John Adams Sees God’s Hand in National Suffering - 1776
John Adams
Introduction
John Adams was deeply involved in winning American independence from Great Britain and establishing the new government of the United States. He was the first vice-president under the constitution adopted in 1789, and the second president. A Harvard-trained lawyer, he was Unitarian in belief. His assurance that God (whom he called “Providence”) was involved in human affairs led him to write the following to his wife Abigail on this day, 3 July, 1776—the day after delegates had agreed to the Declaration of Independence:
Quote
“It is the will of Heaven that the two countries [Britain and the United States] should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting and distress yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect at least: It will inspire us with many virtues which we have not, and correct many errors, follies, and vices which threaten to disturb, dishonor and destroy us. The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in states as well as individuals.”
Christian History 50 (1996).