Continental Congress (July 3, 1776) recorded the statement of John Adams:
<The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epoche, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this time forward forever more.> 1776CC003
On July 3, 1776, the day after Congress voted for Independence, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail:
<You will think me transported with enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.> 1776CC004
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1776CC003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Adams, July 3, 1776, in a letter to his wife Abigail. Charles Francis Adams (son of John Quincy Adams and grandson of John Adams), ed., Letters of John Adams Addressed to His Wife (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), Vol. I, p. 128. The World Book Encyclopedia, 18 vols. (Chicago, IL: Field Enterprises, Inc., 1957; W.F. Quarrie and Company, 8 vols., 1917; World Book, Inc., 22 vols., 1989), Vol. 9, p. 3683.
1776CC004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). John Adams, July 3, 1776, the day after Congress approved Independence, to his wife, Abigail. Charles Francis Adams (son of John Quincy Adams and grandson of John Adams), ed., Letters of John Adams-Addressed to His Wife (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1841), Vol. I, p. 1 28. The World Book Encyclopedia, 18 vols. (Chicago, IL: Field Enterprises, Inc., 1957; W.F. Quarrie and Company, 8 vols., 1917; World Book, Inc., 22 vols., 1989), Vol. 9, p. 3683. L.H. Butterfield, ed., Adams Family Correspondence (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963), Vol. II, p. 28-31. Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1977), pp. 310- 311. D.P. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God-How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 6.