Essay: A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law

Overview

John Adams's "A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law" (1765) is an early and forceful critique of the legal and political structures that sustained monarchical and ecclesiastical power in Britain. Written as a response to the growing crisis over parliamentary authority and colonial rights, the essay interrogates the historical foundations of privilege and the ways surviving feudal and canon practices enabled arbitrary rule. The piece helped articulate a distinctly American argument for liberty rooted in natural rights and popular sovereignty.

Main Arguments

Adams contends that canon law and feudal customs are not neutral remnants of history but active instruments that justify and perpetuate tyranny. Canon law, he argues, sanctifies clerical and monarchical authority by claiming divine sanction, while feudal law normalizes hereditary privilege and the subordination of subjects. Together these systems create a political culture in which power flows from status and birth rather than consent and law, undermining individual liberty and the rule of law.
He frames political liberty as dependent on dismantling those doctrines that place rulers above accountability. Property, personal security, and equal civic standing depend on legal arrangements that treat citizens as equals before the law. Adams emphasizes that legitimate government rests on the consent of the governed and that any legal heritage supporting unearned prerogatives must be questioned and reformed.

Rhetoric and Style

The essay mixes sharp irony, learned allusion, and direct moral indictment. Adams draws on historical examples and classical references to show how doctrines once useful in a medieval context became oppressive in modern commercial and mixed societies. His tone alternates between sober legal analysis and passionate denunciation, aiming both to persuade fellow colonists and to shame defenders of hereditary privilege.
Despite its polemical energy, the argument is structured and evidentiary. Adams points to concrete legal precedents and the practical consequences of feudal customs to make the case that continued deference to ancient privileges threatens contemporary political life. The work's rhetorical power lies in its ability to translate abstract Enlightenment principles into urgent political claims relevant to American circumstances.

Impact and Legacy

The Dissertation contributed to the intellectual climate that made resistance to parliamentary overreach and, ultimately, separation from Britain intelligible and urgent. Its insistence on natural rights, accountability, and the incompatibility of feudal doctrines with free government resonated with other colonial leaders and helped shape the language of later revolutionary argument. Elements of Adams's critique appear later in his political career, informing his constitutional thinking and commitment to balanced republican institutions.
As a historical document, the essay reveals how legal history and political theory were used together to justify radical political change. It stands as an early assertion that legal reform and political revolution are sometimes necessary to secure liberty, and it anticipates the constitutional questions that would dominate the next decade of American politics.

Cite this Page