JOHN ADAMS ON RAYNAL (II)
"Our great Historian" — John Adams

AM | @agumack

In his third letter to Le politique hollandais on Raynal's Révolution de l'Amérique (22 January 1782), John Adams calls Raynal "Our great Historian" (*). But he proceeds to offer a biting criticism of the book on the grounds that "The History in question is very general" — already a familiar complaint by 1782. Raynal, says Adams, pays too much attention to events in Boston in 1773, which leads him to disregard opposition movements in other parts of the country:

Our great Historian does too much Honour to the Town of Boston, or too little to Charlestown Philadelphia and New York when he says "cette grande ville avoit toujours paru plus occupée de ses droits que le reste de L'Amérique." The only Difference was this, the ministry had created a Crowd of worthless officers of Revenue in Boston, more than in other Cities —they had sent an army there to protect them— and they practiced more Tyranny there and consequently more resistance than any where: but the same Causes in all other Cities, have ever produced the same Effects.

Clearly, John Adams —himself from Massachusetts— wants to display a united front amid his ongoing negotiations with Dutch bankers. The new republic will soon need lots of cash...

(*) Gregg L. Lint (ed.) The Papers of John Adams. Harvard University Press, 1996, Vol. 12, pp. 209-211.
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