Yesterday, the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."

John Adams

Read this letter at the National Archives website

More information about this quote

Topic

Declaration of Independence

Author

John Adams

Source

Letters of John Adams

Medium

Letter

Statement Type

American Revolution

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Occupation

Founding Father American President National leader Politician

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, John. Letter to Abigail Adams. 3 July 1776.

Current Citation

Adams, John. My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams, edited by Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylor. Belknap Press, 2010.

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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by John Adams

A government of laws, and not of men.

John Adams

More information about this quote
Topic
Rule of law Law

Author

John Adams
Source
To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay Boston Gazette
Medium
Essay Newspaper
Language
English
Time
1775 1770s 18th century
Era
American Revolutionary Period
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Adams, John, [published as Novanglus]. "To the Inhabitants of the Colony of Massachusetts-Bay." Boston Gazette, 6 Mar. 1775.

Current Citation

Adams, John. "Novanglus No. VII, March 6, 1775." John Adams: Revolutionary Writings 1755-1775, edited by Gordon S. Wood. Library of America, 2011.

Another quote from the 1770s

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Declaration of Independence

Read The Declaration of Independence at the National Archives website
More information about this quote
Topic
Equality Natural law Human rights Freedom
Source
Declaration of Independence
Genre
Political literature
Language
English
Time
1776 1770s 18th century
Era
American Revolutionary Period
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

United States Declaration of Independence. 1776, preamble.

Current Citation

The National Archives. The Declaration of Independence: A Transcript. 24 July 2020, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript.

Another quote from 1776

When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.

Thomas Paine

Common Sense

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More information about this quote
Topic
Anti-monarchism Political theory

Author

Thomas Paine
Source
Common Sense
Medium
Pamphlet
Genre
Political literature
Language
English
Time
1776 1770s 18th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Paine, Thomas [published anonymously]. Common Sense. Philadelphia: R. Bell, sect. 4.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "Common Sense." Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, edited by Mark Philp. Oxford University Press, 2009, sect. 4.