TDIH: John Adams on the Constitution
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People,” Adams concluded. “It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
On this day in 1798, John Adams writes a letter to officers in the Massachusetts militia.
Adams thought America then free of certain problems that plagued much of the world. But he could also see a different future if Americans were to become deceptive “towards one another and towards foreign nations” by assuming “the Language of Justice and moderation while it is practicing [immorality] and Extravagance . . . [and] rioting in rapine and Insolence.” If such corruption were to come about, he thought “this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the World.”
His closing sentence is one that you might have heard before.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People,” Adams concluded. “It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Wow. What would he say of us today?
It’s sad, but we have become exactly what Adams warned could happen. We can only hope there are more people with moral consciences intact than deceptive, immoral and insolent ones. Pride goes before a fall so perhaps that’s where the arrogant people are headed. Trouble is they might take the whole country with them. Good post, Tara. We need every reminder of what was intended and where we are today.
I have long thought that he would be disappointed in us today. We seem to have forgotten the basic tenets we fought for.