例如，大陆大会做出了故意的决定，以避免对奴隶制问题的任何考虑，尽管大多数代表完全意识到它违反了他们声称正在为之奋斗的原则。亚当斯在这个分数上最揭示的是，他比其他任何人都表达了要推迟美国革命的全部承诺，以确保就独立问题达成强大的共识。
(For example, the Continental Congress made a deliberate decision to avoid any consideration of the slavery question, even though most delegates were fully aware that it violated the principles they claimed to be fighting for. Adams is most revealing on this score because, more than anyone else, he articulated the need to defer the full promise of the American Revolution in order to assure a robust consensus on the independence question.)