Famous Speeches of American Independence - John Quincy Adams
"If Saint Germain loved her enough in the beginning to give the Courage, Strength and Power to those early patriots to sign the Declaration of Independence, which was His Plan and His Gift of Freedom to Life, do you think His Love has waned any? Do you think he wants America to be any less free?"
Beloved Godfre - The Voice of the "I AM" 1944:07:4
Being the son of John Adams, the second President of the United States; John Quincy Adams, had patriotism in his blood. A sharp attorney and intelligent diplomat, Adams brokered the 1814 Treaty of Ghent, earning him the nickname 'Old Man Eloquent.'
John Quincy Adams
'An Address Celebrating the Declaration of Independence'
Adams argues that the United States was the first legitimate government in the history of mankind, an achievement, as he says, that "must forever stand alone."
"Long before the Declaration of Independence, the great mass of the people of America and of the people of Britain had become total strangers to each other. The sympathies therefore most essential to the communion of country were, between the British and American people, extinct. Those most indispensable to the just relation between sovereign and subject, had never existed and could not exist between the British government and the American people. The connection was unnatural; and it was in the moral order no less than in the positive decrees of Providence, that it should be dissolved."
"She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example."
John Quincy Adams
"An Address Celebrating the Declaration of Independence"
BACKGROUND
While Secretary of State, Adams delivers his eloquent speech praising the virtues of America on Independence Day, 1821. He stresses that America has been devoted to the principles of freedom, independence and peace. In this detailed exposition, Adams argues that the United States was the first legitimate government in the history of mankind, an achievement, as he says, that "must forever stand alone."
HIS MOTIVATION
"It was the first solemn declaration by a nation of the only legitimate foundation of civil government. It was the corner stone of a new fabric, destined to cover the surface of the globe. It demolished at a stroke the lawfulness of all governments founded upon conquest. It swept away all the rubbish of accumulated centuries of servitude. It announced in practical form to the world the transcendent truth of the unalienable sovereignty of the people. It proved that the social compact was no figment of the imagination; but a real, solid, and sacred bond of the social union. "
THEME OF HIS SPEECH
Adams' extols the virtues of seeking Independence. "From the day of this declaration, the people of North America were no longer the fragment of a distant empire, imploring justice and mercy from an inexorable master in another hemisphere. They were no longer children appealing in vain to the sympathies of a heartless mother; no longer subjects leaning upon the shattered columns of royal promises, and invoking the faith of parchment to secure their rights. They were a nation, asserting as of right, and maintaining by war, its own existence. A nation was born in a day."
KEY FACTS STATED IN HIS SPEECH
Adams traces America's historical and political development throughout the speech. He recalls how the British mistreated the colonists from the beginning, citing how Britain went against its own ideas and principles in denying the colonists representation and consent. He states, "For the independence of North America, there were ample and sufficient causes in the laws of moral and physical nature."
July 4, 1821