John Adams

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my notes: August 2, 1776 John Adams Declaration of Independence

On this day, the Declaration of Independence is officially signed | Constitution Center

August 2, 1776 is one of the most important but least celebrated days in American history, when 56 members of the Second Continental Congress started signing the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

constitutioncenter.org

conversation:

CONAN: And toward the end of his life, Adams is asked about what he considers the Christian vision of the afterlife, and he says, well, obviously this is unknowable, but if it's ever proved that it does not exist, he had a suggestion.

Mr. ELLIS: The suggestion was, if it can ever be shown conclusively that there is no hereafter, my advice to every man, woman and child on the planet is to take opium.



The context of that quote can be found.

 

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quote
They were human beings: mortal, full of failings, frailties, contradictions, flaws, vulnerabilities. Let’s never forget that the very first lines of our immortal Declaration of Independence begin with “When in the course of human events.” Human events. They were quite imperfect, each and every one.

David McCullough on 9/11

www.neh.gov

 

[Lastamender]

Doesn't hurt that John Adams is a distant relation. LOL A Mayflower madam married into my family line (1600s in North America) 3 generations ago. When this came to my attention during genealogical search, it hit up with my colonial research. And Adams had been one of my favorites of that era. Boom! Two interests came together as one. It was a joy.

The American story is my family story.

 

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Virtue.

Virtue was big on the lists back in the day. "Virtue" has occupied my mind. What is it they meant? How was it understood at the time?


On some notes regarding virtue, I found this:


I believe a truly good elected representative, does what he/she believes in is the best interests of their constituents, voting their own conscience as opposed to taking a poll and covering ones arse. Recent examples of a really great elected representative can be shown in Maine, where an elected person votes their conscience, and gets re-elected even though the constituents may have wished otherwise.

From the founding generation forward, the USA has had some great elected people -- profiles-in-courage, who voted their consciences on tough/controversial issues. They valued Virtue, among all other things. Virtue, a term not quite understood today -- not in the way it was understood long ago. The example carried on throughout the history of the USA.

Populism would mean to me, just making laws and arguments based on polls and ballot initiatives. What the people, the mob demanded in times of passion and hysteria. Populism as I've described would be a recipe for revolution, as people would not have elected leaders arguing with reason, they would have only information put forth by the hidden interests who have no allegiance and are not up for re-election -- the people who would manipulate the people false arguments, using ballot initiatives and polls.

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At the time I made some notes, I may have been reading something with a recent quote here in this thread.

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."
-- John Adams

Adams was not arguing for religion here. Adams was a deeply devout religious man. He had inserted religion into the original Massachusetts Constitution (later amended). He was warning about what he understood to be human nature, and how the vices of men together with power would destroy the nation.

Of course his ideas on morality can apply today, but his ideas on his faith being part of government were flawed and rejected at the time, and now. The people kept religion out of government. But in context his arguments weren't so strange. At the time nations were held together by cultural norms and religious faith. Most nations had religion as a part of the government.

gotta run ... rambling...

 

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Direct male line in North America stretching back to 1600s.

Trollboi, that's actually a quote more than a few people came up with after learning my family history in North America. Your ignorance and terrible habit of seeking attention spamming threads is...

go away

 

[BackAgain]

The life of Founding Father John Adams is relatively easy to document because of the correspondence between him and his wife Abigail. The John Adams T.V. series is is a classic.

That one on HBO some years back?

Agreed. Terrific series, informative and well acted.