1773. July [19 or 26.] Monday.
[from the Diary of John Adams]

1773. July [19 or 26.] Monday.

To Tho. Hutchinson.1

Sir

You will hear from Us with Astonishment. You ought to hear from Us with Horror. You are chargeable before God and Man, with our Blood.—The Soldiers were but passive Instruments, were Machines, neither moral nor voluntary Agents in our Destruction more than the leaden Pelletts, with which we were wounded.—You was a free Agent. You acted, coolly, deliberately, with all that premeditated Malice, not against Us in Particular but against the People in general, which in the Sight of the Law is an ingredient in the Composition of Murder. You will hear further from Us hereafter.

Chrispus Attucks

1. Doubtless intended for a newspaper, but no printing has been found.

Index Entries

You Are Looking At

Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: 1773. July [19 or 26.] Monday.
Authors: Adams, John
Attucks, Chrispus
Recipient: Hutchinson, Thomas
Date: 19 July 1773 and/or 26 July 1773

Reference

Cite as: “1773. July [19 or 26.] Monday.,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/01-02-02-0003-0006-0003. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, vol. 2, 1771–1781, ed. L. H. Butterfield. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961, pp. 84–85.]