John Adams

5 Pages 1262 Words

John Adam’s fear that “Our struggle [the American attempt to gain independence] has loosened the bands of government everywhere” was based mainly on what he saw as the decline social hierarchy. Adams was afraid that the working people, including women, of America would gain just as much political liberty as they had with civil liberty; that is, they would have just as much right to participate in public affairs as they would to protect themselves and their property. He hoped to keep the wealthy, “independent” land-owners-the citizens, in political power, and keep a functioning hierarchal society where the working people would have only a moderate level of political liberty. The common person found self worth and self identity in society, by participating in the events of the revolution. Although political liberty did eventually grow for the common person, the elite land-owners still remained the sturdy authority of government.

The first American patriots of the revolutionary war were the elite landowners, such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. They were part the conservative Whig party. These men brought forth the idea of independence from Great Britain with a Republican state, and there ideas would eventually be written in the Declaration of Independence. They envisioned a free nation in which “all men are created equal”. But, was this a literal meaning of freedom and equality? Adams was calling simply for new protections against abusive and tyrannical men (Brinkley p.134). These men realized that for the republic to survive the population would have to consist of sturdy, independent, property owners imbued with civic virtue (Brinkley p.136). In effect, these men wanted civil liberty for all, but only total political liberty for those with power and land. They soon had to examine the secondary effects of too much liberty for all. Their new form of government could not survive unless there was s...