John Adams, 2nd U.S. president: “A Constitution of Government once changed from freedom, can never be restored”

John Adams is remembered as one of America’s Founding Fathers, the nation’s second president, and a key voice behind the push for independence. But did you know that one of his most enduring statements came before the United States even existed? It came in a private letter to his wife, Abigail Adams, during the opening months of the Revolutionary War.

Written on July 7, 1775, while Adams was attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the letter reflected on the destruction caused by the Battle of Bunker Hill and the British burning of Charlestown, Massachusetts. It was in that context that he offered a warning that continues to be quoted more than 250 years later.

What did John Adams say about freedom?

Adams wrote:

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever.”

John Adams

He continued by arguing that a free people must protect both their role in government and their ability to resist abuses of power:

“When the People once surrender their share in the Legislature, and their Right of defending the Limitations upon the Government, and of resisting every Encroachment upon them, they can never regain it.”

The words were addressed only to Abigail Adams, yet they have become one of the defining expressions of the Founding Fathers’ belief that constitutional freedoms are fragile and require constant protection.

Why did Adams write those words?

The letter came less than three months after the battles of Lexington and Concord and only weeks after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Adams had learned of the suffering in Massachusetts through Abigail’s detailed letters, describing the destruction of Charlestown and the hardships faced by civilians.

Although he acknowledged that homes, cities, and even fortunes could eventually be rebuilt, he believed political liberty was different. Material losses, he argued, could be recovered. Constitutional freedom, once surrendered, might never return.

The quote captures a central theme of the American Revolution: that the greatest danger was not simply military defeat, but allowing governments to erode the rights of the people over time. Sound familiar?

Today, Adams’ words continue to appear in political speeches, legal debates, history books, and discussions about constitutional rights, making this private wartime letter one of the most influential pieces of correspondence in American history.

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