BECK index

President John Adams in 1800-1801

by Sanderson Beck

President John Adams in 1800
Treaty of United States & France in 1800
Last Message of President John Adams in 1800
President John Adams in Early 1801

President John Adams in 1800

      In January 1800 Virginia’s House of Delegates and Senate
approved the report by James Madison that contained eight
original resolutions that challenged the Alien and Sedition Acts.
      Hundreds of private ships had been authorized to seize French vessels
that were armed, and the United States Navy had twenty ships patrolling the West Indies.
In March the US Navy had 26 of its 29 ships at sea.
Because there was no naval base, few of the American ships were in ports.
Both parties agreed to disband the army during the summer.
      Republicans won the elections in New York on 1 May 1800.
Two days later the Federalist caucus chose John Adams and
Charles C. Pinckney as their candidates for President and Vice President.
On May 5 Adams accused War Secretary McHenry
of working secretly with Hamilton against his policies.
McHenry refused to resign and was fired.
Adams told McHenry that Thomas Jefferson was a
much better and wiser man than Alexander Hamilton.
Secretary of State Pickering also refused to resign,
and on May 12 the President dismissed him.
On that day Adams appointed Senator Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts to be
Secretary of War and Representative John Marshall of Virginia as Secretary of State.
On May 31 James McHenry wrote a very long letter to President Adams
and agreed that his resignation would be accepted on June 1.
      The Congress passed a new land act on 10 May 1800 that allowed
a settler to buy a farm of 320 acres for a one-quarter down payment of $160.
William Augustus Bowles had led an expedition in 1799 with 300 Indians
and renegade whites that captured the fort at St. Marks on 10 May 1800.
      On May 11 a Republican caucus nominated Vice President Thomas Jefferson
for President and the former Senator Aaron Burr of New York for Vice President.
The United States Senate confirmed Marshall as Secretary of State
on May 13, and Congress adjourned the next day.
      On June 23 a Spanish force used the St. Marks River and regained San Marco.
      On June 3 Adams visited the new District of Columbia, which had
been part of Maryland, with its new city of Washington being built.
The large but unfinished President’s House later would be called the “White House.”
The town of Washington was only a village then with no schools or churches.
The Capitol was half-finished, and only a two-story
Treasury Department building had been completed.
The people living in Washington and Georgetown could still vote in Maryland,
and Adams made campaign stops in that state
and Pennsylvania on his way home to Quincy.
On June 14 he left John Marshall in charge of the government
and headed for home at Quincy to administer by mail.
During his presidency Adams spent about twice as many days away
from the capital in four years as Washington had in eight years.
      Between July 30 to October 3 John Adams wrote 18 letters to John Marshall.
On September 4 Adams wrote this to John Marshall,

   I have received your favor of August 25th.
I am much of your opinion, that we ought not
to be surprised, if we see our envoys in the
course of a few weeks or days, without a treaty.
Nor should I be surprised, if they should be loaded
with professions and protestations of love,
to serve as a substitute for a treaty.
The state of things will be so critical, that the
government ought to be prepared to take a decided part.
Questions of consequence will arise, and, among others,
whether the President ought not at the opening of the
session to recommend to Congress an immediate and
general declaration of war against the French republic.
Congress has already, in my judgment, as well as in the
opinion of the judges at Philadelphia, declared war within
the meaning of the Constitution against that republic,
under certain restrictions and limitations.
If war in any degree is to be continued, it is a serious
question, whether it will not be better
to take off all the restrictions and limitations.
We have had wonderful proofs, that the public mind
cannot be held in a state of suspense.
The public opinion, it seems, must be always
a decided one, whether in the right or not.
We shall be tortured with a perpetual conflict of parties,
and new and strange ones will continually rise up,
until we have either peace or war.
The question proposed by you is of great magnitude.
I pretend not to have determined either, in my own mind;
but I wish the heads of department to turn their thoughts
to the subject, and view it in all its lights.
   The dispatches from the Isle of France are unexpected.
Four or five parties have in succession had the
predominance in that island, and the old governor
has gone along with each in its turn.
We ought to be cautious in that business.
I should prefer Mr. Lamar, so strongly recommended,
to any Spaniard or Madeira man.
If you can find a sound native American, well qualified,
appoint him; if not, I will agree to Mr. Lamar.
I will return the papers by a future opportunity.1

      In Bas v. Tingy on August 15 the US Supreme Court ruled that
a congressional declaration of war was not necessary to determine
whether France was an “enemy” of the United States because
Congress had authorized hostilities on the high seas in certain situations.
The Philadelphia Aurora reacted by urging the impeachment
of every judge who violated the rights of Congress.
      John Adams wanted to be President for a second term;
yet he realized that he probably would not be re-elected.
He chose Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, brother of Thomas Pinckney
who had run with him in 1796, to be on his Federalist ticket in the election
while Vice President Jefferson ran again with Senator Aaron Burr
of New York for the Republicans as they had in 1796.
Again Burr did the most active campaigning.
The Federalists arranged for Pinckney to get one less vote than Adams
so that it would be clear who was running for President.
Only five of the sixteen states let the people vote for President while the
legislatures of the other states selected their Electors for the Electoral College.
In the Electoral College voting on December 4 Jefferson and Burr
each got 73 votes while Adams got 65 and Pinckney 64.
      Since spring Alexander Hamilton had been criticizing Adams
and urging people to vote for Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
Hamilton’s minions Pickering and McHenry gave him confidential files on Adams,
and Hamilton wrote and published the 54-page
“Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq., President of the United States”
in which he berated him in severe terms.
Yet he concluded with his support for Adams
as well as C. C. Pinckney in the election.
He circulated this among Federalists.
Aaron Burr got a copy from the printer and sent copies
of the pamphlet to Republican editors.
William Duane of the Aurora distributed it widely.
The moderate Federalist Noah Webster blamed Hamilton for destroying their party.
Hamilton was unable to persuade New Englanders to withhold votes from Adams;
though one from Rhode Island voted for Jay instead of Pinckney.
Jefferson remained at Monticello, and he and Adams
primarily campaigned indirectly through others.
On September 23 Jefferson wrote in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush,
“I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility
against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”2
      On October 13 President John Adams began his journey to Washington.
Most of the voting for the presidential electors was held on October 14.
Electors voted for two men but did not distinguish which
was for President and which for Vice President.
In most states the legislature chose the electors.
Even in states where adult white males were allowed to vote
only about one-sixth of them owned enough property to be eligible.
Aaron Burr in New York used the tactic of listing up to
twenty names on joint-tenancy deeds to make them eligible.
Although Federalists won a majority in the New York Senate,
the Republicans with one more vote in the combined legislature
gave all twelve electoral votes to the two Republicans.
All the Republican electors voted in solidarity for both Jefferson and Burr
who each received 73 electoral votes to 65 for Adams and 64 for Pinckney.
Burr had campaigned hard in New York City, and that state made the difference.
Adams, Jefferson, and Burr had been actually tied in late November with 65 votes each.
South Carolina was the last state to vote and in December gave all eight
of its electoral votes to the Republicans because Pinckney refused to make a deal.
      On December 29 Aaron Burr wrote to Republican Representative
Samuel Smith of Maryland that if the House elected him President, he would serve.
Although the New York Federalist David Ogden was soliciting support for Burr,
Smith persuaded Burr not to challenge the popular Jefferson.
Hamilton warned Federalists that if they supported Burr for president,
they would disgrace themselves and their party.
      Adams returned to Washington on November 1, and from the
unfinished President’s House the next day in a letter to Abigail he wrote,
“I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings
on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit.
May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”3
News that the Morfontaine Convention of Peace, Commerce, and Navigation with
France had been signed on September 30 reached the United States on November 7.
Adams suspected that the French delayed signing
the treaty so that Jefferson would win the election.
Governor Davie brought a copy on December 11,
and Adams submitted it to the Senate five days later.
The Convention called for restoring all public ships and available private property.
They agreed that their ships were to be given
most favored nation treatment in each other’s ports.
      The tie in the Electoral College threw the
presidential election into the House of Representatives.
Jefferson and the Republicans had won the popular vote 45,467 to 29,621.
Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland provided 43,133
of the votes for Jefferson and 27,268 for Adams.
Yet Aaron Burr tried to negotiate his way into the presidency
even though Jefferson was generally accepted as the Republican
candidate for President with Burr for Vice President.
The United States Constitution stated that in case of a tie for President,
the House of Representatives was to vote by states.
If there was a tie for Vice President, the Senate was to vote.
In the House eight states voted for Jefferson and
six for Adams while the other two states were divided.
Finally Jefferson achieved a majority of 10 states on the 35th ballot
as several Federalists withdrew their votes for Burr on 17 February 1801.
The four states Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and
Connecticut voted for Burr, and South Carolina and Delaware abstained.
This confusion would be somewhat improved by the
12th Amendment which would be approved in 1804.
      In elections for the United States Senate in 1800 the Federalists lost four seats,
and the Republicans gained three, reducing the Federalist majority to 17-14.
In the House of Representatives the Republicans took over 22 seats from the
Federalists that turned the Republicans’ 46-60 minority to a 68-38 majority.
      In the 1790s many Americans had moved west from New England
into western New York, from the middle states to the Ohio territory,
and from the southern states to Tennessee and Kentucky
which had 220,000 people by 1800.
They found fertile land for farming at much lower prices than in the east.
William Henry Harrison was a military hero, and on 28 June 1798
he became the Secretary of the Northwest Territory.
He was elected their Representative in Congress,
and he served from March 1799 to May 1800.
On 10 January 1801 Harrison became the Governor of the
Indiana territory west of the Ohio River for twelve years.

Treaty of United States & France in 1800

      On October 3 the United States and France agreed to the
Treaty of Morfontaine that was also called the Treaty of 1800
and the Convention of Peace, Commerce, and Navigation:

   The First Consul of the French Republic in the name of
the French people, and the President of the United States
of America, equally animated with a desire to put an end to
the differences which have arisen between the two states,
have respectively appointed their plenipotentiaries,
and invested them with full powers to negotiate upon
these differences, and terminate them: that is to say,
the First Consul of the French Republic, in the name of
the French people, has nominated for plenipotentiaries
of the said Republic, the citizens, Joseph Buonaparte,
ex-Ambassador of the French Republic at Rome, and
counsellor of state; Charles-Pierre Claret-Fleurieu,
member of the national Institute, and of the office of
longitude of France, counsellor of state, and president
of the section of the marine, and Pierre-Louis Roederer,
member of the National Institute, counsellor of state,
and president of the interior; and the President of the
United States of America, by and with the consent
of the Senate of said states, has appointed for their
plenipotentiaries, Oliver Ellsworth, chief justice of the
United States; William Richardson Davie, late governor
of North Carolina; and William Vans Murray, resident
minister of the United States at the Hague.
   Who, after having exchanged their full powers, and
patiently and carefully discussed their respective interests,
have agreed to the following articles:
   1. There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace,
and a true and sincere friendship between the
French Republic and the United States of America,
and between their respective countries, territories,
cities, and places, as between their citizens
and inhabitants, without exception of persons or places.
   2. The ministers plenipotentiary of the two parties
not being empowered at present to agree relative to the
treaty of alliance of the 6th of February, 1778, the
Treaty of friendship and commerce of the same date,
and to the convention of the 14th of November,
nor to the indemnities mutually due and claimed,
the parties shall further negotiate upon these points
at a convenient time; and until they shall be agreed
upon these points, the said treaties, and convention
shall have no effect, and the relations of the two nations
shall be regulated as follows:
   3. The ships belonging to the state, taken on either side,
or which may be taken before the exchange of ratifications,
shall be restored.
   4. The properties captured and not yet definitively
condemned, or which may be captured before the
exchange of ratifications, except contraband merchandise
destined for an enemy’s port, shall be mutually restored
upon the following proofs of ownership, viz.
   On the one part and on the other, the proofs of property
relative to merchant vessels, armed, or unarmed,
shall be a passport in the following form:
   To all to whom these presents shall come, be it known,
that power and permission has been given to —,
master or commander of the vessel called the —, of the city
of —, of the burthen of — tons, or thereabouts, now lying
in the port or harbor of —, and destined for —, laden
with —, that after his ship has been visited, and before
his departure, he shall make oath before officers authorized
for that purpose, that the said ship belongs to one or more
citizens of —; the execution of which form shall be annexed
to these presents, in order that he may observe and cause
to be observed by his crew the maritime ordinances
and regulations, and give in a list, signed and attested,
containing the names and surnames, places of birth and
abode, of the persons composing the crew of his ships,
and of all on board her, whom he shall not receive on board
without the knowledge and permission of the officers
authorized for that purpose; and in every port and harbor
where he shall enter with his ship, he shall show the present
permission to the proper officers and make to them a
faithful report of all that has passed during his voyage,
and carry the colors, arms, and flags of the French Republic,
or the United States, during his said voyage.
In testimony of which we have signed these presents,
caused them to be countersigned by —, and
thereunto put the seal of our arms.
   Given at —, in the year of our Lord, —.
   And this Passport will be sufficient without
any other document, notwithstanding
any other regulation to the contrary.
   It shall not be necessary to renew or revoke this passport,
whatever number of voyages the said ship shall have made,
unless they shall not have returned home
within the space of a year.
   With respect to the cargo, the proofs shall be certificates
containing an account of what place the ship has left,
and where it is going to, so that prohibited and contraband
merchandise may be distinguished by certificates,
which certificates shall have been made by the officers
of the place from whence the ship shall have set out,
agreeable to the accustomed forms of the country.
And if these passports or certificates, or both,
shall have been destroyed by accident, or
taken away by force, the want of them shall be
supplied by every other proof of property,
admissible according to the general usage of nations.
   For other ships besides the merchant ships,
the proof shall be the commissions they bear.
This article shall take effect from the date of the signature
of the present convention; and if from the date of the said
signature, property shall have been condemned
contrary to the spirit of the said convention, and
previous to the knowledge of this stipulation,
the property so condemned shall be restored or paid for.
   5. The debts contracted by one of the two nations towards
the individuals of each, shall be acquitted, or the payment
shall be in course, as if there had been no misunderstanding
between the two states—but this clause shall not extend
to indemnities claimed for captures or condemnations.
   6. The trade between the two parties shall be free—
the ships of the two nations, and the privateers as well as
their prizes, shall be treated in their respective ports
as the most favored nation; and in general, the two parties
shall enjoy in each other’s, with respect to commerce and
navigation, the same privileges as the most favored nations.
   7. The citizens, and inhabitants of the United States may
dispose by will, donations, or otherwise, of their goods,
moveable or immoveable property, possessed in the
European territory of the French Republic—and
the citizens of the French Republic shall have the same
power with regard to goods, moveable, and immoveable,
possessed in the territory of the United States,
in favor of such persons as they shall think proper.
The citizens and inhabitants of one of the two states, who
shall be heirs of the goods, moveable and immoveable
property, situate in the other, may succeed ab intestat,
without being obliged to obtain letters of naturalization,
and without there being any necessity for letters of
neutrality, and without the effect of this stipulation
being contested or impeached, under any pretext
whatever—and the said heirs, whether by private right,
or ab intestat, shall be exempt from all right whatever
of anyone, in either of the two nations.
It is agreed, that this article, shall not derogate in any
manner from the laws which are now in force in either
of the two nations, or which may be promulgated
hereafter against emigration.
And also, that in case the laws of the two states shall limit
to foreigners the exercise of the right of immoveable
property, such immoveable property may be sold,
or otherwise disposed in favor of the inhabitants or citizens
of the country where they shall be situate; and it shall
be open to the other nation to establish similar laws.
   8. To favor commerce of both nations, it is agreed,
that if war (which God forbid) should break out between
the two nations, the merchants and other citizens,
or respective inhabitants, shall be allowed on both sides
six months after the declaration of war, during which time
they shall have time to retire with their effects and
movables, which they may carry or sell, as they think
proper, without the least impeachment;
their effects, and still less their persons, shall not,
during the period of six months, be seized.
On the contrary, they shall have passports which shall be
valid for the time necessary to enable them to return home,
and those passports shall be given for themselves,
as well as for their ships and effects
which they shall desire to take or send away.
These passports shall serve as a protection against all
insults and all captures on the part of privateers,
as well with regard to themselves as their effects;
and if within the term above mentioned, there shall have
been committed by one of the parties, its citizens or
inhabitants, any wrong towards their person or their
property, they shall have complete satisfaction.
   9. The debts due by individuals of one of the two nations,
to the individuals of the other, shall not, in case of war or
national dispute, be sequestered, or confiscated,
no more than the claims of funds which shall be found
in the public funds, or in the public or private banks.
   10. The two contracting parties may nominate for the
protection of trade, commercial agents,
who shall reside in France and in the United States.
Each of the parties may except such place as
he shall judge proper, where the residence shall be fixed.
Before any agent can exercise his functions, he must be
accepted according to the received forms of the party
to which he is sent, and when he shall be received and
provided with his exequatur, he shall enjoy the rights
and prerogatives which are enjoyed
by similar agents of the most favored nations.
   11. The citizens of the French Republic shall not pay,
in any ports, harbors, roads, countries, islands, cities,
and places of the United States, other or greater duties,
or imposts, of whatever nature soever they may be,
and whatever names they may have, than those which
the most favored nations are or shall be bound to pay;
and they shall enjoy all liberties, rights, privileges,
immunities and exemptions, relating to trade, navigation,
and commerce whether in passing from one port in the
said states to another, or whether in going there or
returning from some part to another part of the world,
that the said nations enjoy, or shall enjoy, and reciprocally
the citizens of the United States shall enjoy in the territory
of the French Republic, in Europe, the same privileges and
immunities, as well for their goods as their persons,
as for what concerns trade, navigation, and commerce.
   12. The citizens of the two nations may conduct their
vessels and their merchandises, (always excepting such
as are contraband) from any port to another
belonging to the enemy of the other nation.
They may navigate, with full liberty and security, with their
ships and merchandises, in the countries, ports, and places
of the enemies of the two parties, or of the one or the other
party without obstacles or interruption; and not only pass
directly from the places and ports of the enemy above
mentioned to neutral ports and places, but from every place
belonging to an enemy, whether it be or be not subject
to the same jurisdiction, unless those places or ports
shall be really blockaded, besieged, or invested.
   And in case, as it often happens, when vessels shall be
sailing for places or ports belonging to an enemy,
ignorant that they are blockaded, besieged, or invested,
it is agreed that every ship which shall be found under
such a predicament, shall be turned from that place or port
without any part of his cargo being retained or confiscated,
(unless it shall be contraband, or it shall be proved that
the said ship, after having been informed of the blockade
or investiture, attempted to enter the same port)
but it shall be allowed to go to any other port
or place it shall think proper.
No ship of either nation, entered into a port or place
before it shall have been really blockaded, besieged,
or invested by the other, shall be prevented
from going out with its cargo; if it shall be there
when the said place shall surrender, the ship shall
not be confiscated, but sent away to the proprietors.
   13. To regulate what shall be understood by contraband
warlike stores, under this denomination shall be comprised
powder, salt-peter, petards, matches, balls, bullets, bombs,
grenades, carcasses, pikes, halberds, swords, belts, pistols,
scabbards, saddles, cannons, mortars with their carriages,
and, generally, all arms and ammunition of war,
and utensils for the use of troops.
All the above articles, whenever they shall be destined
for an enemy’s port, are declared contraband,
and justly subject to confiscation; but the ship in which
they shall be laden, as well as the rest of the cargo,
shall be considered as free, and shall in no manner
be vitiated by the contraband merchandise,
whether they belong to the same or different proprietors.
   14. It is stipulated by the present treaty, that
the free ships shall equally insure the liberty of
merchandise, and that all things shall be deemed free
which are found on board ships belonging to citizens of one
of the contracting parties, even though the same,
or part of it, shall belong to the enemies of one of the two;
provided, nevertheless, that contraband goods
are always excepted.
It is likewise agreed, that this same liberty shall extend
to persons who may be on board the free ships,
though they should be enemies of the two
contracting parties, and they shall not be taken
from the said free ships unless they are in a military
capacity, and actually in the service of the enemy.
   15. It is on the contrary agreed, that all property
which shall be put, by the respective citizens,
on board ships belonging to an enemy of either party,
or their subjects, shall be confiscated without distinction
of merchandise, prohibited or not prohibited,
so and in like manner as if it belonged to an enemy,
with the exception always of property and effects
which shall have been put on board the said ships
before the declaration of war, or even after the said
declaration, if at the time of lading the party were ignorant
of it; so that the merchandises of citizens of the two parties,
whether they be in the number of contraband or not, which,
as has been already said, shall have been put on board
a ship belonging to an enemy before the war,
or even after the said declaration of war, in ignorance of it,
shall not be in any manner subject to confiscation,
but shall be faithfully and truly given up without delay,
to the owners claiming them: provided, nevertheless,
that they shall not be permitted to carry into the
enemy’s ports, merchandise which shall be contraband.
The two contracting powers agree, that after a term of two
months has passed from the declaration, their respective
citizens in whatever part of the world they may be, shall be
at liberty to plead the ignorance mentioned in this article.
   16. Merchant vessels belonging to citizens of either
of the two contracting parties, when they shall have a mind
to pass to the port of an enemy of the one or the other,
and that their voyage as well as the nature of their cargo
shall afford just cause of suspicion, the said ship shall be
obliged to exhibit at high sea, as well as in ports and roads,
not only their passports, but further their certificates,
proving that these goods are not of the class of contraband
specified in the 13th article of the present convention.
   17. And in order to prevent captures on frivolous
suspicions, and the damage thence resulting;
it is agreed that when one of the two powers shall be
at war, and the other neutral, the vessels of the neutral
party shall be provided with passports similar to that
specified in the 14th article, so that it may thence
appear that the ships belong to a neutral power.
These passports shall be valid for any number of voyages
whatever; but they shall be renewed every year,
if the ship returns home in the space of a year.
If these ships are laden, they shall be provided
not only with the passports abovementioned,
but also with certificates of the description of those
mentioned in the same article, that it may be known
whether they have on board any contraband goods.
No other papers shall be required, all usage and regulations
to the contrary notwithstanding; and if it should appear
from these certificates, that there is not contraband
merchandise on board, the said ships
shall be left to pursue their destination.
If, on the contrary, it should appear from these certificates,
that the said ships have contraband merchandise on board
and the commander offers to deliver them up,
the offer shall be accepted, and the ship at liberty to
prosecute her voyage, unless the quantity of the contraband
goods should be too great to admit of being taken
on board the ship of war or cruisers:
in this case, the ships shall be carried into port
for the purpose of delivering the said goods.
   Should a ship be found with the passports or the
certificates above required, the business shall be examined
by competent judges or tribunals; and if it shall appear
from other documents or proofs admissible
by the laws of nations, that the ship belongs to the citizens
of the neutral power, it shall not be condemned, and it shall
be set at liberty with its cargo, (contraband goods excepted)
and shall have leave to prosecute its voyage.
   Should the captain named in the passport happen to die
or be removed, and another shall have been appointed
in his place, the ship and cargo shall be nevertheless secure,
and the passport shall remain in full force.
   18. If the vessels belonging to citizens of the one nation
or the other shall be met along the coast,
or on the high seas, by any ship of war or cruiser
belonging to the other, to prevent all disorder,
the said ships of war, or cruisers shall keep beyond
the reach of cannon shot, and shall send their boat
on board the merchant vessel so met with.
They shall not be allowed to send on board more than
two or three men to demand from the master or captain
of the ship the exhibition of his passport concerning
the property of said ship, executed agreeably to the form
prescribed in the 14th article, as also the certificates
above mentioned, relative to the cargo.
It is expressly agreed, that the neutral captain
shall not be obliged to go on board the visiting ship
for the purpose of there showing the papers demanded,
or for any other information whatever.
   19. It is expressly agreed by the parties, that the above
stipulations relative to the conduct to be observed at sea,
by the cruisers of the belligerent party towards the vessels
of the neutral party, shall apply only to ships sailing
without convoy—and in cases when the said ships shall
be convoyed, the intention of the parties being to observe
all the respect due to the protection of the flag hoisted
on board the ships of the state, no visit shall be made.
But the verbal declaration of the commander of the escort,
that the ships under his convoy belong to the nation
whose flag he carries, and they have not any thing
contraband on board, shall be taken
by the respective cruisers as amply sufficient.
The two parties bind themselves reciprocally, not to admit
under protection of their convoys, any vessels carrying
contraband merchandise destined for an enemy.
   20. In cases when the ships shall be taken or stopped,
under alleged grounds of their carrying any contraband
articles to the enemy, the captors shall give a receipt
of the ship’s papers which he shall detain, which receipt
shall be subjoined to a declaratory list of the said papers.
He shall not be permitted to force open the hatches,
costers, chests, drawers, bales, &c. found on board ships,
nor to carry off the smallest article of the effects,
before the cargo has been disembarked, in presence of the
officers competent to make an inventory of the said effects.
They cannot in any manner be sold, exchanged, or alienated,
unless, after a legal process, the competent judge
or judges have passed upon the said effects, a sentence
of confiscation, (excepting always the ship
and the other objects that it contains.)
   21. In order that the vessel and the cargo may be
watched with care, and in order to prevent mistakes,
it is decreed, the master, captain, or supercargo of the
captured ship cannot be taken from on board, either
while the ship is at sea after being taken, during the
proceedings against it, its cargo, or any thing relative to it.
   In case of the ship belonging to either party being taken,
seized, and retained for judgment, its officers, passengers,
and crew shall be treated with humanity—
they cannot be imprisoned, nor deprived of their clothes
nor pocket money, not exceeding for the captain,
supercargo, and second, five hundred dollars each, and
for the sailors and passengers, one hundred dollars each.
   22. It is moreover agreed on, that in every case the
tribunals appointed in prize causes in the countries whither
the prizes shall be taken, shall alone be competent
to try them; and every judgment which the tribunal
of either party pronounces against a ship, or merchandise,
or property reclaimed by the citizens of the other party,
the sentence or decree shall make mention of the reasons
or motives on which have determined this judgment,
of which an authentic copy, as well as of all the
proceedings relative to it, shall, on their requisition,
be delivered without delay to the captain or agent
of the said ship, after paying the expenses.
   23. And finally, in order more effectually to provide
for the respective security of the citizens of the
two contracting parties, and to prevent the injuries
to be feared from ships of war, or privateers of either party,
all the commanders of ships of war or privateers,
and all the citizens of both parties, shall refrain
from all violence against one another,
and from every personal insult.
If they act in a contrary manner, they shall be punished,
and bound over in their persons and properties
to give satisfaction and reparation for the damage,
with interest, of whatever kind the said damage may be.
   To this effect all the captains of privateers, before
receiving their commissions, shall become bound
before a competent judge, to give security by
two responsible citizens at least, who shall have
no interest in the said privateer, and whom each,
as well as the captain, shall engage individually
for the sum of 7000 dollars, or 36,820 francs;
if the said vessels carry more than 150 sailors or soldiers,
for the sum of 15,000 dollars, (73,670) francs which
shall serve to repair the damage that the said privateers,
their officers or crews, or any of them, shall have
committed during their cruise contrary to the disposition
of the present convention, or to the laws and instructions
which ought to be the rule of their conduct; besides this,
the said commission shall be revoked and annulled
in every case where an aggression has been committed.
   24. When the ships of war of the two contracting parties,
or those which their citizens shall have armed,
shall be admitted with their prizes into the ports of either
of the two parties, the said public or private vessels,
as well as their prizes, shall not be obliged
to pay any duties, either to the officers of the place,
or to the judges, or any others.
The said prizes entering the harbors or ports of one of the
two parties, shall not be arrested or seized, and the officer
of the place shall not take cognizance of the validity of the
said prizes, which are to be suffered to go out, and be
conducted with full freedom and liberty to their ports,
by the commissions which the captains
of the said vessels shall be obliged to show.
It is always understood, that the stipulations
of this article shall not extend beyond
the privilege of the most favored nation.
   25. All foreign privateers having commissions from
a State or Prince at war with the one or the other nation,
cannot arm their vessels in the ports of either nation,
or dispose of the prizes there,
or in any manner exchange them.
They shall not be allowed to buy provisions further than
the necessary quantity to gain the nearest port
of the State or Prince from whom
they shall have received their commissions.
   26. It is further agreed, that neither of the two contracting
parties shall receive pirates in its ports, roads, or cities,
and shall not permit any of its inhabitants to receive,
protect, support, or conceal them in any manner,
but shall deliver up to due punishment such inhabitants
as shall be guilty of the like acts or crimes;
the ships of those pirates, as well as their effects and
merchandise, shall be seized, wherever they shall be
discovered, restored to their proprietors, agents, or factors,
duly authorized by them, after having proved their right
before judges competent to decide respecting the property.
   If the said effects have passed by sale into other hands,
and the purchasers were or might be informed,
or have suspected that the said effects were
carried away by pirates, they shall be equally restored.
   27. Neither of the two nations shall interfere in the
fisheries of the other upon its coasts, or disturb it in the
exercise of the rights which it now has or may acquire
on the coasts of Newfoundland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
or elsewhere on the coast of America, or in the north
of the United States; but the whale and seal fishery
shall be free for the two nations in all parts of the world.
   The convention shall be ratified on both sides in due form,
and the ratification exchanged in the space of six months,
or sooner if possible.
In faith whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have
signed the above articles, as well in the French
as in the English language, and have placed their seals,
declaring, nevertheless, that the signature in two languages
shall not be cited as an example,
and shall not prejudice either of the two parties.
   Done at Paris, the eighth day of Vendemaire, the 9th year
of the French Republic, the 3d of September, 1800.4

      Napoleon had gained power in France, and he influenced
negotiations that reached an agreement on October 1.
The treaty came to America in December,
and President Adams influenced the debate in the United States Senate.
Two-thirds were needed for ratification, and 16 Senators
were for ratification on 23 January 1801 while 14 were opposed.
After considering reservations to the treaty the Senate ratified it
with some reservations by a vote of 22 to 9 on February 2.
Adams declined to veto it, and he sent the Federalist Senator
James Bayard of Delaware as the plenipotentiary minister
to France to complete the negotiations on the treaty.

Last Message of President John Adams in 1800

      On November 22 John Adams gave his last speech as President
in this Fourth Annual Message to Congress:

   Immediately after the adjournment of Congress
at their last session in Philadelphia I gave directions,
in compliance with the laws, for the removal
of the public offices, records, and property.
These directions have been executed,
and the public officers have since resided and conducted
the ordinary business of the Government in this place.
   I congratulate the people of the United States on the
assembling of Congress at the permanent seat
of their Government, and I congratulate you, gentlemen,
on the prospect of a residence not to be changed.
Although there is cause to apprehend that accommodations
are not now so complete as might be wished,
yet there is great reason to believe that
this inconvenience will cease with the present session.
   It would be unbecoming the representatives of this nation
to assemble for the first time in this solemn temple
without looking up to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe
and imploring His blessing.
   May this territory be the residence
of virtue and happiness!
In this city may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and
magnanimity, that constancy and self-government,
which adorned the great character whose name it bears
be forever held in veneration!
Here and throughout our country may simple manners,
pure morals, and true religion flourish forever!
   It is with you, gentlemen, to consider whether the
local powers over the District of Columbia vested
by the Constitution in the Congress of the United States
shall be immediately exercised.
If in your opinion this important trust ought now to be
executed, you can not fail while performing it to take
into view the future probable situation of the territory
for the happiness of which you are about to provide.
You will consider it as the capital of a great nation advancing
with unexampled rapidity in arts, in commerce, in wealth,
and in population, and possessing within itself those
energies and resources which, if not thrown away or
lamentably misdirected, will secure to it a long course
of prosperity and self-government.
   In compliance with a law of the last session of Congress,
the officers and soldiers of the temporary army
have been discharged.
It affords real pleasure to recollect the honorable testimony
they gave of the patriotic motives which brought them
into the service of their country, by the readiness
and regularity with which they returned
to the station of private citizens.
   It is in every point of view of such primary importance
to carry the laws into prompt and faithful execution,
and to render that part of the administration of justice which
the Constitution and laws devolve on the Federal courts
as convenient to the people as may consist with their
present circumstances, that I can not omit once more
to recommend to your serious consideration
the judiciary system of the United States.
No subject is more interesting than this to the public
happiness, and to none can those improvements
which may have been suggested by experience
be more beneficially applied.
   A treaty of amity and commerce with the King of Prussia
has been concluded and ratified.
The ratifications have been exchanged,
and I have directed the treaty to be
promulgated by proclamation.
   The difficulties which suspended the execution
of the 6th article of our treaty of amity, commerce, and
navigation with Great Britain have not yet been removed.
The negotiation on this subject is still depending.
As it must be for the interest and honor of both nations
to adjust this difference with good faith,
I indulge confidently the expectation that the sincere
endeavors of the Government of the United States to
bring it to an amicable termination will not be disappointed.
   The envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary
from the United States to France were received
by the First Consul with the respect due to their character,
and 3 persons with equal powers
were appointed to treat with them.
Although at the date of the last official intelligence the
negotiation had not terminated, yet it is to be hoped that
our efforts to effect an accommodation will at length
meet with a success proportioned to the sincerity
with which they have been so often repeated.
   While our best endeavors for the preservation of harmony
with all nations will continue to be used, the experience
of the world and our own experience admonish us of
the insecurity of trusting too confidently to their success.
We can not, without committing a dangerous imprudence,
abandon those measures of self-protection which
are adapted to our situation and to which,
notwithstanding our pacific policy, the violence and injustice
of others may again compel us to resort.
While our vast extent of sea coast, the commercial and
agriculture habits of our people, the great capital
they will continue to trust on the ocean, suggest the
system of defense which will be most beneficial
to ourselves, our distance from Europe and our resources
for maritime strength will enable us to employ it with effect.
Seasonable and systematic arrangements, so far as our
resources will justify, for a navy adapted to defensive war,
and which may in case of necessity be quickly brought
into use, seem to be as much recommended by a wise and
true economy as by a just regard for our future tranquility,
for the safety of our shores, and for the protection
of our property committed to the ocean.
   The present Navy of the United States, called suddenly
into existence by a great national exigency, has raised us
in our own esteem, and by the protection afforded to our
commerce has effected to the extent of our expectations
the objects for which it was created.
   In connection with a navy ought to be contemplated the
fortification of some of our principal sea ports and harbors.
A variety of considerations, which will readily suggest
themselves, urge an attention to this measure of precaution.
To give security to our principal ports
considerable sums have already been expended,
but the works remain incomplete.
It is for Congress to determine whether additional
appropriations shall be made in order to render
competent to the intended purposes the
fortifications which have been commenced.
   The manufacture of arms within the United States
still invites the attention of the National Legislature.
At a considerable expense to the public this manufacture
has been brought to such a state of maturity as,
with continued encouragement, will supersede
the necessity of future importations from foreign countries.

Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:
   I shall direct the estimates of the appropriations
necessary for the ensuing year, together with
an account of the public revenue and expenditure
to a late period, to be laid before you.
I observe with much satisfaction that the product
of the revenue during the present year has been more
considerable than during any former equal period.
This result affords conclusive evidence of the great
resources of this country and of the wisdom and
efficiency of the measures which have been adopted
by Congress for the protection of commerce
and preservation of public credit.

Gentlemen of the Senate and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives:
   As one of the grand community of nations,
our attention is irresistibly drawn to
the important scenes which surround us.
If they have exhibited an uncommon portion of calamity,
it is the province of humanity to deplore and of wisdom
to avoid the causes which may have produced it.
If, turning our eyes homeward, we find reason to rejoice
at the prospect which presents itself; if we perceive
the interior of our country prosperous, free, and happy;
if all enjoy in safety, under the protection of laws emanating
only from the general will, the fruits of their own labor,
we ought to fortify and cling to those institutions which
have been the source of such real felicity and resist
with unabating perseverance the progress of those
dangerous innovations which may diminish their influence.
   To your patriotism, gentlemen, has been confided the
honorable duty of guarding the public interests;
and while the past is to your country a sure pledge
that it will be faithfully discharged, permit me to assure you
that your labors to promote the general happiness
will receive from me the most zealous cooperation.5

      Oliver Ellsworth had been Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
since March 1896, and he was an envoy to the treaty negotiations in Paris in 1800.
President Adams chose John Marshall to replace him, and he was confirmed
on December 15 and served as Chief Justice for about 34 years.

President John Adams in Early 1801

      On 1 January 1801 President and Mrs. John Adams held a
New Year’s Day reception in the new President’s House,
and a few days later they invited Thomas Jefferson to dine with them.
Regarding the undecided election Abigail Adams said,

I have heard of a clergyman who upon some difficulty
amongst his people, took a text from these words:
“And they knew not what to do,” from whence
he drew this inference, that when a people were in
such a situation, they do not what to do, they should take
great care that they do not do they know not what.6

      Thomas Truxton was commander of the frigate Constellation,
and in January 1801 he reported to Navy Secretary Stoddert:

I must not omit to mention here, at the winding up of my
West India expeditions, the ravages, that the present
European war has occasioned in these distant regions,
where distress is depicted in every countenance,
and where the decline of commerce cannot be more
evident, than by the number of failures,
and the few neutrals and American merchantmen,
met at sea, in comparison to what there was two years ago.
The crops however are very flattering this year to the
planters, but the high freights and premiums of insurance,
added to the low prices for their produce in Europe,
and the high price of provision and Negro clothing &c here,
leaves but small proceeds after the yearly sales are closed,
&c of course a few years more of war, must be ruinous
to many of them, thus all description of people suffer,
except such as have naught to lose.7

      John Adams in a letter to William Tudor on January 20 wrote,

   I thank you for your favor of the 9th.
You ask, if it is true that Hamilton and Burr
are on an easy and friendly footing?
I have heard they are.
But Hamilton has written several Letters to his
Correspondents in this place, (one Gentleman of high
Character told me he had seen three)
earnestly dissuading from the Election of Burr, and
exhorting the Election of Jefferson as the least of two Evils.
One of his Arguments against Burr is the desperation
of his Circumstances as he represents them.
Another his high aiming Ambition, which will prompt him,
more probably than Jefferson or any other Man
to involve us in a War with England,
for the Augmentation of his own Power.
   There has never been a Complaint of a depredation
of British Cruisers made to me, but I have ordered it
to be transmitted to Mr. King with Instructions to him
to remonstrate, as If Instructions were not sent Mr. King
in season relative to the sixth article,
it was either the fault of Mr. Pickering
during his time or of the Winds since.
There was a time during the last Summer that
Mr. King did not regularly receive,
five Packets at least that were sent him.
The Cause is not explained: but We have now Letters
from him acknowledging the Receipt of them.
Mr. Paine’s impertinent tale does as little honor to him
as the implication from it against Mr. Gore
and Mr. King, does to them.
   Your Plan for transporting me out of the reach
of the shower of Ennui, is very curious.
No No. What a figure?
A President of the U.S. descending from the head of the
second commercial Power of the World, to become a Min.
Plen. at a foreign Court— haunting the Levees of Kings,
Queens & Ministers and taking rank after
an Ambassador from Sardinia, Naples &c No No.
If you had proposed to me, to negotiate over again
the old Articles of Alliance between you and me, at the Bar,
although you had insisted on their being offensive
and defensive, I would have considered Seriously of it.
Suppose We should revive our old Partnership
and return to the Barr, upon some terms or other.
This I think would neither degrade me
nor disgrace my Country.
To myself I should consider it an honor,
in my present situation and future prospects.
   I believe however upon the whole, I must be
Farmer John of Stony field, and nothing more,
(I hope nothing less) for the rest of my Life.
The happiest Life it will be to me, (at least I think so)
that I ever led.
I shall have one thing to regret, the Res Angusta domi,
which will be forever irremediable.
This will deprive me of the Pleasure of hospitality and social
Intercourse more than I can well reconcile to my nature,
and more than I ever have experienced,
since I began at the Barr.
And this will deprive me of another Amusement perhaps
more necessary to me, I mean those Operations upon my
farm, which require more expense than they repay in Profit.
It is too late to repent.
I have committed faults: two very great ones have been,
   1. too little Attention to my own Interest.
   2. too little regard to my own Reputation.
Others will find other faults enough.
   I am not about to write Lamentations or Jeremiades
over my fate, nor Panegyrics upon my Life and Conduct.
You may think me disappointed. I am not.
All my Life have I expected it, and you might be surprised
perhaps to see how little it affects me.
After a year, Like the retired statesmen in Gill Blass, I may
for aught I knew see a Spectre: but I don’t believe I shall.8

      On January 24 John Adams in a letter to
George Churchman and Jacob Lindley wrote,

   Although I have never Sought popularity by any animated
Speeches or inflammatory publications against the Slavery
of the Blacks, my opinion against it has always been known,
and my practice has been so conformable to my Sentiment
that I have always employed freemen both as Domestics
and Laborers, and never in my Life did I own a Slave.
The Abolition of Slavery must be gradual and
accomplished with much caution and Circumspection.
Violent means and measures would produce greater
violations of Justice and Humanity,
than the continuance of the practice.
Neither Mr. Mifflin nor yourselves, I presume would be
willing to venture on Exertions which would probably excite
Insurrections among the Blacks to rise against
their Masters and imbue their hands in innocent blood.
   There are many other Evils in our Country which
are growing, (whereas the practice of Slavery is fast
diminishing,) and threaten to bring Punishment in our Land,
more immediately than the oppression of the blacks.
That sacred regard to Truth in which you and I were
educated, and which is certainly taught and enjoined
from on high, Seems to be vanishing from among Us.
A general Relaxation of Education and Government.
A general Debauchery as well as dissipation, produced
by pestilential philosophical Principles of Epicures infinitely
more than by Shows and theatrical Entertainment.
These are in my opinion more Serious and threatening Evils,
than even the Slavery of the Blacks, hateful as that is.
   I might even Add that I have been informed, that the
condition, of the common Sort of White People in Some of
the Southern States particularly Virginia, is more oppressed,
degraded and miserable than that of the Negroes.
   These Vices and these Miseries deserve the serious
and compassionate Consideration of Friends as well as
the Slave Trade and the degraded State of the blacks.
   I wish you Success in your benevolent Endeavors to
relieve the distresses of our fellow Creatures, and shall
always be ready to cooperate with you, as far as my means
and Opportunities can reasonably be expected to extend.9

      Congress passed the Judiciary Act, and
Adams signed it into law on 13 February 1801.
He also appointed 26 judges for the new judicial circuits.
The Senate confirmed ten of them by February 20 and five more by March 3.
      The Senate rejected the Convention with France on 23 January 1801,
but ten days later they ratified it with the condition that French indemnities must be paid.
      The US Supreme Court Chief Justice Ellsworth had resigned,
and John Jay declined to serve again.
Adams nominated John Marshall on 31 January 1801,
and the Senate quickly confirmed him as chief justice.
      On February 11 Congress met in joint session, and Vice President Jefferson
announced the results of the voting in the electoral college.
Because of a tie vote between him and Burr the election
went to the House of Representatives with each state having one vote.
Although Hamilton preferred Jefferson to Burr, six Federalist states voted for Burr.
Two states were divided, and so Jefferson had
only eight of sixteen states and needed nine.
Radical Federalists were hoping that the election would be
thrown into the Senate where a Federalist could be elected.
The House voted 36 times before the Federalist James Bayard of Delaware
and the Maryland delegation changed their votes to Jefferson on February 17.
They believed that Jefferson had promised not to change
the Hamiltonian financial system, not to reduce the navy,
and not to dismiss Federalist officials;
yet Jefferson himself said he had refused to tie his hands.
The Federalists had lost forty seats in the House, giving the Republicans
a 68-38 advantage, though Federalists still held the US Senate 17-15.
      On February 13 the Federalist Senate passed the judiciary bill
that doubled the circuit courts to six and added 23 new judges.
They reduced the number of Supreme Court justices from six to five
at the next vacancy to prevent an early appointment by the Republicans.
Adams nominated mostly Federalists, and they were confirmed by February 24.
Because he had chosen two Federalist senators,
the Republicans gained control of the Senate.
      On March 1 John Adams sent this message to
the United States Senate on the Convention with France:

   I have considered the advice and consent of the Senate
to the ratification of the convention with France,
under certain conditions.
Although it would have been more conformable to my own
judgment and inclination to have agreed to that instrument
unconditionally, yet, as in this point I found that the
misfortune to differ in opinion from so high a constitutional
authority as the Senate, I judged it more consistent with
the honor and interest of the United States to ratify it
under the conditions prescribed, than not at all.
I accordingly nominated Mr. Bayard, minister plenipotentiary
to the French republic, that he might proceed without delay
to Paris to negotiate the exchange of ratifications;
but as that gentleman has declined his appointment
for reasons equally applicable to every other person
suitable for the service, I shall take no further measures
relative to this business, and leave the convention with
all the documents in the office of State, that my successor
may proceed with them according to his wisdom.10

      During the four years of the John Adams presidency
the national debt increased by $973,571 or about 1.2%.
      Adams left the horses and carriages in the stable for the next president
and departed on a stage for Baltimore at four in the morning on March 4,
eight hours before Jefferson took the oath of office.

Notes

1. The Works of John Adams: Second President of the United States, Volume 9
by Charles Francis Adams, p. 80-81.
2. Writings by Thomas Jefferson, p. 1082.
3. John Adams by David McCullough, p. 551.
4. The Suppressed History of the Administration of John Adams (from 1797 to 1801)
by John Wood, p. 315-326.
5. John Adams Writings from the New Nation 1784-1826, p. 400-403.
6. John Adams by David McCullough, p. 559.
7. Stoddert’s War: Naval Operations During the Quasi-War with France, 1798-180
by Michael A. Palmer, p. 235.
8. From John Adams to William Tudor, Sr., 20 January 1801 (Online)
9. John Adams Writings from the New Nation 1784-1826, p. 406-407.10.
The Works of John Adams: Second President of the United States, Volume 9, p. 167.

copyright 2024 by Sanderson Beck

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