Revolution DBQ

“The Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people…This radical change in the principles, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.” Explain the meaning of this 1818 statement by John Adams (referring to the Revolutionary era) and assess its validity.

Philosophical words, Once Again
In a letter to Hezekiah Niles on February 3rd of 1818 John Adams, once again, spoke his mighty, philosophical words. “The Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people…This radical change in the principles, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.” Prior to that, on the 24th of August, 1815, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson he also stated: “What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was effected from 1760–1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed at Lexington.” When John Adams made these statements, he was trying to display how just the foundation of a thought was forming within the minds of many Americans, 15 years prior to the revolutionary war, how without this one common thought of the majority of the colonies, the war would have never happened, and how the war affected the ones who were now independent and had no one to rely on.

In 1607, the 13 colonies were established by Great Britain in North America. That was the spark that ignited a very long fuse to a giant bomb. In 1775, the citizens of these colonies were fed up with the way King George III was ruling over them and finally acted upon it. However, the thought of a revolution was created over 15 years prior to that. King George III was constantly violating the rights of the people who lived outside the borders of the United Kingdom, across an ocean, separated by months of travel. However, this physical boundary meant nothing to the king and it did not affect the way in which he ruled the colonies. John Adams states “The Revolution was affected before the war commenced.” This statement was nothing but truth. The king did not treat the colonies how he did for just s short period of time before the war, he treated them in this horrible manner from the day they were founded. The thought of separation could have very well been brewing in the minds of the colonist since day one. There was much thought put into the efforts of the colonist in the war, before the first shot was even fired. The fight for independence was first fought within in the minds of those who fought the red coats.

The Revolutionary War was the first display of the unity of the country. Great Britain was far too powerful for the young colonies. A person who simply thinks logically would have reasons for which why they believed the colonies did not stand a chance against the United Kingdom. However, the war was not decided by whose army was stronger, it was decided by whose army had the better reason to fight. The colonist had the desire to create a change in the daily life of the people within its boundaries. On the other hand, the British army was being forced to leave their homes, and travel across a seemingly endless ocean, just to fight against a people, with a just cause, because they were simply told to. The success of the weaker and smaller colonies, was because of the reason they were fighting was better than the reason of the ones they were fighting against. That is why, when John Adams stated, “The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people…” he was speaking nothing but the truth. Because the citizens of the colonies were all fighting for the same reason, there was a connection formed between each of them. This connection brought each individual close together so they could fight side by side against a country pushing them down. The colonies became one nation, one union, and one family.

The war that occurred after all the thinking and planning of the colonist did not only create another country in this world. It created a new type of people who roamed a new, undiscovered land. John Adams stated that, “This radical change in the principles, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.” The overall outcome of the war could not be summed up in a better choice of words than this. After the American victory, reality soon sat in. The 13, now states, were on their own. For the first, and last, time, America was at a point of complete unity and peace. Everyone was in rejoicing because of the fact that they finally achieved what was being thought about for years. At this time, the citizens banded together to ensure the success of their new country. The behaviors, thoughts, and hearts of Americans were greatly affected and changed by the war. They realized that they needed one another in order to live under the rule of the government of a country that was what they desired and fought for in the first place. The hearts of Americans were changed and the overwhelming fact that they had finally achieved success was the ultimate outcome of the war. It was not simply a war for independence; it was a war for the hearts of many.

John Adams was a very influential person upon the history of the United States. The statement he made in a letter to a friend was just more words of truth that were produced by the mind of a genius and produced by the mouth of a powerful man. “The Revolution was affected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people…This radical change in the principles, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.” John Adams, arguably, understood the Revolution more than any other American. John Adams was trying to say that the foundation of a thought was forming within the minds of many Americans, 15 years prior to the revolutionary war, without this one common thought of the majority of the colonies, the war would have never happened, and that the war affected the ones who were now independent and had no one to rely on. Adams statement is an extremely valid view upon the Revolutionary War.