Adams, John, 1735-1826 to William Smith Shaw
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC04880 Author/Creator: Adams, John, 1735-1826 Place Written: Quincy, Massachusetts Type: Autograph letter signed Date: 21 June 1821 Pagination: 2 p. : Height: 25.5 cm, Width: 20 cm Order a Copy
Discusses his interest in Native American religion and his difficulties in learning about it because of Indians reluctance to speak on the topic. Describes his attempts to learn about Native American religion from a Mr. Alexander McGillivray, the son of a "Scotchman by an Indian queen." Adams closely questioned the man concerning Indian beliefs including their ideas about an afterlife, but the man was not forthcoming, and Adams finally concluded "that his father was one of those wandering Scottish epicurean philosophers who had taught him to seek for pleasure and not to disquiet himself with fears of an hereafter." Written at "Montezillo."
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