Letter from John Adams to William Smith

Former President of the United States John Adams writes to his grandson, William Smith, about  his United States citizenship, and his lack of knowledge on what profession his grandson should pursue. Adams laments to inability to uncover a distinctive word to represent the American homeland, saying that "it is a common place observation that we have no word in our language that implies the exact Idea of the Patria of the Romans, the Faderland of the Dutch or the Patriae of the French."  Transcript included.