Archive for the Patriotism Category

∙ In his later years, John Adams remarked: What do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people. … This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution. What are those “principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections”? They are stated most famously—and most eloquently—in the Declaration of Independence. But as Adams correctly observed, the Declaration was more of a culmination than the beginning. The true revolutionary change in ideas preceded it—and