Dr. Ward presented his study of John Adams’ view on the “right to a revolution” at CPSA annual meeting in Montreal

Professor Lee Ward presented his paper “John Adams: Conservative Revolutionary” at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) at McGill University, Montreal. Held from June 12 to June 14, 2024, the conference was devoted to a theme of Approaches, Knowledges, and Methods for the World of Tomorrow and called for envisioning “a more sustainable, equitable, and just world.” 

In his paper Dr. Ward examined Adams’ attitude toward the modern idea of revolution as both a natural right and as historically contingent phenomena by comparing and contrasting Adams’ position on revolution with the argument of British conservative thinker Edmund Burke. 

He reinterpreted Adams’ treatment of the French Revolution in his work and letters to Thomas Jefferson as an effort to articulate a conservative theory of revolution that shared Burke’s attention to the preservation of the mixed constitution, but in contrast to Burke, confirmed Adams’ commitment to natural rights. 

Dr. Ward’s study further explains how Adams’ and Jefferson’s differing interpretations of the right to revolution, both generally and in the specific context of France, contributed to the partisan and ideological divisions in the early American Republic.