Posted on 12/12/2019 1:52:25 PM PST by Perseverando
John Adams wrote A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765:
"The desire of dominion ... when ... restraints are taken off ... becomes an encroaching, grasping, restless, and ungovernable power ... contrived by the great for the gratification of this passion ...
Originally formed ... for the necessary defense ... against ... invasions ... yet ... tyranny, cruelty, and lust ... was soon adopted by almost all the princes of Europe ...
The people were held in ignorance ... till God in his benign providence raised up the champions who began and conducted the Reformation.
From the time of the Reformation to the first settlement of America, knowledge gradually spread in Europe, but especially in England; and in proportion as that increased and spread among the people ... tyranny ... lost ... strength."
John Adams was born OCTOBER 30, 1735.
A Harvard graduate, he was admitted to the bar and in 1764, married Abigail Smith, the daughter of a Congregational minister.
In 1765, Britain enacted the Stamp Act, which would be equivalent to a modern-day Internet tax, online censorship or government surveillance of emails.
John Adams wrote:
"It seems very manifest from the Stamp Act itself, that a design is formed to strip us in a great measure of the means of knowledge, by loading the press, the colleges, and even an almanac and a newspaper, with restraints and duties."
In resisting the Stamp Act, Adams wrote instructions to representatives from town of Braintree being sent to the Massachusetts General Court:
"The late acts of Parliament ... divest us of our most essential rights and liberties ... The Stamp Act ... a very burdensome, and... unconstitutional tax, is to be laid upon us ...
(Excerpt) Read more at myemail.constantcontact.com ...
I have watched the brilliant John Adams HBO miniseries several times.
I highly recommend it to anyone who has not yet seen it.
bkmk
Thanks, Maceman!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.