This week there is a lot of
celebrating going on as Americans celebrate our country’s birthday. John Adams predicted celebrations in a letter
he wrote on July 5th, 1776, “I am apt to believe that it will be
celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of
deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and
parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from
one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.” He was right to predict such festivities. He knew the significance of the 4th
of July because he had a big part in it.
John
had been born in Boston, Massachusetts into a stalwart family. He attended Harvard at age 16. He graduated with a Bachelors so he could
teach school, but went back to receive training as a lawyer. He was admitted to the bar a few years later
to practice law. His first few cases
gave him valuable experience in determining rights and responsibilities of
citizenry in relation to the government.
Shortly thereafter, the Stamp Act
of 1765 was passed in Britain. In
effect, most paper circulated in the colonies would be taxed by placing a ‘stamp’
on it. It would increase the cost of
most common written documents, including necessary legal documents and
newspapers, magazines, and the like. The
colonists were furious because it meant that they would be taxed without any
say. This was the classic argument
against ‘taxation without representation.’
John understood the law that they
were operating under and argued strongly against the new tax. Leaders urged each colony to send
representatives to a ‘Congress’ in New York to discuss what to do. They wanted the colonies to band together to
fight this new threat. Petitions were
circulated and sent to the King.
Protests were staged. Tax
collectors were intimidated. The tax was
repealed a few years later, but the King insisted that he had a right to levy
taxes and not allow representation in the government. This helped bring together the colonies into
cooperative unity as new taxes were levied.
With each new tax, the colonists
bristled. After the Boston Tea Party in
December 1773, a new congress was formed in 1774. John went as a delegate from Massachusetts to
contribute to the new ‘Continental Congress.’
They met in 1774 and 1775 and discussed the many abuses all colonies felt
at the hands of the British government. Battles
in Lexington and Concord had broken out.
Some colonies still wanted to make peace with Britain and remain under
their rule, but with conditions. Others
wanted to be independent of Britain.
John wanted separation from Britain from the start and used his
influence to encourage all of the other colonies to desire separation as
well. He nominated George Washington as
the first General of the newly formed Continental Army. This action was supported by all of the
colonies.
John proposed a written resolution
in May of 1776 that each colony adopt new independent governments. The Continental Congress formally approved it
a few days later. This began the process
which culminated in the Declaration of Independence. John was on the committee with Thomas
Jefferson and two others charged with writing a formal Declaration of
Independence from Britain. They
completed it on July 2, 1776. The
Continental Congress asked them to make 86 changes to the document, which they
did. The revised declaration was
ratified by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776. America had broken free of Britain, at least
on paper!
George Washington led the
Continental Army against British attempts to thwart the Revolutionary War. John Adams served on the board of War and
Ordnance, helping the fledgling army win the war.
John was asked so many times to
help write State Constitutions that he wrote a book instead and circulated
it. He called it ‘Thoughts on
Government,’ and outlined a form of government that many states adopted. Using it, he largely wrote Massachusetts’
Constitution a few years later. Over the
years, he served as an Ambassador in France and as Vice President of the United
States serving under the first President, George Washington. When President Washington had served 2 terms,
John Adams won the Presidency and served one term.
He once said, “I
always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the
opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the
ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the
earth.”
John served America well. As a lawyer, he vocalized articulately our
opposition with Britain before the Revolution and called for representation
with taxation. And he co-wrote the
Declaration of Independence and championed its adoption. He wrote the Constitution of Massachusetts
and set a pattern for other states to follow in their own constitutions. As an Ambassador, he helped the Continental
Congress delegates band together and agree to separate from Britain. And he maintained relations with France at
critical points in the war. He used his
knowledge of the law and his love of freedom to help America become independent
and free.
Blyth, Myrna and Chriss Winston, How to Raise an American, 2007,
Crown Publishing Group, New York, p. 186-187.
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