Founding Fathers~ #2, John Adams

One of the most powerful figures in the history of America's fight for independence was John Adams.  He was born in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts in 1735.  He graduated from Harvard University and went on to practice law in that colony. 

He married Abigail Smith in October of 1764.  She could well be called a Founding Mother of America as she was the chief confidant and advisor to her husband. Over the years of separation due to John's political career, the couple wrote over 1200 letters to one another.  These letters have been preserved and provide a keen insight into American philosophy, politics, and history of the period.  They also provide a vivid picture of a deeply committed love that lasted their entire lifetimes.

John was practicing Law in Boston in 1750 when a key event in history occurred.  The British army was stationed in Boston to deal with the increasingly open rebellion against British authority.

A small group of soldiers were attacked by angry colonists while they were standing duty.  The civilians subjected them to verbal abuse.  The conflict soon degenerated into the protestors throwing things at the soldiers.  Things had gotten completely out of hand when the soldiers fired into the crown, killing 5 of the protestors. They were arrested and tried for murder.  Attorney John Adams was hired to represent them.

Adams took a lot of rebuke from fellow patriots, including his own cousin,  Sam, for his representation of the Red Coats.  The patriots wanted to use this event to stir up further resentment amongst the colonists against the British.  The picture of this event is a representation of one done at the time by Paul Revere. It clearly depicts the soldiers as being the aggressors and the protestors as victims.  The inclusion of blood in the scene further incited the anger of the Bostonians.  Adams' defense of the soldiers (who were reacting to rather than instigating a riot) was successful.  Most were acquitted and two were convicted of a lesser charge and branded on the hand as punishment.  Adams was passionate about freedom and a great leader in the cause for independence, but he was also an honest and honorable man. His defense of the soldiers (who were clearly not the instigators of this "massacre" in Boston) is, to me, one of the great lights shown on Adams' character as a moral human being.

He represented his colony at the Second Continental Congress in 1775-1776. An outspoken man, Adams was frustrated at his fellow delegates' refusal to act upon even a discussion on the topic of independence.  His argument was that, as the war was already upon them beginning at Bunker Hill, fear of "offending" the British was a moot point.  In the musical 1776, Adams is portrayed as saying, "King George has already declared us in rebellion; why the bloody h_ _ _ can't they?"

I don't know if he really said that or not, but he was clear about his feelings that our country could only endure if we remained a "moral and religious people" and that the founding principles of our nation were found in doctrines taught in the Bible. Here are some of his ideas on America's covenant with God that I found in my research:

"The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their address, or by me in my answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty..." [1]

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be."
_{--Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, Vol. III, p. 9.[2]}

"Now I will avow, that I then believe, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God; and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System." [3]
_{--Adams wrote this on June 28, 1813, excerpt from a letter to Thomas Jefferson.}

John Adams has been represented as both a Congregationalist and a Unitarian.  His wife, Abigail's, father had been a Congregationalist minister and Adams likely attended services with his wife. Key tenets of Unitarianism are of the oneness of the nature of God. However, I believe that to Adams, it also represented the unity of basic Christian morality. 

His hope was that Young America would remember the work involved in bringing 13 disparate colonies together into one United States.  There were many, like John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, wanted to remain loyal to England and the king. Others, like Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, would not agree to anything that disparaged the South's "peculiar institution" of slavery.  Freedom, as they say, never comes easily.
 
There are other Adams quotes that, taken out of context, have been construed to represent our Second President as being anti-religion.  He was not!  What frustrated him were the seemingly endless squabbles amongst the differing Christian sects.  To him, it was the basic principles taught by religion that should be united and serve as a guide to the American people. Said he:

"The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their address, or by me in my answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty..." [4]

Mary Fairchild, editor of www.thoughtco.com, summed up my feelings on this topic beautifully.  Wrote she: "No one can deny that many of the founding fathers of the United States of America were men of deep religious convictions based in the Bible and faith in Jesus Christ.  Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, nearly half held seminary or Bible school degrees. . . . [They had] strong moral and spiritual convictions which helped form the foundations of our nation and our government. [5]  

            

 I couldn't have said it better myself.

©Gebara Education, November 26, 2017

[1] https://www.thoughtco.com/christian-quotes-of-the-founding-fathers-700789
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] Ibid, May 23, 2017

Other Sources Consulted

http://www.american-presidents.com/john-adams/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Adams-president-of-United-States

http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html#Declaration

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarianism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_delegates_to_the_Continental_Congress