Abigail Adams Knows
On this day in 1775, Abigail Adams wrote sadly "the Die is Cast . . . The Sword is now our only yet dreadful alternative." The day before, news had come from England. King George had rejected the colonists' pleas that he overturn the harsh measures imposed on them by Parliament. The King promised to "withstand every attempt to weaken" Parliament. Abigail Adams was astute enough to know that this was the beginning of the end. She confided in a letter to a friend, "We know too well the blessings of freedom to tamely resign it." Within a few months, Minutemen and British Redcoats would engage each other on the Old North Bridge in Concord. There was no turning back.
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