FOR the sake of accuracy, Alasdair Sampson’s statement that John Adams coined the phrase “tyranny of the majority” in his 1835 work “Democracy in America” (Letters, March 23) deserves to be corrected.

According to Wikipedia, John Adams used the phrase in 1788, which would appear to be right as he was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and was involved in the debates over the forming of the Constitution around that time.

The phrase gained popularity with the publication in 1835 of the classic book “Democracy in America” by the Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, who had studied American society during his visit to the country.

John Adams was the second president of the United States and died in 1826, on the same day, July 4 – as it happened – as Thomas Jefferson, who was the third president.

Christopher Reekie,

12 Orchard Drive,

Edinburgh.