Samuel Adams the Rights of the Colonies
Samuel Adams, the right of the colonists, is stipulated in Report of the Committee of Correspondence to the Boston Town Meeting, held on November 20, 1772. The committee stipulated different categories of rights colonists. First was the natural rights of colonists as men, which included the right to life, liberty, right to own property, which they could defend in any manner. The colonies were entitled right and duty to self-preservation. The natural rights allowed men to have the right to remain in the state they wanted, or in case of oppression or intolerable behavior, they were permitted to change from one state to another, mostly when they were oppressed (Adams n.d). The natural rights brought equity among the people since they just, impartial and true.
Samuel Adam’s committee also gave the colonists the right to Christians. According to the British Parliament, the rights as Christians were written and promulgated in the New Testament, according to the Toleration Act. All the people were granted the right to worship God according to what their conscience dictates them (Adams n.d). The right to Christianity was established after studying institutes of the great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church.
The committee set rights of the colonists as subjects where all the men were bound to a state politic or a civil society that united all the people hence promoting mutual safety and prosperity (Adams n.d). The considerations of colonists’ rights as subjects were absolutely important in the provision of personal security, personal liberty, and private property. The law stipulated that all persons who were born in British American Colonies were made legally by God, nature, and the common law of England, which had entitled them to natural, essential, inherent, and inseparable rights, liberties, and privileges of subjects as people who were born in Great Britain.
The concept articulated from the rights of colonists helped me to understand the basis of freedom and liberty. The colonists’ rights give me the knowledge of all men are born in a state of freedom, which gives us equality from the time of birth. The natural rights gave me the freedom to think independently. From Samuel Adams and the colonies’ rights, I have learned that all people are entitled to rights, liberty, and freedom, which are essential in giving us the freedom of speech, press, and religion.
The concept of Samuel Adams and the colonies’ rights also has made me understand that people are bound by laws that govern the way people should live in society. The rights of colonists as Christians helped me to realize that all people have their own choice of religion and denomination they want. I have learned that society’s laws should be followed to the latter and respected without violations or infringement. The laws are set to govern the people and control how to live with others as natural rights have handed all the people equal rights, liberty, and freedom.
Conclusively, there is a need to understand natural rights, respect, and adhere to them to live well in society. The natural rights of colonists as men offer all the people the right to life, liberty, right to own property, while the right of colonists as Christians offer the colonists and all people the right to choose the religion they want without being forced to move to a certain religion. The right of colonists as subjects enable people to live confined to the laws in society.
Reference
Adams, S. The Rights of the Colonists, A List of Violations of Rights and a Letter of Correspondence. The Writings of Samuel Adams.