otis Warren wrote,
The Ladies I think are the greatest Politicians,
that I have the Honor to be acquainted with,
not only because they act upon the Sublimest of all the
Principles of Policy, viz. the Honesty is the best Policy
but because they consider Questions more coolly than
those who are heated with Party Zeal, and inflamed
with the bitter Contentions of active, public Life.
I know of no Researches in any of the sciences
more ingenious than those which have been made
after the best Forms of Government nor can there be
a more agreeable Employment to a benevolent Heart.
The Time is now approaching, when the Colonies,
will find themselves under a Necessity, of engaging
in Earnest in this great and indispensable Work.
I have ever Thought it the most difficult and dangerous
Part of the Business, Americans have to do,
in this mighty Contest, to contrive some Method
for the Colonies to glide insensibly, from under
the old Government, into a peaceable
and contented Submission to new ones.
It is a long Time since this opinion was conceived,
and it has never been out of my Mind.
My constant Endeavour has been to convince, Gentlemen
of the Necessity of turning their Thoughts to those subjects.
At present, the sense of this Necessity seems to be general,
and Measures are taking which must terminate
in a complete Revolution.
There is a Danger of Convulsions.
But I hope, not great ones.
The Form of Government, which you admire,
when its Principles are pure, is admirable indeed.
It is productive of every Thing,
which is great and excellent among Men.
But its Principles are as easily destroyed,
as human Nature is corrupted.
Such a Government is only to be supported
by pure Religion, or Austere Morals.
Public Virtue cannot exist in a Nation without private,
and public Virtue is the only Foundation of Republics.
There must be a positive Passion for the public good,
the public Interest, Honor, Power, and Glory,
established in the Minds of the People, or there can be
no Republican Government, nor any real Liberty.
And this public Passion must be Superior
to all private Passions.
Men must be ready, they must pride themselves,
and be happy to sacrifice their private Pleasures, Passions,
and Interests, nay their private Friendships
and dearest Connections,
when they Stand in Competition with the Rights of society.
Is there in the World a Nation,
which deserves this Character.
There have been several, but they are no more.
Our dear Americans perhaps have as much of it
as any Nation now existing, and New England perhaps
has more than the rest of America.
But I have seen all along my Life, Such Selfishness,
and Littleness even in New England, that I sometimes
tremble to think that, although We are engaged
in the best Cause that ever employed the Human Heart,
yet the Prospect of success is doubtful
not for Want of Power or of Wisdom, but of Virtue.
The Spirit of Commerce, Madam, which even insinuates
itself into Families, and influences holy Matrimony,
and thereby corrupts the Morals of Families
as well as destroys their Happiness, it is much to be feared
is incompatible with that purity of Heart, and
Greatness of soul which is necessary for an happy Republic.
This Same Spirit of Commerce is as rampant
in New England as in any Part of the World.
Trade is as well understood and
as passionately loved there as anywhere.
Even the Farmers, and Tradesmen are addicted
to Commerce, and it is too true, that Property is generally
the standard of Respect there as much as anywhere.
While this is the Case, there is great Danger
that a Republican Government,
would be very factious and turbulent there.
Divisions in Elections are much to be dreaded.
Every Man must seriously set himself to root out
his Passions, Prejudices and Attachments,
and to get the better of his private Interest.
The only reputable Principle and Doctrine must be
that all Things must give Way to the public.
This is very grave and solemn Discourse to a Lady.
True, and I thank God, that his Providence has made me
Acquainted with two Ladies at least, who can bear it.
I think Madam, that the Union of the Colonies,
will continue and be more firmly cemented,
but We must move slowly.
Patience, Patience, Patience! I am obliged to invoke thee
every Morning of my Life, every Noon, and every Evening.
It is Surprising to me that any among you
should flatter themselves with an Accommodation.
Every Appearance is against it, to an Attentive observer.
The Story of Commissioners is a Bubble.
Their real Errand is an Insult.
But popular Passions and Fancies will have their Course,
you may as well reason down a Gale of Wind.
You expect, if a certain Bargain Should be complied with,
to be made acquainted with noble and Royal Characters.
But in this you will be disappointed.
Your Correspondent, has neither Principles, nor Address,
nor Abilities, for such Scenes,
and others are as sensible of it, I assure you as he is.
They must be Persons of more Complaisance
and Ductility of Temper as well as
better Accomplishments for such great Things.
He wishes for nothing less.
He wishes for nothing more than to retire
from all public stages, and public Characters,
great and small, to his Farm and his Attorneys office.
And to both these he must return.13
Several men in the Congress wanted John Adams to write
about his ideas on government, and in April 1776 Richard Henry Lee
paid for the publishing of the essay “Thoughts on Government,
Applicable
to the Present State of the American Colonies” that John Adams wrote.
If I was equal to the task of forming a plan for the
government of a colony, I should be flattered with
your request, and very happy to comply with it;
because as the divine science of politics is the science
of social happiness, and the blessings of society
depend entirely on the constitutions of government,
which are generally institutions that last for many
generations, there can be no employment more agreeable
to a benevolent mind, than a research after the best.Pope flattered tyrants too much when he said,
“For forms of government let fools contest,
That which is best administered is best.”Nothing can be more fallacious than this:
But poets read history to collect flowers not fruits—
they attend to fanciful images,
not the effects of social institutions.
Nothing is more certain from the history of nations,
and the nature of man, than that some forms of government
are better fitted for being well administered than others.
We ought to consider, what is the end of government,
before we determine which is the best form.
Upon this point all speculative politicians will agree,
that the happiness of society is the end of government,
as all Divines and moral Philosophers will agree that
the happiness of the individual is the end of man.
From this principle it will follow, that the form of
government, which communicates ease, comfort, security,
or in one word happiness to the greatest number of persons,
and in the greatest degree, is the best.
All sober enquiries after truth, ancient and modern,
Pagan and Christian, have declared that the happiness
of man, as well as his dignity consists in virtue.
Confucius, Zoroaster, Socrates, Mahomet, not to mention
authorities really sacred, have agreed in this.
If there is a form of government then, whose principle
and foundation is virtue, will not every sober man
acknowledge it better calculated to promote
the general happiness than any other form?
Fear is the foundation of most governments;
but is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men,
in whose breasts it predominates, so stupid, and miserable,
that Americans will not be likely to approve of
any political institution which is founded on it.
Honor is truly sacred, but holds a lower rank
in the scale of moral excellence than virtue.
Indeed the former is but a part of the latter, and
consequently has not equal pretensions to support
a frame of government productive of human happiness.
The foundation of every government is some principle
or passion in the minds of the people.
The noblest principles and most generous affections
in our nature then, have the fairest chance to support
the noblest and most generous models of government.
A man must be indifferent to the sneers of modern
Englishmen to mention in their company the names
Of Sidney, Harrington, Locke, Milton, Nedham,
Neville, Burnet, and Hoadley.
No small fortitude is necessary to confess that
one has read them.
The wretched condition of this country, however,
for ten or fifteen years past, has frequently reminded me
of their principles and reasonings.
They will convince any candid mind, that there is
no good government but what is Republican.
That the only valuable part of the British constitution is so;
because the very definition of a Republic, is
“an Empire of Laws, and not of men.”
That, as a Republic is the best of governments,
so that particular arrangement of the powers of society,
or in other words that form of government,
which is best contrived to secure an impartial and
exact execution of the laws, is the best of Republics.
Of Republics, there is an inexhaustible variety,
because the possible combinations of the powers of society,
are capable of innumerable variations.
As good government, is an empire of laws,
how shall your laws be made?
In a large society, inhabiting an extensive country,
it is impossible that the whole should assemble, to make laws:
The first necessary step then, is, to depute power
from the many, to a few of the most wise and good.
But by what rules shall you choose your Representatives?
Agree upon the number and qualifications of persons,
who shall have the benefit of choosing, or annex this
privilege to the inhabitants of a certain extent of ground.
The principal difficulty lies, and the greatest care should
be employed in constituting this Representative Assembly.
It should be in miniature,
an exact portrait of the people at large.
It should think, feel, reason, and act like them.
That it may be the interest of this Assembly to do strict
justice at all times, it should be an equal representation,
or in other words equal interest among the people
should have equal interest in it.
Great care should be taken to effect this,
and to prevent unfair, partial, and corrupt elections.
Such regulations, however, may be better made
in times of greater tranquility than the present,
and they will spring up of themselves naturally,
when all the powers of government
come to be in the hands of the people’s friends.
At present it will be safest to proceed in all established
modes to which the people have been familiarized by habit.
A representation of the people in one assembly
being obtained, a question arises whether
all the powers of government, legislative,
executive, and judicial, shall be left in this body?
I think a people cannot be long free, nor ever happy,
whose government is in one Assembly.
My reasons for this opinion are as follow.
1. A single Assembly is liable to all
the vices, follies and frailties of an individual.
Subject to fits of humor, starts of passion,
flights of enthusiasm, partialities of prejudice,
and consequently productive of
hasty results and absurd judgments:
And all these errors ought to be corrected
and defects supplied by some controlling power.
2. A single Assembly is apt to be avaricious,
and in time will not scruple to exempt itself from burthens
which it will lay, without compunction, on its constituents.
3. A single Assembly is apt to grow ambitious,
and after a time will not hesitate to vote itself perpetual.
This was one fault of the long parliament,
but more remarkably of Holland, whose Assembly
first voted themselves from annual to septennial,
then for life, and after a course of years,
that all vacancies happening by death, or otherwise,
should be filled by themselves,
without any application to constituents at all.
4. A Representative Assembly, although extremely well
qualified, and absolutely necessary as a branch
of the legislature, is unfit to exercise the executive power,
for want of two essential properties, secrecy and dispatch.
5. A Representative Assembly is still less qualified
for the judicial power; because it is too numerous,
too slow, and too little skilled in the laws.
6. Because a single Assembly, possessed of all the powers
of government, would make arbitrary laws for their own
interest, execute all laws arbitrarily for their own interest,
and adjudge all controversies in their own favor.
But shall the whole power of legislation
rest in one Assembly?
Most of the foregoing reasons apply equally to prove that
the legislative power ought to be more complex—
to which we may add, that if the legislative power
is wholly in one Assembly, and the executive in another,
or in a single person, these two powers will oppose
and enervate upon each other, until the contest
shall end in war, and the whole power,
legislative and executive, be usurped by the strongest.
The judicial power, in such case, could not mediate,
or hold the balance between the two contending powers,
because the legislative would undermine it.
And this shews the necessity too, of giving
the executive power a negative upon the legislative,
otherwise this will be continually encroaching upon that.
To avoid these dangers let a distant Assembly
be constituted, as a mediator between the two extreme
branches of the legislature, that which represents the people
and that which is vested with the executive power.
Let the Representative Assembly then elect by ballot,
from among themselves or their constituents,
or both, a distinct Assembly,
which for the sake of perspicuity we will call a Council.
It may consist of any number you please,
say twenty or thirty, and should have
a free and independent exercise of its judgment,
and consequently a negative voice in the legislature.
These two bodies thus constituted, and made
integral parts of the legislature, let them unite,
and by joint ballot choose a Governor, who,
after being stripped of most of those badges
of domination called prerogatives, should have
a free and independent exercise of his judgment,
and be made also an integral part of the legislature.
This I know is liable to objections, and if you please
you may make him only President of the Council,
as in Connecticut: But as the Governor is to be invested
with the executive power, with consent of Council,
I think he ought to have a negative upon the legislative.
If he is annually elective, as he ought to be, he will always
have so much reverence and affection for the People,
their Representatives and Councilors, that although
you give him an independent exercise of his judgment,
he will seldom use it in opposition to the two Houses,
except in cases the public utility of which would be
conspicuous, and some such cases would happen.
In the present exigency of American affairs, when by
an act of Parliament we are put out of the royal protection,
and consequently discharged from our allegiance;
and it has become necessary to assume government
for our immediate security, the Governor,
Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary, Treasurer, Commissary,
Attorney-General, should be chosen
by joint Ballot, of both Houses.
And these and all other elections, especially of
Representatives, and Councilors, should be annual,
there not being in the whole circle of the sciences,
a maxim more infallible than this,
“Where annual elections end, there slavery begins.”
These great men, in this respect, should be, once a year“Like bubbles on the sea of matter borne,
They rise, they break, and to that sea return.”This will teach them the great political virtues of humility,
patience, and moderation, without which every
man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.
This mode of constituting the great offices of state
will answer very well for the present, but if, by experiment,
it should be found inconvenient, the legislature may
at its leisure devise other methods of creating them,
by elections of the people at large, as in Connecticut,
or it may enlarge the term for which they shall be chosen
to seven years, or three years, or for life, or make any
other alterations which the society shall find productive of its
ease, its safety, its freedom, or in one word, its happiness.
A rotation of all offices, as well as of Representatives
and Councilors, has many advocates,
and is contended for with many plausible arguments.
It would be attended no doubt with many advantages,
and if the society has a sufficient number of suitable
characters to supply the great number of vacancies
which would be made by such a rotation,
I can see no objection to it.
These persons may be allowed to serve for three years,
and then excluded three years,
or for any longer or shorter term.
Any seven or nine of the legislative Council may be
made a Quorum, for doing business as a Privy Council,
to advise the Governor in the exercise of
the executive branch of power, and in all acts of state.
The Governor should have the command
of the militia, and of all your armies.
The power of pardons should be
with the Governor and Council.
Judges, Justices and all other officers, civil and military,
should be nominated and appointed by the Governor,
with the advice and consent of Council,
unless you choose to have a government more popular;
if you do, all officers, civil and military, may be chosen
by joint ballot of both Houses, or in order to preserve
the independence and importance of each House,
by ballot of one House, concurred by the other.
Sheriffs should be chosen by the freeholders of counties—
so should Registers of Deeds and Clerks of Counties.
All officers should have commissions,
under the hand of the Governor and seal of the Colony.
The dignity and stability of government in all its branches,
the morals of the people and every blessing of society,
depends so much upon an upright and skillful
administration of justice, that the judicial power ought to be
distinct from both the legislative and executive,
and independent upon both, that so it may be
a check upon both, as both should be checks upon that.
The Judges therefore should always be men of learning
and experience in the laws, of exemplary morals,
great patience, calmness, coolness and attention.
Their minds should not be distracted with jarring interests;
they should not be dependent
upon any man or body of men.
To these ends they should hold estates for life
in their offices, or in other words their commissions
should be during good behavior,
and their salaries ascertained and established by law.
For misbehavior the grand inquest of the Colony,
the House of Representatives, should impeach them
before the Governor and Council, where they should
have time and opportunity to make their defense,
but if convicted should be removed from their offices,
and subjected to such other punishment
as shall be thought proper.
A Militia Law requiring all men, or with very few
exceptions, besides cases of conscience, to be provided
with arms and ammunition, to be trained at certain seasons,
and requiring counties, towns, or other small districts
to be provided with public stocks of ammunition
and entrenching utensils, and with some settled plans
for transporting provisions after the militia,
when marched to defend their country against
sudden invasions, and requiring certain districts to be
provided with field-pieces, companies of matrosses
and perhaps some regiments of light horse,
is always a wise institution, and in the present
circumstances of our country indispensable.
Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially of the
lower class of people, are so extremely wise and useful,
that to a humane and generous mind, no expense
for this purpose would be thought extravagant.
The very mention of sumptuary laws will excite a smile.
Whether our countrymen have wisdom and virtue enough
to submit to them I know not.
But the happiness of the people
might be greatly promoted by them,
and a revenue saved sufficient to carry on this war forever.
Frugality is a great revenue, besides curing us of vanities,
levities and fopperies which are real antidotes
to all great, manly and warlike virtues.
But must not all commissions run in the name of a king?
No. Why may they not as well run thus,
“The Colony of to A. B. greeting,”
and be tested by the Governor?
Why may not writs, instead of running in the name
of a King, run thus, “The Colony of to the Sheriff, &c.”
and be tested by the Chief Justice.
Why may not indictments conclude, “against the peace
of the Colony of and the dignity of the same?”
A Constitution, founded on these principles,
introduces knowledge among the People, and
inspires them with a conscious dignity, becoming Freemen.
A general emulation takes place, which causes
good humor, sociability, good manners,
and good morals to be general.
That elevation of sentiment, inspired by such a government,
makes the common people brave and enterprising.
That ambition which is inspired by it
makes them sober, industrious and frugal.
You will find among them some elegance, perhaps,
but more solidity; a little pleasure,
but a great deal of business—
some politeness, but more civility.
If you compare such a country with the regions
of domination, whether Monarchial or Aristocratical,
you will fancy yourself in Arcadia or Elysium.
If the Colonies should assume governments separately,
they should be left entirely to their own choice of the forms,
and if a Continental Constitution should be formed,
it should be a Congress, containing a fair and adequate
Representation of the Colonies, and its authority
should sacredly be confined to these cases, viz.
war, trade, disputes between Colony and Colony,
the Post-Office, and the unappropriated lands of the Crown,
as they used to be called.
These Colonies, under such forms of government,
and in such a union, would be unconquerable
by all the Monarchies of Europe.
You and I, my dear Friend, have been sent into life,
at a time when the greatest law-givers of antiquity
would have wished to have lived.
How few of the human race have ever enjoyed
an opportunity of making an election of government
more than of air, soil, or climate,
for themselves or their children.
When! Before the present epoch, had three millions
of people full power and a fair opportunity to form
and establish the wisest and happiest government
that human wisdom can contrive?
I hope you will avail yourself and your country of that
extensive learning and indefatigable industry which
you possess, to assist her in the formations of the happiest
governments, and the best character of a great People.
For myself, I must beg you to keep my name out of sight,
for this feeble attempt, if it should be known to be mine,
would oblige me to apply to myself those lines
of the immortal John Milton, in one of his sonnets,“I did but teach the age to quit their clogs
By the plain rules of ancient Liberty,
When lo! a barbarous noise surrounded me,
Of owls and cuckoos, asses, apes and dogs.”14
On April 20 John Adams received printed copies of his
Thoughts on Government pamphlet.
On April 22 in a letter to James Warren he wrote that
the time for independence had arrived.
The Management of so complicated
and mighty a Machine, as the United Colonies,
requires the Meekness of Moses,
the Patience of Job and the Wisdom of Solomon,
added to the Valor of Daniel.
They are advancing by slow but sure steps, to that mighty
Revolution, which You and I have expected for Some Time.
Forced Attempts to accelerate their Motions, would have
been attended with Discontent and perhaps Convulsions.
The News from South Carolina,
has aroused and animated all the Continent.
It has Spread a visible Joy, and if North Carolina
and Virginia should follow the Example, it will Spread
through all the rest of the Colonies like Electric Fire.
The Royal Proclamation, and the late Act of Parliament,
have convinced the doubting and
confirmed the timorous and wavering.
The two Proprietary Colonies only, are still cool.
But I hope a few Weeks will alter their Temper.
I think it is now the precise Point of Time for our Council
and House of Representatives, either to proceed to make
such Alterations in our Constitution as they may
judge proper, or to Send a Petition to Philadelphia
for the Consent of Congress to do it.
It will be considered as fresh evidence of our Spirit
and Vigor, and will give Life and Activity
and Energy to all the other Colonies.
Four Months ago, or indeed at any Time Since
you assumed a Government,
it might have been disagreeable and perhaps dangerous.
But it is quite otherwise now.
Another Thing, if you are so unanimous, in the Measure
of Independency and wish for a Declaration of it, now is the
proper Time for you to instruct your Delegates to that Effect.
It would have been productive of Jealousies perhaps
and Animosities, a few Months ago,
but would have a contrary Tendency now.
The Colonies are all at this Moment
turning their Eyes, that Way.
Vast Majorities in all the Colonies now see the Propriety
and Necessity of taking the decisive Steps,
and those who are averse to it
are afraid to Say much against it.
And therefore Such an Instruction at this Time
would comfort and cheer the Spirits of your Friends,
and would discourage and dishearten your Enemies….
After all, my Friend, I do not at all Wonder,
that so much Reluctance has been Shewn
to the Measure of Independency.
All great Changes, are irksome to the human Mind,
especially those which are attended
with great Dangers, and uncertain Effects.
No Man living can foresee
the Consequences of such a Measure.
And therefore I think it ought not to have been undertaken,
until the Design of Providence, by a series
of great Events had so plainly marked out
the Necessity of it that he that runs might read.
We may feel Sanguine Confidence of our Strength:
yet in a few years it may be put to the Trial.
We may please ourselves with the prospect
of free and popular Governments.
But there is great Danger,
that those Governments will not make us happy.
God grant they may.
But I fear, that in every assembly,
Members will obtain an Influence, by Noise not sense.
By Meanness, not Greatness.
By Ignorance not Learning.
By contracted Hearts not large souls.
I fear too, that it will be impossible to convince
and persuade People to establish wise Regulations.
There is one Thing, my dear sir, that must be attempted
and most Sacredly observed or We are all undone.
There must be a Decency, and Respect, and Veneration
introduced for Persons in Authority, of every Rank,
or We are undone.
In a popular Government, this is the only Way
of Supporting order—and in our Circumstances,
as our People have been so long
without any Government at all,
it is more necessary than, in any other.
The United Provinces, were So sensible of this
that they carried it to a burlesque Extream.15
The writings of John Adams would influence the constitutions of
Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.
On May 10 he introduced in Congress a resolution urging colonies to
establish new governments, and on May 15 the Congress approved
the following resolution with this preamble by Adams:
Whereas his Britannic Majesty, in conjunction with
the lords and commons of Great Britain, has, by a late act
of Parliament, excluded the inhabitants of these
United Colonies from the protection of his crown;
And whereas, no answer, whatever, to the humble petitions
of the colonies for redress of grievances and reconciliation
with Great Britain, has been or is likely to be given;
but, the whole force of that kingdom, aided by
foreign mercenaries, is to be exerted for the destruction
of the good people of these colonies;
And whereas, it appears absolutely irreconcilable to reason
and good Conscience, for the people of these colonies now
to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support
of any government under the crown of Great Britain,
and it is necessary that the exercise of every kind
of authority under the said crown should be totally
suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted,
under the authority of the people of the colonies,
for the preservation of internal peace, virtue,
and good order, as well as for the defense of their lives,
liberties, and properties, against the hostile invasions
and cruel depredations of their enemies:
ThereforeResolved, That it be recommended to the respective
Assemblies and Conventions of the United Colonies,
where no Government sufficient to the exigencies
of their affairs has been hitherto established,
to adopt such Government as shall in the opinion
of the Representatives of the People best conduce
to the happiness and safety of their Constituents
in particular, and America in general.16
The next day Henry Knox told John Adams
that he agreed with him on independence.
Adams asked the bookseller Knox to compile a
list of recommended books on military issues.
On May 24 Nathanael Greene wrote a letter to John Adams
and the Board of War urging them to provide support for the
injured soldiers in order to increase enlistments.
He also noted that officers were not getting enough pay to cover their expenses.
On May 26 John Adams wrote in a letter to James Sullivan,
It is certain in Theory, that the only moral Foundation
of Government is the Consent of the People.
But to what an Extent Shall We carry this Principle?
Shall We Say, that every Individual of the Community,
old and young, male and female, as well as rich and poor,
must consent, expressly to every Act of Legislation?
No, you will Say. This is impossible.
How then does the Right arise in the Majority
to govern the Minority, against their Will?
Whence arises the Right of the Men to govern Women,
without their Consent?
Whence the Right of the old to bind the Young,
without theirs.
But let us first Suppose, that the whole Community
of every Age, Rank, Sex, and Condition, has a Right to vote.
This Community, is assembled—a Motion is made
and carried by a Majority of one Voice.
The Minority will not agree to this.
Whence arises the Right of the Majority to govern,
and the Obligation of the Minority to obey?
from Necessity, you will Say,
because there can be no other Rule.
But why exclude Women?
You will Say, because their Delicacy renders them unfit
for Practice and Experience, in the great Business of Life,
and the hardy Enterprises of War,
as well as the arduous Cares of State.
Besides, their attention is So much engaged
with the necessary Nurture of their Children,
that Nature has made them fittest for domestic Cares.
And Children have not Judgment or Will of their own.
True. But will not these Reasons apply to others?
Is it not equally true, that Men in general in every Society,
who are wholly destitute of Property, are also too little
acquainted with public Affairs to form a Right Judgment,
and too dependent upon other Men
to have a Will of their own?
If this is a Fact, if you give to every Man, who has no
Property, a Vote, will you not make a fine encouraging
Provision for Corruption by your fundamental Law?
Such is the Frailty of the human Heart, that very few Men,
who have no Property, have any Judgment of their own.
They talk and vote as they are directed by Some Man
of Property, who has attached their Minds to his Interest.
Upon my Word, sir, I have long thought an Army,
a Piece of Clock Work and to be governed only
by Principles and Maxims, as fixed as any in Mechanics,
and by all that I have read in the History of Mankind,
and in Authors, who have Speculated upon Society
and Government, I am much inclined to think,
a Government must manage a Society in the Same manner;
and that this is Machinery too.
Harrington has Shown that
Power always follows Property.
This I believe to be as infallible a Maxim, in Politics, as,
that Action and Re-action are equal, is in Mechanics.
Nay I believe We may advance one Step farther
and affirm that the Ballance of Power in a Society,
accompanies the Ballance of Property in Land.
The only possible Way then of preserving the Balance
of Power on the side of equal Liberty and public Virtue,
is to make the Acquisition of Land easy to every Member
of Society: to make a Division of the Land
into Small Quantities, So that the Multitude
may be possessed of landed Estates.
If the Multitude is possessed of the Ballance of real Estate,
the Multitude will have the Ballance of Power, and in that
Case the Multitude will take Care of the Liberty, Virtue,
and Interest of the Multitude in all Acts of Government.
I believe these Principles have been felt, if not understood
in the Massachusetts Bay, from the Beginning:
And therefore I Should think that Wisdom and Policy
would dictate in these Times,
to be very cautious of making Alterations.
Our people have never been very rigid in Scrutinizing
into the Qualifications of Voters, and I presume
they will not now begin to be so.
But I would not advise them to make any alteration in the
Laws, at present, respecting the Qualifications of Voters.
Your Idea, that those Laws, which affect the Lives and
personal Liberty of all, or which inflict corporal Punishment,
affect those, who are not qualified to vote,
as well as those who are, is just.
But, So they do Women, as well as Men,
Children as well as Adults.
What Reason Should there be, for excluding a Man of
Twenty years, Eleven Months and twenty-seven days old,
from a Vote when you admit one, who is twenty one?
The Reason is, you must fix upon Some Period in Life,
when the Understanding and Will of Men in general
is fit to be trusted by the Public.
Will not the Same Reason justify the State in fixing
upon Some certain Quantity of Property, as a Qualification.
The Same Reasoning, which will induce you to admit
all Men, who have no Property, to vote, with those who
have, for those Laws, which affect the Person will prove that
you ought to admit Women and Children:
for generally Speaking, Women and Children,
have as good Judgment, and as independent Minds
as those Men who are wholly destitute of Property:
these last being to all Intents and Purposes
as much dependent upon others, who will please
to feed, clothe, and employ them, as Women are
upon their Husbands, or Children on their Parents.
As to your Idea, of proportioning the Votes of Men
in Money Matters, to the Property they hold,
it is utterly impracticable.
There is no possible Way of Ascertaining, at any one Time,
how much every Man in a Community, is worth;
and if there was, So fluctuating is Trade and Property,
that this State of it, would change in half an Hour.
The Property of the whole Community, is Shifting
every Hour, and no Record can be kept of the Changes.
Society can be governed only by general Rules.
Government cannot accommodate itself
to every particular Case, as it happens,
nor to the Circumstances of particular Persons.
It must establish general, comprehensive Regulations
for Cases and Persons.
The only Question is, which general Rule,
will accommodate most Cases and most Persons.
Depend upon it, sir, it is dangerous to open So fruitful
a Source of Controversy and Altercation, as would be
opened by attempting to alter the Qualifications of Voters.
There will be no End of it.
New Claims will arise.
Women will demand a Vote.
Lads from 12 to 21 will think their Rights not enough
attended to, and every Man, who has not a Farthing, will
demand an equal Voice with any other in all Acts of State.
It tends to confound and destroy all Distinctions,
and prostrate all Ranks, to one common Levell.17
John Adams on June 3 in a letter to Patrick Henry wrote,
I had this Morning the Pleasure of yours of 20 May.
The little Pamphlet you mention is nullius Filius,
and if I should be obliged to maintain it,
the World will not expect that I should own it.
My Motive for inclosing it to you, was not the Value
of the Present, but as a Token of Friendship—and more
for the Sake of inviting your Attention to the Subject,
than because there was any Thing in it worthy your Perusal.
The Subject is of infinite Moment, and perhaps
more than Adequate to the Abilities of any Men, in America.
I know of none So competent, to the Task as the Author
of the first Virginia Resolutions against the Stamp Act,
who will have the Glory with Posterity,
of beginning and concluding this great Revolution.
Happy Virginia, whose Constitution
is to be framed by So masterly a Builder.
Whether the Plan of the Pamphlet, is not too popular,
whether the Elections are not too frequent,
for your Colony I know not.
The Usages and Genius and Manners of the People,
must be consulted.
And if Annual Elections of the Representatives of the People,
are Sacredly preserved, those Elections by Ballot,
and none permitted to be chosen but Inhabitants, Residents,
as well as qualified Freeholders of the City, County, Parish,
Town, or Borough for which they are to serve,
three essential Prerequisites of a free Government;
the Council or middle Branch of the Legislature may be
triennial, or even Septennial, without much Inconvenience.
I, esteem it an Honor and an Happiness,
that my opinion So often coincides with yours.
It has ever appeared to me, that the natural Course
and order of Things, was this—for every Colony to institute
a Government—for all the Colonies to confederate,
and define the Limits of the Continental Constitution—
then to declare the Colonies a sovereign State,
or a Number of confederated Sovereign States—
and last of all to form Treaties with foreign Powers.
But I fear We cannot proceed systematically,
and that We Shall be obliged to declare ourselves
independent States before We confederate, and indeed
before all the Colonies have established their Governments.
It is now pretty clear, that all these Measures will follow
one another in a rapid Succession, and it may not
perhaps be of much Importance, which is done first.
The Importance of an immediate Application
to the French Court is clear, and I am very much obliged
to you for your Hint of the Rout by the Mississippi.
Your Intimation that the session of your Representative
Body would be long gave me great Pleasure,
because We all look up to Virginia for Examples
and in the present Perplexities, Dangers and Distresses
of our Country it is necessary that the Supreme Councils
of the Colonies should be almost constantly Sitting.
Some Colonies are not sensible of this,
and they will certainly Suffer for their Indiscretion.
Events of such Magnitude as those which present
themselves now in such quick Succession,
require constant Attention and mature Deliberation.
The little Pamphlet, you mention which was published
here as an Antidote to the Thoughts on Government,
and which is whispered to have been the joint Production
of one Native of Virginia and two Natives of New York,
I know not how truly, will make no Fortune in the World.
It is too absurd to be considered twice.
It is contrived to involve a Colony in eternal War.
The Dons, the Bashaws, the Grandees, the Patricians,
the Sachems, the Nabobs, call them by what Name
you please, Sigh, and groan, and fret,
and Sometimes Stamp, and foam, and curse—but all in vain.
The Decree is gone forth, and it cannot be recalled,
that a more equal Liberty, than has prevailed in other Parts
of the Earth, must be established in America.
That Exuberance of Pride, which has produced
an insolent Domination, in a few, a very few opulent,
monopolizing Families, will be brought down nearer
to the Confines of Reason and Moderation,
than they have been used.
This is all the Evil, which they themselves will endure.
It will do them good in this World and every other.
For Pride was not made for Man only as a Tormentor.
I shall ever be happy in receiving your Advice, by Letter,
until I can be more completely so in seeing you here
in Person, which I hope will be soon.
I am with Sincere Affection and Esteem,
dear sir, your Friend and very humble servant.18
On June 7 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced in
Congress this resolution for independence:
Resolved, That these United Colonies are,
and of right ought to be, free and independent States,
that they are absolved from all allegiance
to the British Crown, and that all political connection
between them and the state of Great Britain
is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.19
He also agreed with John Adams that they should make a treaty with France.
The Congress appointed committee for both issues,
and they debated them for two days.
After more debate they decided on June 11 to table independence for three weeks.
They appointed a committee to work on a statement
of independence and
named
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,
Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston to the committee.
Jefferson began working on a draft and was advised by
Adams and Franklin first and later by Sherman and Livingston.
On June 12 the Congress formed the Board of War
and Ordnance with John Adams as president.
They were to supervise problems, promotions, appointments,
recruiting, and issues related to prisoners of war.
That week he was also assigned to two more committees.
On June 15 New Jersey legislature had the
royal governor, William Franklin, arrested.
They directed their delegates to Congress to vote for independence,
and to make sure of that they appointed five new delegates.
On June 23 John Adams in a letter to John Winthrop wrote,
The Advantages, which will result
from Such a Declaration, are in my opinion
very numerous, and very great.
After that Event, the Colonies will hesitate no longer
to complete their Governments.
They will establish Tests and ascertain
the Criminality of Toryism.
The Presses will produce no more, Seditious,
or traitorous Speculations.
Slanders, upon public Men and Measures, will be lessened.
The Legislatures of the Colonies will exert themselves,
to manufacture, Saltpeter, Sulphur, Powder, Arms,
Cannon, Mortars, Clothing, and every Thing,
necessary for the Support of Life.
Our civil Governments will feel a Vigor, hitherto unknown.
Our military Operations by Sea and Land,
will be conducted with greater Spirit.
Privateers will Swarm in great Numbers.
Foreigners will then exert themselves
to Supply Us with what we want.
Foreign Courts will not disdain
to treat with Us, upon equal Terms.
Nay further in my opinion, such a Declaration,
instead of uniting the People of Great Britain against Us,
will raise Such a Storm against the Measures
of Administration as will obstruct the War,
and throw the Kingdom into Confusion.
A Committee is appointed to prepare a Confederation
of the Colonies, ascertaining the Terms and Ends of the
Compact, and the Limits of the Continental Constitution, and
another Committee is appointed for Purposes as important.
These Committees will report in a Week or two,
and then the last finishing Stroke will be given
to the Politics of this Revolution.
Nothing after that will remain, but War.
I think I may then, petition my Constituents
for Leave to return to my Family, and leave the War
to be conducted by others, who understand it better.
I am weary, thoroughly weary,
and ought to have a little Rest.
I am grieved to hear, as I do from various Quarters
of that Rage for Innovation, which appears,
in So many wild Shapes, in our Province.
Are not these ridiculous Projects, prompted, excited,
And encouraged by disaffected Persons,
in order to divide, dissipate, and distract,
the Attention of the People, at a Time,
when every Thought Should be employed,
and every Sinew exerted, for the Defense of the Country?
Many of the Projects that I have heard of, are not repairing,
but pulling down, the Building, when it is on Fire,
instead of laboring to extinguish the Flames.
The Projects of County Assemblies, Town Registers,
and Town Probates of Wills, are founded in narrow, Notions,
Sordid Stinginess and profound Ignorance,
and tend directly to Barbarism.
I am not Solicitous who takes Offence at this Language.
I blush to see such Stuff in our public Papers,
which used to breathe a Spirit much more liberal.
I rejoice to see, in the Lists of both Houses,
So many Names, respectable for Parts and Learning.
I hope their Fortitude and Zeal will be in Proportion:
and then, I am Sure their Country
will have great Cause to bless them.20
On June 28 Jefferson presented the committee’s
draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Notes
1. John Adams Revolutionary Writings 1755-1775, Novanglus, No. II
p. 397-399, 406-407.
2. Ibid., No. III p. 418-419.
3. Ibid., No. IV p. 440.
4. Ibid., No. VII p. 526.
5. Ibid., No. XII p. 614.
6. John Adams Revolutionary Writings 1775-1783 p. 5-6.
7. Ibid., p. 13-14.
8. Ibid., p. 14-15.
9. Ibid., p. 33.
10. To George Washington from John Adams, 6 January 1776 (on line).
11. The Works of John Adams: Second President of the United States, Volume 1
by Charles Francis Adams, p. 193-196.
12. John Adams Revolutionary Writings 1775-1783, p. 45.
13. Ibid., p. 61-63.
14. Ibid., p. 63-65.
15. Ibid., p. 49-56.
16. Ibid., p. 68-69.
17. Ibid., p. 72-74.
18. Ibid., p. 77-79.
19. A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic
by John Ferling, p. 169.
20. John Adams Revolutionary Writings 1775-1783, p. 88-89.
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