The Rights of the Colonists

“All positive and civil laws, should conform as far as possible, to the law of natural reason and equity.”

This statement asserts that civil law—or laws made by people—should reflect natural law (natural rights). The qualifier “as far as possible” alludes to social contract theory, another key Enlightenment concept. When people enter political society, they forfeit some of their liberties in exchange for the protection that society affords. Adams says that a society’s laws should infringe on personal liberties as little as possible and, in doing so, should not violate the laws of nature.

“In regard to religion, mutual toleration in the different professions thereof, is what all good and candid minds in all ages have ever practiced; and both by precept and example inculcated on mankind. And it is now generally agreed among Christians that this spirit of toleration in the fullest extent consistent with the being of civil society “is the chief characteristic mark of the true church” and, insomuch that Mr. Locke has asserted and proved beyond the possibility of contradiction on any solid ground, that such toleration ought to be extended to all whose doctrines are not subversive of society. The only sects which he thinks ought to be, and which by all wise laws are excluded from such toleration, are those who teach doctrines subversive of the civil government under which they live. The Roman Catholics or Papists are excluded by reason of such doctrines as these, that princes excommunicated may be deposed, and those they call heretics may be destroyed without mercy; besides their recognizing the pope in so absolute a manner, in subversion of government, by introducing as far as possible into the states, under whose protection they enjoy life, liberty, and property, that solecism in politics, imperium in imperio, leading directly to the worst anarchy and confusion, civil discord, war, and bloodshed.”

Adams addresses freedom of worship. He asserts that the best societies throughout history have tolerated the practice of multiple religions. He particularly notes that Christians share this commitment to freedom of worship. Adams offers caveats in the second half of the statement, however. He invokes Locke to defend the position that religious freedom should not be extended to Catholics because their practices are “subversive of the civil government under which they live.” The justification for this assertion is that the Catholic Church at that time persecuted individuals for religious crimes, and the Pope has governing influence over his followers. Adams (like Locke) suggest that Catholicism, or other outlawed subversive religions, weaken civil society.

“In the state of nature, every man is, under God, judge and sole judge of his own rights and the injuries done him. By entering into society, he agrees to an arbiter or indifferent judge between him and his neighbors; but he no more renounces his original right, than by taking a cause out of the ordinary course of law, and leaving the decision to referees or indifferent arbitrations. In the last case he must pay the referees for time and trouble; he should be also willing to pay his just quota for the support of government, the law, and constitution; the end of which is to furnish indifferent and impartial judges in all cases that may happen, whether civil, ecclesiastical, marine, or military.”

The “state of nature” stands in contrast to organized society. When a person is only responsible to themselves and does not need to answer to a larger group, that person does not need to observe any constructed code of law. In society, however, a person has an obligation to behave according to a set of laws that protect the wellbeing of the group. Adams’s point about “referees” is particularly important in the context of the time in which he wrote. People need to pay taxes for the salaries of the judicial officials within their society. This means of support for various officials is a shield against foreign influence by which an outsider could exert influence over officials. Adams wrote “The Rights of the Colonists” in response to the British Crown assuming responsibility for judges’ and governors’ salaries in the colonies. The colonists wanted to be the ones to supply those salaries so that the Crown could not coerce officials to further the Crown’s goal over those of the colonists.

“In short, it is the greatest absurdity to suppose it in the power of one or any number of men, at the entering into society, to renounce their essential natural rights, or the means of preserving those rights; when the great end of civil government from the very nature of its institution, is for the support, protection, and defense of those very rights: the principal of which, as is before observed, are Life, Liberty, and Property.”

This quote opens the last paragraph of the first section of the essay (“The Rights of the Colonists as Men”). Adams outlines a contradiction and an absurdity: If men enter society to protect their rights, that society should not infringe upon those rights or there would be no reason to form the society in the first place. His point is that every government should protect its citizen’s rights to life, liberty, and property.

“If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce and give up any essential natural right, the eternal law of reason and the great end of society, would absolutely vacate such renunciation; the right to freedom being the gift of God almighty, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift, and voluntarily become a slave.”

This quotation stresses that natural rights are at the heart of human existence. Because these rights are natural, they cannot truly be renounced. They transcend civil law because they supposedly come directly from God, the highest power. The quote is also significant because it uses the image of slavery and casts the concept in a deplorable light. Many colonial documents invoked slavery as the worst possible state of existence, and yet slavery was legal in colonial society. Adams himself was never a slave owner, but some of his political allies were.

“These may be best understood by reading—and carefully studying the institutes of the great Lawgiver and head of the Christian church—which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament.”

This line opens the short middle section of the essay and is in response to that section’s title: “The Rights of the Colonists as Christians.” Adams cites the Bible as his source—a source that Christians inclined to be critical of Adams might hesitate to reject. If some rights come directly from God, a Christian society should never infringe upon them. Adams references the New Testament, which is about Jesus and his teachings and distinguishes Christianity from other religions. Adams’s section on Christian rights is brief, but he indicates that the best understanding of these rights will come from religious education. Given the time and intended audience of this essay, Adams could have assumed that those around him would be familiar with the Bible.

“By the act of the British Parliament commonly called the Toleration Act,  every subject in England except Papists, etc., was restored to, and reestablished in, his natural right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience.”

Adams does not rely on Biblical teachings alone to support his list of the rights that the colonists have by virtue of the Christian religion. In this passage, he refers to the Toleration Act, passed by Parliament in 1689. As Adams indicates, this legislation allowed dissenting Protestants of sects other than the Church of England to freely worship. It excluded Papists, or Catholics, because of the political power the Catholic Church holds over its followers.

“And by the charter of this province it is granted ordained and established (that is, declared as an original right) that there shall be liberty of conscience allowed in the worship of God to all Christians, except Papists, inhabiting, or which shall inhabit or be resident within, such Province or Territory.”

In addition to the Toleration Act, the Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter protected the freedom of worship for Christians other than Catholics. It is significant that Adams listed the charter after the Toleration Act because it draws a line between longtime British policy and the colonies. One of Adams’s intentions in the essay is to align the colonies with British legal traditions. The Massachusetts Bay Colony Charter gave the initial permission for colonists to establish a community in New England.

“The absolute rights of Englishmen, and all freemen in or out of civil society, are principally personal security, personal liberty, and private property.”

This passage reiterates that people form political societies and governments for mutual protection and wellbeing. The quotation directly links England and the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. Adams reiterates that Englishmen are free and entitled to their natural rights and that the English government should protect these rights. Natural rights are not abstract; they are protected by the English legal system and the civil laws of any just and free society.

“First, ‘The first fundamental, positive law of all commonwealths or states, is the establishing the legislative power. As the first fundamental natural law also, which is to govern even the legislative power itself, is the preservation of the society.’”

This quotation is the first item in a short list of rights that apply to everyone in Great Britain. The quotation within this quotation is an excerpt from John Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government,” a work of political philosophy originally published in 1689. A legislative body should pass laws that lead to societal betterment while infringing as little as possible on people’s rights. Civil laws can never justly violate natural laws. Adams notes that the legislature governs not just ordinary citizens but “the legislative power itself.” The legislature is not above the law.

“Secondly, The legislative has no right to absolute, arbitrary power over the lives and fortunes of the people; nor can mortals assume a prerogative, not only too high for men, but for angels, and therefore reserved for the exercise of the Deity alone.”

This quotation expresses the second key element of British subjecthood. Government officials must act reasonably and be motivated by a desire to improve society. Their governance cannot be arbitrary or motivated by greed. This Lokean philosophy pushes back against the concept that monarchs are divinely appointed and have absolute authority over their subjects. God is the only entity Adams recognizes as having supreme control.

“Now what liberty can there be where property is taken away without consent? Can it be said with any color of truth and justice, that this continent of three thousand miles in length, and of a breadth as yet unexplored, in which, however, it is supposed there are five millions of people, has the least voice, vote, or influence in the British Parliament?”

Adams employs a rhetorical question to make the point that there is no liberty where property is seized without consent. He suggests that the British government is violating the colonists’ liberties by seizing colonial property (such as money through taxation) without allowing the colonists to hold seats in the House of Commons. Representation in the lower house of Parliament was a demand of colonial dissenters leading up to the American Revolution.

“The inhabitants of this country in all probability, in a few years, will be more numerous than those of Great Britain and Ireland together; yet it is absurdly expected by the promoters of the present measures that these, with their posterity to all generations, should be easy, while their property shall be disposed of by a House of Commons at three thousand miles’ distant from them; and who cannot be supposed to have the least care or concern for their real interest; who have not only no natural care for their interest, but must be in effect bribed against it, as every burden they lay on the Colonists is so much saved or gained to themselves.”

This quotation elaborates on the problem of representation in Parliament. Adams argues that the colonists were numerous and growing fast by 1772 and were on pace to become much larger than the population of England. Yet they were not represented in Parliament. Adams accuses the British government of being interested in the colonists only insofar as they might provide wealth or value (most notably in the export of raw materials and tax revenue). Adams highlights the geographic and political divide between the colonists and their government.