A Revolution in the Hearts and Minds of the People

John Adam's Personal Reflection on the American Revolution

John Adams, an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father, served as the United States' second president from 1797 to 1801. 

John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the same day his good friend Thomas Jefferson also died. 

John Adams wrote a personal reflection on the American Revolution eight years before his death.

Adams made an important observation on how the American Revolution began in his written analysis.

“But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American War? The Revolution was effected before the war was commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, a change in the religious sentiments of their duties and obligations.”

Read again the last line of the quotation. John Adams states the American Revolution began “in the minds and hearts” of the American people through “a change in their religious sentiments.”

According to John Adams, this change began on January 30, 1750.

The Revolution of Hearts and Minds Begins

On that day…