The Seeds Of The Annunciation Of Independence Are Even Together With Hence Maturing

John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of  the U.S. (and boy of the mo president John Adams in addition to his married adult woman Abigail) started a diary when he was 12 inward 1779, in addition to added to it continuously for almost seventy years. Some days the long entries were to a greater extent than than 5,000 words. There's 1 stretch of 25 years where he didn't missy a day. It sums upwardly to to a greater extent than than 14,000 handwritten pages, in addition to the magic of the Internet lets you lot see images of the 51 volumes here.

In thinking almost the July iv holiday, here's a comment from Adams's diary on Dec 27, 1819, almost 1 of the basic questions confronting Americans of that time--and our ain time. Thomas Jefferson both wrote the Declaration of Independence, in addition to also was a slave-owner. As Adams writes: "With the Declaration of Independence on their lips, in addition to the merciless scourge of slavery inward their hands, a to a greater extent than flagrant icon of human inconsistency tin scarcely live conceived ..." Of course, modern Americans in addition to their leaders tin sometimes induce got the Declaration on their lips in addition to injustice inward their hands, too.

Facing that contradiction, Adams responded inward a means that was both ominous and, at to the lowest degree inward my reading, tinged amongst hope. He wrote: "The seeds of the Declaration of Independence are yet maturing," in addition to that the trial would live the "terrible sublime." Here's the passage, taken from John Quincy Adams, The Memoirs of John Quincy Adams (volume 4, pp. 492-493) available through the magic of the cyberspace at the HathiTrust Digital library.

"[Thomas] Jefferson is 1 of the groovy men whom this province has produced, 1 of the men who has contributed largely to the formation of our national grapheme — to much that is expert in addition to to non a lilliputian that is evil inward our sentiments in addition to manners. His Declaration of Independence is an abridged Alcoran of political doctrine, laying opened upwardly the starting fourth dimension foundations of civil society; but he does non seem to induce got been aware that it also set opened upwardly a precipice into which the slave-holding planters of his province sooner or afterward must fall. With the Declaration of Independence on their lips, in addition to the merciless scourge of slavery inward their hands, a to a greater extent than flagrant icon of human inconsistency tin scarcely live conceived than 1 of our Southern slave-holding republicans. Jefferson has been himself all his life a slave-holder, but he has published opinions then blasting to the really beingness of slavery, that, how ever creditable they may live to his candor in addition to humanity, they utter non much for his prudence or his forecast every bit a Virginian planter. The seeds of the Declaration of Independence are yet maturing. The harvest volition live what West, the painter, calls the terrible sublime."

H5N1 yoke of the references hither mightiness deport a combat to a greater extent than explanation. The reference to the "Alcoran," was a mutual contemporary spelling of what the AP Stylebook instantly spells every bit the "Quran." It's interesting to run across a hereafter United States president inward 1819 referring to the Quran every bit a parallel for the Declaration of Independence.

The lastly judgement refers to the painter Benjamin West, in addition to presumably to paintings similar his 1796 "Death on a Pale Horse."



On July 4, I similar to intend that "the seeds of the Declaration of Independence are even then maturing," amongst a total recognition that this procedure volition non ever furnish its positive results through a happy cheerful parade of expert feeling, but instead volition sometimes live confrontational, wrenching, in addition to difficult.


Sumber http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com/