TDIH: John Adams on the American Revolution
Was the real Revolution to be found in the battles that were fought? Or was it something else—perhaps a change in the American mindset, prior to the actual war?
On this day in 1818, President John Adams reflects back on the American Revolution. Was the real Revolution to be found in the battles that were fought? Or was it something else—perhaps a change in the American mindset, prior to the actual war?
Adams believes it was the latter. “The Revolution was effected before the War commenced,” he wrote. “The Revolution was in the Minds and Hearts of the People. A Change in their Religious Sentiments of their Duties and Obligations.”
Initially, as Adams describes, the American people thought they were bound to pray for and submit to the King. But when they saw the King abusing his power, their allegiances began to change.
How did thirteen such different colonies—“ distinct, unconnected and independent of each other,” as Adams described—simultaneously experience the same Revolution in their way of thinking?
Adams found this simple fact astonishing. Perhaps we would, too, if we remembered to focus on the many differences among the thirteen colonies then—to say nothing of the differences among states today.
Thirteen colonies with different religions, subcultures, and industries all came to the same conclusion at about the same time: They could not live under British tyranny. They would need to overcome their differences with other colonists and work together toward independence.
Adams describes it best:
“The Colonies had grown up under Constitutions of Government, So different, there was so great a Variety of Religions, they were composed of So many different Nations, their Customs, Manners and Habits had So little resemblance, and their Intercourse had been so rare and their Knowledge of each other So imperfect, that to unite them in the Same Principles in Theory and the Same System of Action was certainly a very difficult Enterprize. The compleat Accomplishment of it, in So Short a time and by Such Simple means, was perhaps a Singular Example in the History of Mankind. Thirteen Clocks were made to Strike together; a perfection of Mechanism which no Artist had ever before effected.”
Thirteen clocks striking together? Perhaps one of the truths that prompted George Washington to label America’s victory over Britain: “little short of a standing miracle.”
Sources can always be found on my website, here.
Given that our freedom is endowed to us by God and that we are made in His image, freedom exists as a strong and innate characteristic. Efforts to suppress it through abuse creates a righteous indignation and a passion to push back. Individual freedom becomes collective when people discover that like minded men and women share their disdain for abuse and purpose to correct it. It is an authentic grass roots movement and is a powerful motivation for change regardless of our geographical or cultural boundaries. Adams was right and we are seeing it played out today.
I believe that the answer to how and why 13 disparate Colonies came to the near simultaneous conclusion that they couldn't continue under British rule was one word. God. They may have had 13 different customs, religions and industries but they all prayed and answered to one God. Yes, the American Revolution was won in the hearts and minds of the people of the 13 Colonies before the war because they all had common reasons and one solution. John Adams was correct in my opinion. We would never have won our independence without having a single purpose of mind. Thank you Tara.