From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 63, 10 May 1780

To the President of Congress, No. 63

Paris, 10 May 1780. RC(PCC, No. 84, II, f. 39–40). printed: Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Washington, 1889; 6 vols. description ends , 3:668–669.

In this letter, read in Congress on 20 Sept., John Adams described Henry Grattan’s effort in the Irish House of Commons on 19 April to overthrow Poyning’s Law (10 Hen. 7, ch. 22) and thus establish legislative independence for the Irish Parliament. Although the attempt failed, Adams believed that popular support for the measure was so strong “that no magistrate will venture to execute any Act of the English Parliament.” Adams also provided extracts from two statutes, 4 Phil. & Mary, ch. 4 and 6 Geo. 1, ch. 5, which set down the meaning of Poyning’s Law.

RC (PCC, No. 84, II, f. 39–40). printed: (Wharton, ed., Dipl. Corr. Amer. Rev. description begins Francis Wharton, ed., The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States, Washington, 1889; 6 vols. description ends , 3:668–669.)

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Source Project: Adams Papers
Title: From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 63, 10 May 1780
Author: Adams, John
Recipients: Huntington, Samuel
President of Congress
Date: 10 May 1780

Reference

Cite as: “From John Adams to the President of Congress, No. 63, 10 May 1780,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-09-02-0180. [Original source: The Adams Papers, Papers of John Adams, vol. 9, March 1780 – July 1780, ed. Gregg L. Lint and Richard Alan Ryerson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996, p. 297.]