Letter from John Adams to the President of Congress

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Description

John Adams sent this letter from Passy (near Paris), where he was serving as commissioner to France, during the Revolutionary War. He reported to the Continental Congress about a speech in British Parliament that “opens the Intentions of the Enemy, and warns us to be prepared, for all the Evils, which are in their Power to inflict and not in our Power to prevent.”

Transcript

Passy Decr 6. 1778 [29 in upper right corner]

Sir

I have had the Honour to inclose to Congress, the speech at the opening of the British Parliament, by several opportunities: But as it opens the Intentions of the Enemy, and warns us to be prepared, for all the Evils, which are in their Power to inflict and not in our Power to prevent, I inclose it again in another form. I have the Honour to be, with the highest Respect Sir your most obedient, and most humble servant

[signed] John Adams.
President of Congress.

Citation

This primary source comes from the Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention.

National Archives Identifier: 5757422

Full Citation: Letter from John Adams to the President of Congress; 12/6/1778; Letters from John Adams; Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774 – 1789; Records of the Continental and Confederation Congresses and the Constitutional Convention, Record Group 360; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/adams-to-president-congress/, January 30, 2026]

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