Born on a farm on 30 October 1735, John Adams was very well educated.
At Harvard College he learned Latin, Greek,
rhetoric, logic, mathematics, science, and ethics.
He was most influenced by Plato, Cicero, Thucydides, and Tacitus.
He decided not to be a minister and taught Latin at a grammar school.
He began writing in a diary in 1756 and kept it for 30 years.
He worked as an apprentice for a lawyer for two years while he was teaching.
He was also influenced by Puritan morality.
He met other lawyers and became friends with James Otis Jr.
He read various lawbooks, and he studied The Spirit of the Laws
by Montesquieu and works by John Milton, James Harrington,
Niccolò Machiavelli, and John Locke.
When his father died in 1760, Adams inherited
the farm and a third of his estate.
He began practicing law.
When the Lt. Governor Thomas Hutchinson passed over the father
of Otis for a promised position, young Otis became angry.
John Adams wrote two essays “On Private Revenge” and how to work out quarrels.
He favored patience rather than violence.
He suggested that English was intended to preserve life and societies.
In 1764 James Otis wrote The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved.
Adams studied Ben Franklin’s methods of self-improvement,
and he especially followed the teachings of Jesus and Socrates.
Adams married Abigail Smith, and he became a selectman and an assessor.
Later in 1802 Adams wrote his Autobiography
about his life and mental development.
His father made him work on the farm so that he
would want to go to school and college instead.
He loved books and considered classics important.
In religion he saw dogmatism and bigotry, and he decided not to be a priest.
He wanted to do good for his fellow men.
He was good at public speaking and thought
he would be a better lawyer than a divine.
When he was chosen be one of the Select Men,
he became a Latin master at a grammar school.
He learned about Deism.
He attended courts of justice and listened to the attorneys.
Mr. Putnam accepted him as an apprentice,
and Adams paid him a hundred dollars.
He took over the office, and Putnam ordered
lawbooks and Bacon’s works from England.
Adams worked on acquiring his own law library.
In 1761 Lt. Gov. Hutchinson became Chief Justice instead of Col. Otis.
Adams believed the Americans would not give up their liberties,
and he could see a contest opening.
During a smallpox epidemic in 1764, Adams was inoculated and had a light case.
He wrote much in his Autobiography about the Stamp Act crisis in 1765.
He participated in the organizing of protests against the use of the hated stamps that
were being imposed by the British government for purchases and legal documents.
The people of Boston rose up and took oaths to the Liberty Tree.
In a town meeting they chose a committee and petitioned
the Governor that the stamps were unconstitutional.
They argued that the colonies could not be taxed because
they were not represented in the British government.
People protested at the home of Hutchinson,
and after his fleeing they ransacked the house.
Adams disapproved of that tactic.
Adams in October published instructions
in the Boston Gazette on disobeying the tax.
He asked how could they enforce it from 3,000 miles away?
They refused to be enslaved by the British government,
and they did not cooperate with the stamp officers.
The committee reported, and their local government approved resolutions.
John Adams, James Otis, and Jeremiah Gridley were elected counselors for the town.
The movement against the Stamp Tax spread in all 13 colonies.
They would not continue business as usual.
John Adams studied canon and feudal law and wrote a dissertation
on them in four parts that was published in the Boston Gazette.
The first one appeared in August.
Absolute monarchy had been a universal form of government for a long time.
Kings exercised tyranny over the people.
Christian clergy used canon law to impose rules and obligations.
The other system of tyranny was feudalism
by which powerful people dominated others.
He noted that religious traditions began to change
after the middle ages during the Protestant Reformation.
The feudal system had imposed servile dependencies.
Some people became educated by the ancient republics of Greece and Rome,
and others were freed by religious teachings of Jesus.
Yet people had to pay rents to landlords.
People in America were becoming better educated,
and more knowledge was making them more free.
The press was spreading freedom.
Adams said that they were suffering because of timidity.
They should not submit to what is injurious.
Americans were demanding their rights just as English have them.
They realized the spirit of liberty, and that needs knowledge for guidance.
Most rights are inherent and essential.
The basics are truth, liberty, justice, and benevolence, and these can be learned.
They must not let the British government take away their natural rights.
In January 1766 John Adams published “Clarendon” about
American values and culture and on the oppression they were suffering.
On December 20 he argued their case to Governor Bernard and the Council.
He explained why the Stamp Act was invalid and unjust.
Chief Justice Thomas Hutchinson decided that the people
were to be punished, and he persuaded the others.
The Stamp Act was repealed in March 1766, and word reached America in June.
In the summer of 1767 they learned that the British had
imposed the Townshend Duties that required taxes on several
British imports such as glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea.
Adams moved to Boston in 1768 and became an advocate-general.
The British were still demanding revenue from the colonies without their consent.
British warships were restraining trade, and Adams cited the laws they were violating.
On June 20 he published “Instructions to Boston’s Representatives
James Otis, Thomas Cushing, and Samuel Adams, and John Hancock.”
Gov. Bernard dissolved the General Court and kept the legislature from convening.
After British troops came to Boston, people chose delegates for a convention.
In the winter of 1770 people protested the quartering of soldiers in their houses.
Rowdy men fought against soldiers, and
2,000 people marched in a funeral procession.
Soldiers killed five people on March 5, and on that day the
British
repealed the Townshend Duties, though tea was an exception.
People wanted soldiers punished for murder.
Special prosecutors were named, and John Adams
agreed to defend the eight British soldiers in the trial.
Hutchinson in September approved the order to impose martial law.
The jury acquitted Captain Preston.
Adams spoke for the eight soldiers, and he noted that
facts are stubborn and that the law is also stable.
He suggested reducing the offense to manslaughter because of passions.
They also may have been provoked and acted in self-defense.
He affirmed that protecting the innocent is more important than punishing the guilty.
The jury acquitted six soldiers, and the other two were found guilty of manslaughter.
John Adams was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
He became so busy with his law practice that he did not run for re-election.
In February 1771 he wrote his essay on juries.
England protected the rights of juries and elections.
Jurors have the right to follow their consciences.
In 1772 Adams was studying the principles and
purposes of governments in various cultures.
Government is the united power of the people for
maintaining peace, safety, order, and the general good.
He defined the forms of government as democracy by many people,
aristocracy by a few, and monarchy by one.
Some governments are mixed, and ignorant people can be deceived.
Liberty depends on the moral character, and ambition can be hard to govern.
He gave examples from history, and the form of governments can change.
In January 1773 John Adams wrote about the independence of judges,
and he described the views of the legal expert Edward Coke.
Governor Hutchinson claimed that the British Parliament was sovereign over America.
John Adams worked with his cousin Samuel Adams on a long response
they gave on January 26 to the House of Representatives.
Samuel Adams also organized committees of correspondence.
Benjamin Franklin sent secret letters to John Adams, and he kept them secret.
On March 2 he replied to the second speech
by Hutchinson for the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives elected John Adams to the
Governor’s Council, and Hutchinson vetoed that.
On December 16 protestors threw a load of tea from a ship
into the ocean, and it was called the “Boston tea party.”
In March 1774 the British Parliament approved the Port Act that closed
the Boston Harbor, and the Coercive Acts were imposed in Boston on May 10.
Samuel Adams on June 17 proposed a national congress,
and he and John Adams and others were elected and attended
the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in September.
John Adams worked on the committee defining American rights.
The Congress agreed to stop importing goods
from the British empire starting on December 1.
Exports were to stop in September 1775.
John Adams presented a report on rights and grievances
on October 14, and they adjourned on October 26.
John Adams published 12 essays he called Novanglus
in the Boston Gazette from 23 January 1775 to April 17.
He presented and discussed Ben Franklin’s views on British taxes.
Paying taxes to Britain without being represented
in their government he considered slavery.
Then he debated letters called "Massachusettensis" on the Stamp Act crisis.
Non-importation was suggested in 1768, and the response spread in the 13 colonies.
Adams asked where is the liberty that the British constitution allows?
On April 14 about 6,000 British soldiers landed in Boston
led by General Thomas Gage who was ordered to
put down the rebellion and arrest leaders.
The Concord arsenal also had 800 British troops.
Citizens learned that the British were going to destroy the arsenal.
The militia in Lexington were alerted, and they marched to Concord
arriving before the British soldiers from Boston on April 19.
The ensuing battle there and on their march back
to Boston began the War of Independence.
On April 23 the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts
voted to raise an army of 13,600 men.
The British army had begun a civil war,
and Americans in other colonies began to rise up.
John Adams arrived at Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress
on May 10, and he met Thomas Jefferson who had published his
Summary View of the Rights of British America in 1774.
Adams also got to know George Washington.
On June 10 John Adams wrote a letter to Moses Gill about the inevitable war,
and on the 14th the Continental Congress debated
and then voted to form the Continental Army.
On June 15 John Adams nominated George Washington to be
Commander-in-Chief of the army that was besieging the British soldiers in Boston.
He was elected unanimously, and they also named three major generals.
In the next two years John Adams would serve
on 90 committees, and he was chairman of 25.
He considered the “people’s war” a just war and a moral duty.
On July 23 he wrote to his wife Abigail about Ben Franklin.
The next day Adams in a letter to his friend James Warren expressed his views
on what more could be done to bring about independence sooner.
During a short break John Adams met with General Washington in Boston.
John and Samuel Adams returned to Philadelphia in late August.
John Adams proposed that the colonies elect
conventions to found new governments.
He also suggested negotiating with France and Spain to gain allies.
He agreed to support the forming of a small Navy
if they were to be used only for defense.
He proposed paying the seamen even though the British did not.
Adams had been appointed Chief Justice in Massachusetts on October 28.
He did not serve because Massachusetts was not independent.
In November news arrived that George III had proclaimed them rebels.
On November 14 John Adams wrote to William Tudor
and advised him about politics in Massachusetts.
Adams wrote to General Washington on 6 January 1776 in response
to a request for his advice, and after discussing various options he
recommended following the plan proposed by General Charles Lee.
John Adams supported the call for independence in Tom Paine’s
Common Sense though in it he found things to criticize.
Adams was still on the General Court of Massachusetts.
On January 18 he agreed to continue as a member of Congress,
and the next day he issued a proclamation for the General Court
in which he condemned the British violations of Americans’ rights.
On January 24 the Continental Congress made
John Adams the head of the Board of War.
On April 16 he wrote to Mercy Otis Warren favoring political rights for women.
He expounded on many things and called for patience.
That month Richard Henry Lee paid for the publication of
Thoughts on Government by John Adams.
He wrote about the “divine science of politics” as the
“science of social happiness” based on constitutions.
He explained how democratic government by laws could work
if the judicial power is separated from the elected legislature.
He suggested that the Governor should command
the militia and the army in enforcing the laws.
He believed a liberal education should study the laws.
To combine states into a nation a Continental Constitution is needed.
On April 22 he wrote to James Warren again and
advocated that the time for independence had come.
His writing would influence the development of constitutions in
Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.
On May 10 the Continental Congress advised colonies to form new governments,
and on the 15th John Adams wrote the preamble for a resolution that called for
uniting the colonies with a representative government for the happiness of the people.
On May 26 Adams wrote to James Sullivan that the
moral foundation of Government is the consent of the people.
He discussed who should be allowed to vote and considered women and children.
On June 3 Adams wrote to Patrick Henry who had written
the first Virginia Resolutions against the Stamp Act.
He looked forward to seeing the constitution of Virginia
and the confederation with a constitution.
Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution for independence on June 7,
and he and Adams also agreed on a treaty with France.
Congress appointed a committee for these issues naming John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.
On June 12 the Congress made John Adams the
President of the Board of War and Ordnance.
He wrote to John Winthrop on June 23 on the need
for a declaration to stimulate the colonies.
He urged a new committee to prepare for a Continental Constitution.
On June 28 Jefferson presented the committee’s draft
for the Declaration of Independence.
On July 1 John Adams made a two-hour speech arguing that
independence would bring about peace and prosperity.
The next day 12 states voted for independence, and New York abstained.
On the 3rd he wrote two letters to his wife Abigail
telling her what was happening and how important it is.
The Declaration of Independence was unanimously approved on July 4.
The principles of equality and rights were expressed, and the reasons were stated
why the American colonies had to break away from British misrule
and described how the colonists were abused.
Relying on divine providence they pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.
Adams in August urged Congress to seek a treaty with France
that could help them win the war against the British.
On July 30 Thomas Jefferson mentioned in his Remarks in Congress
on the Article of Confederation that John Adams was for voting
according to numbers and that states with more people
should have proportionate representation.
Jefferson argued that making all states equal was unfair
to the
three largest states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
Adams also noted that states with more people paid more taxes.
They signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2.
John Adams on August 25 wrote in a letter to Joseph Hawley
that knowledge is essential to liberty.
He was concerned that elections could become corrupt.
Equal representation is the first principle of liberty.
On September 16 Adams and the Board of War persuaded the Congress
to offer $20 and 100 acres to men who enlist for the duration of the war.
On the 20th the punishments in the articles of war were made stricter.
When many deserted as the British were moving into New York,
the number of lashes allowed was increased from 39 to 100,
and Congress also made some crimes capital offenses.
Congress appointed John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Edward Rutledge
to meet with the British General Howe on Staten Island.
This implied some recognition of independence,
though Howe said he could only grant pardons.
Adams said they would negotiate only as the independent United States.
John Adams in a committee worked on a commercial treaty
that he proposed
on July 18, and Congress approved the “Plan of Treaties” on September 17.
A proposed commercial treaty in 30 articles
with France was also presented on the 17th.
On the 26th the Congress voted to send Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson as commissioners to France.
Jefferson was in the Virginia House of Delegates, and he declined.
Arthur Lee was sent with Franklin, and they were to join with
the secret envoy Silas Deane on 2 March 1777.
In December 1776 John Adams and others in Congress
fled to Baltimore before the British occupied Philadelphia.
On 3 February 1777 Adams in a letter to James Warren wrote about
progress various state governments were making.
That month he advised Congress to raise interest to 6% in order to get more loans.
The state of New York approved a constitution on April 20.
In a major battle involving about 30,000 men the British defeated
the Americans at Brandywine Creek near Philadelphia.
Adams later admitted that he and the Congress
protected Washington by not exposing his errors publicly.
Adams got a leave of absence from Congress in October.
While he and Samuel Adams were going back to Boston,
the Congress on October 17 approved the Articles of Confederation.
On November 27 Franklin and John Adams were named
to replace Deane and Arthur Lee in Paris.
Adams advised his wife Abigail not to go with him on the dangerous voyage
while he and his oldest son John Quincy went to Europe.
Adams began learning French from books.
John Adams did not know that the United States had made an alliance
with France on 6 February 1778 until he landed at Bordeaux, France on March 29.
He reached Paris on April 8 and first went to see Benjamin Franklin
who took him with Arthur Lee to meet with
France’s Minister of Finance Jacques Turgot.
Franklin explained the treaty to Adams.
His son enrolled in a boarding school.
Adams became friends with the La Rochefoucauld family,
and he met the philosopher Condorcet.
Adams soon learned that Franklin and Lee often disagreed,
and that often made his vote a decision-maker.
Adams declined to speculate in American land with Franklin.
He wrote to his cousin Samuel Adams on May 21 and
explained the situation in Europe and the difficulty of his task.
Adams proposed that Congress make Franklin the ambassador to France
so that he and Lee could be reassigned or recalled.
Adams later said that he wrote 50 letters to his wife Abigail
and that she received only two of them.
Letters from Congress took six months.
He was in France for ten months.
He worked with the others on prison exchanges.
Congress made Franklin a Plenipotentiary Minister to the
France of Louis XVI, and that news arrived on 12 February 1779.
In January the three commissioners had urged the French
to help the Americans defeat the British.
Lee was sent to Madrid while Adams received no instructions of what to do.
Adams and his son embarked on June 17 and returned home on August 2.
John Adams in early September participated with 250 delegates
at a constitutional convention in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and he was put on the drafting committee that met in Boston on September 13.
Adams was chosen to write the state constitution, and his ideas
influenced
A Constitution or Form of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Most interesting is the Declaration of the Rights that has 31 articles in chapter 1
which included several more rights than those later
put into the United States Constitution as amendments.
Chapter 6 on the University encouraged literature and public schools.
In October the United States Congress voted unanimously to send
John Adams
as the minister plenipotentiary to negotiate an end to the War of Independence.
He chose his two sons John Quincy and Charles
and two secretaries to go with him to London.
They landed in Spain on December 8 and did not reach Paris until 9 February 1780.
Adams did not want Franklin trying to take his position and said nothing about it to him.
Adams was also directed to negotiate a commercial treaty.
On March 4 he wrote to Samuel Adams, and on March 18
he wrote to General Nathanael Greene about policy and war.
He concluded that the cause of America could be
promoted by “prompt and accurate intelligence.”
His letter on March 23 went to Samuel Huntington;
he included English and Dutch papers, and he discussed current British politics.
He wrote that the House of Commons does not expect to regain America.
David Hartley suggested that a truce with America
could not be made without peace with France and Spain.
Adams ended by writing that he would “obey the
instructions of Congress with the most perfect respect.”
Adams using a pseudonym also wrote letters that were published in England.
On April 18 he wrote a long letter to the United States Congress,
and he enclosed a letter that was also sent to Paris and which he criticized.
He noted that a “combination of powers” were acting against Britain.
He also wrote, “America has been the Sport
of European Wars and Politics long enough.”
He realized they could not make a truce without France.
In May he wrote to Abigail that he studies politics and war
so that his sons may study art, literature, mathematics, and philosophy.
After reading a four-volume biography of King Louis XV,
he believed that a French-American alliance could be beneficial.
Adams visited Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam, and The Hague.
He also wrote 95 letters to Congress by July.
On July 26 he wrote a very long letter to France’s Foreign Minister Vergennes,
and the next day he took his two sons to Holland.
He stayed in Amsterdam.
On August 17 he wrote to Franklin, and he concluded that
Americans must “depend upon themselves.”
On September 16 Francis Dana arrived and told Adams that
Congress asked him to negotiate a loan from the Dutch.
He tried to get them to recognize the independence of the United States.
After John Adams wrote 26 replies to the lawyer Hendrik Calkoen,
for five months the Dutch would not meet with Adams.
On December 20 the British declared war against Holland.
On 25 February 1781 the Congress of the United States
made John Adams the commissioner to the Dutch.
While Britain was at war against them, the Dutch would not help the Americans.
Adams published his Memorial to the President of the
States-General in English, French, and Dutch.
He had thousands printed, gave some to newspapers,
and a copy to the Dutch President.
The long text introduced his commission to them, explained how the British
renounced the rights of the Americans as Englishmen and went to war
against them and how Americans declared their independence and regained liberty.
He noted the “great examples of the Helvetic and Batavian Confederacies.”
Americans considered the Republic of the United Provinces their allies.
The United States of America had already made treaties with France and Spain.
He noted that early inhabitants of New York and New Jersey were Dutch,
and the Americans have a similar religion.
Americans will not submit to the British again,
and European powers should not either.
The United States would like “to form equitable Commercial Treaties
with all the Maritime Powers of Europe.”
He noted that on 5 October 1780 Russia had
proposed “justice, equity, and moderation.”
The United States believed in the rights of neutral vessels,
and on 8 March 1781 Adams communicated to other nations
that they observe neutrality as do France and Spain.
He proposed that other nations let the United States of America
become part of the Marine Treaty.
Adams let his two sons go with Francis Dana as their interpreter
to St. Petersburg, Russia to ask for recognition of the United States.
On June 15 the US Congress appointed Jefferson, Franklin, John Jay,
and Henry Laurens to join Adams on the peace commission.
Adams returned to Paris in July.
James Madison got the Congress to revoke Adams’ commission
to negotiate a commercial treaty with Britain.
Adams went back to Amsterdam and was ill until January 1782.
He worked with the other four envoys on the peace treaty.
On February 26 Friesland delegates proposed making John Adams the
United States Minister, and the US Congress named him
minister plenipotentiary to the Netherlands.
The hostile British Prime Minister North resigned
and was replaced by Rockingham.
He appointed Shelburne to negotiate,
and he sent Richard Oswald to meet with Franklin.
The imprisoned American Henry Laurens was released and sent with Oswald.
Laurens told Adams to go to France.
On March 28 Holland recognized the independence of the United States,
and Adams made his home at The Hague and turned it into the American embassy.
On June 11 he secured loans of $2 million
at 5% interest with three banks in Amsterdam.
Adams in early July wrote a Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe.
He believed that all the world wants peace,
though a separate peace would be harmful.
He asked for a general peace.
England could help by recognizing the United States of America
as “sovereign and independent.”
On September 17 the Dutch agreed to the Treaty of Amity
and Commerce with the United States, and Adams signed it on October 8.
Then he went to Paris and persuaded Jay and Franklin
that the United States should pay its debts.
When Congress told the commissioners to be guided by the French,
Adams replied that they should think for themselves.
In one month they negotiated a provisional treaty
that they signed on November 30.
Franklin explained it to the French Foreign Minister Vergennes.
On December 5 George III ordered the offensive war against America ended,
and he declared the United States independent.
In a letter to James Warren on December 15 Adams discussed
the preliminary treaty between Britain and the United States.
On 15 January 1783 Adams wrote to the Abbé de Mably explaining
the difficulties in writing a history of the American Revolution.
In January 1783 Adams resigned his commission and said
he would stay in Europe until he knew it was accepted.
He also wrote that he would like to be the ambassador in London.
John Quincy Adams left Russia and joined his father in Paris.
John Adams discussed the current situation in a letter to James Warren.
Finally the British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and the Americans
signed a peace treaty in Paris on September 3.
Adams from London wrote to the United States Congress
on November 13 and explained what happened with the British.
Not paying for the loan caused United States credit
in Amsterdam
to be in doubt, and John Adams got a loan from Holland at 6% interest.
He wrote from The Hague to the President of the Congress on 10 February 1784
explaining how he moved from Paris to save their credit in Holland.
He wrote to the President again on March 9 about the King of Prussia
and how
he could not do anything without Ben Franklin and John Jay who were in Paris.
He wrote to his cousin Samuel Adams on May 4 saying he was doing
his duty even though he has made enemies who envy him.
Congress made Thomas Jefferson a minister plenipotentiary in May,
and he and Ben Franklin joined Adams at The Hague
as did his wife Abigail on August 7.
John Adams was appointed the ambassador to Britain in April 1785,
and he attended the birthday party of King George III on June 4.
Franklin retired, and Adams became the most experienced diplomat for America.
Congress reduced his salary from £2,500 to £2,000.
He corresponded with Jefferson who was in Paris,
and in the next year they each wrote about 28 letters.
On May 2 Adams had written to Elbridge Gerry about vanity.
On June 2 Adams in a letter to John Jay described his conversation with George III.
On August 24 he had a long meeting with Prime Minister William Pitt
who reminded him that the states must pay their debts
before the British will remove their posts.
Adams wrote about corruption on September 10 in a letter to John Jebb.
On 23 March 1786 John Adams discussed the
American debts in a letter to Matthew Robinson Morris.
Algerian pirates in July seized two American ships and enslaved 25 captured sailors.
John Jay suggested using $80,000 to negotiate with the Barbary States.
Jefferson was in London, and he and Adams worked out a peace treaty
with Tripoli for 30,000 guineas for Tripoli employers and £3,000 for the
mediator Abdrahaman who advised them that the Barbary States
would demand at least 200,000 guineas.
Adams in May went to Amsterdam to get another loan,
and on May 12 he wrote to the Foreign Affairs Secretary John Jay.
On June 6 Adams in a letter to Jefferson discussed
peace treaties with Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, and Morocco.
On July 3 Adams wrote to Jefferson about the important war with the Turks.
He noted they were spending a million each year
to prevent paying a ransom of £200,000.
Adams from London wrote to Jefferson on July 31 that
the Prussian Treaty was ratified, and he was going to The Hague.
He discussed the wisdom and necessity of a navy.
John Adams published A Defense of the Constitutions
of Government of the United States of America
on 1 January 1787, and the preface is most interesting.
In the chapter on monarchical republics he wrote about England, Poland,
and Neuchatel, and in the “Recapitulation” he described
the current government of the United States.
He wrote about Rev. Richard Price who endorsed the American Revolution.
He referred to James Harrington who wrote The Commonwealth of Oceana
and explained how equality may be promoted.
Adams also quoted from the Discourses upon the
First Decade of Livy by Machiavelli.
On 25 January 1787 John Adams made a peace and friendship treaty
with Morocco with payment to protect against pirates.
On July 18 he completed his three volumes of
A Defense of the Constitutions of Government
of the United States of America in early 1788.
In Letter VII on 26 December 1787 he wrote
about what all nations have in common.
In his last chapter in Conclusion on Government” Adams explained
the three branches of government and how they provide checks and balances.
His Declaration of Rights in the
Constitution of Government for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
that he wrote in October 1779 provided ideas for the Bill of Rights with
more rights
than would be added to the new United States Constitution as amendments.
When that Constitution was written, John Adams was in England
and the Netherlands, and Thomas Jefferson was in France.
On 13 November 1787 Jefferson in a letter to Adams asked for his opinions
about the Constitution, and Adams responded with them on December 6.
Adams emphasized the need for the bill of rights in his letter to Cotton Tufts
on 12 February 1788, and he commented on the Constitution in a
letter to Thomas Brand Hillis on April 5.
John Adams went to the Netherlands in March and negotiated a fourth loan
so that the United States could keep up on its payments.
He was elected to the House of Representatives, and then
he was elected Vice President of the United States.
John Adams was inaugurated as Vice President on 21 April 1789.
His only constitutional duty was to be president of the United States Senate,
and he could only vote when there was a tie.
His suggestions for honorific titles were rejected as unconstitutional,
and Washington asked to be called “Mr. President.”
In his inaugural address Adams urged the Congress to work for
“prosperity, order, justice, peace, and liberty.”
Because of his comprehensive writing about different forms of government,
some people believed that he favored monarchy
when he definitely considered democracy the best.
He supported President Washington who was the executive officer.
On May 10 Washington wrote him a letter asking him to give his advice
on eight issues phrased as questions, and one week later Adams
sent the President his reply on each one.
Then he offered some additional “observations” that
compared governments of a few other nations.
Adams discovered that his lectures to the Senate were
not appreciated, and he stopped giving them.
He supported Treasury Secretary Hamilton’s efforts to pay off the states’ debts.
On May 22 Adams in a letter to Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant discussed
constitutional interpretations in governing by the three branches
of the legislature, the presidency, and the judiciary.
On June 9 he wrote to Dr. Benjamin Rush,
and they would correspond on many issues.
In a letter to William Tudor sent on June 14 Adams discussed
how government can be corrupted, and in another letter to Tudor on June 28
he discussed the relations between national and state sovereignty.
In a letter to Dr. Rush on 4 April 1790 John Adams satirized
the influence of Dr. Franklin and General Washington.
Then he praised Washington, and he quoted Rousseau on ambassadors.
April 19 was the third anniversary of the beginning of the War of Independence,
and Adams sent a letter of gratitude to the British Rev. Richard Price
and others who had supported that revolution.
He prayed that more people would study the science of government.
On June 11 he wrote to Thomas Brand Hollis who
was worried about the danger of African pirates.
Adams asked the French to become disciples of him or of Zeno.
When a possible war with Spain was threatening, Washington asked his Cabinet
and Adams for their opinions, and Adams replied that his was that
“under no circumstances should they go to war.”
On August 29 Adams wrote in support of Washington’s policy of neutrality
and only as a necessity should they engage in a defensive war.
On October 18 John Adams emphasized in a long letter to his cousin
Samuel Adams “the principles and system of government” to improve society,
and he discussed different interpretations of the word “republican.”
They both agreed on the usefulness of universal education.
On December 6 the United States Government was moved
from New York City to Philadelphia for ten years.
Vice President John Adams had time in 1790 to write
Discourses on Davila during the early stage of the French Revolution.
Henrico Caterino Davila was an Italian who in 1630 wrote
The History of the Civil War in France.
Adams often quoted Davila in his Discourses,
and it was not always easy to distinguish when he
was quoting Davila or expressing his own ideas.
That caused some critics to assume that Adams was a monarchist.
Adams was also influenced by the ethics of the Theory of Moral Sentiments
which economist Adam Smith published in 1759.
In chapter 11 of his Discourses Adams wrote about education,
national rivalries, and the civil wars in France.
In chapter 13 he described how the world became
more enlightened by Voltaire, Rousseau, and others.
He discussed the American Revolution in 1774
in the quest for liberty and independence.
He summarized his ideas in his Postscript to the Discourses on Davila.
John Adams in a letter to Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton on 25 April 1791
wrote about his salary when he was a commissioner starting in 1779.
He was given an allowance for a private secretary and for other expenses of diplomacy.
When he lived in Holland, he had to rent a house and provide furniture.
He noted that in September 1786 the Congress agreed that ministers
should have support for these expenses.
He asked Hamilton to check these expenses that were
paid by Adams and present them to the auditor.
Thomas Paine published Rights of Man in England in early spring in 1791,
and
Adams believed that his criticisms of monarchy and aristocracy were aimed at him.
Then Thomas Jefferson complained to President Washington about
the “apostasy to hereditary monarchy and nobility” by John Adams.
At this time his son John Quincy Adams published his ideas based on his work
as a diplomat under the name “Publicola” which included
his criticism of Paine’s recent book and Jefferson.
On July 17 Jefferson wrote to John Adams about the articles by Publicola.
On the 29th John Adams wrote to Jefferson about the criticisms that
were being direct against him related to his ideas about a limited monarchy.
Adams wrote that he did not write nor correct Publicola.
He wondered if John Hancock was going to try to replace him as Vice president.
Adams concluded that he did not suspect the pure and friendly motives of Jefferson.
The United States Congress adjourned in May 1792,
and John Adams went home for the summer even though
he was running to be re-elected Vice President.
Although Jefferson and Hamilton were feuding, they both supported
the re-election of President Washington who announced
in November that he would accept a second term.
Washington persuaded John Adams to go back to Philadelphia.
In the election Washington received all of the 132 electoral college votes,
and Adams received 77 to defeat New York’s
Governor George Clinton who got 50 votes.
Although the Anti-federalist Republicans gained 24 seats in the
House of Representatives, the Federalists still controlled both houses of Congress.
In March 1793 they learned that King Louis XVI of France
had been executed on January 21 and that Britain and Spain
were at war against France which declared war on February 1.
Edmund Charles Genêt arrived from France and stirred up trouble
trying to arm ships in America to fight against Britain and Spain.
President Washington declared neutrality on April 22,
and Adams definitely supported that.
The worst epidemic of yellow fever that summer
killed about 5,000 people in Philadelphia.
John Adams on December 19 in a letter to his wife Abigail
wrote about Genêt and the “awkward situation” he caused.
Many Republican clubs had been started.
Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State at the end of the year.
On 3 January 1794 John Adams wrote to his son John Quincy
about Jefferson and his ambition and stated it was “confidential.”
Adams in his second term as Vice President
wrote most of his letters to his wife and his sons.
On January he wrote two letters to his son Charles about the modern doctrine
of equality, and then on February 24 he wrote to him about moral equality.
Adams in 1792-96 wrote 43 letters to Charles.
In May 1794 Washington appointed John Quincy Adams the resident minister
to The Hague, and he would serve in that position until June 1797.
On 21 March 1795 Vice President Adams wrote
a letter to Jeremy Belknap about slavery.
As a lawyer Adams had defended slaves, and every jury declared them free.
He noted that France, England, and other European
nations kept slavery out of their countries.
He concluded that abolishing slavery would improve the economy.
On June 8 Washington invited Adams to dinner and talked to him
privately about the treaty that John Jay made with Britain.
The British promised to remove their troops from American territory by June 1796.
Adams advised that Jay had made peace with Britain
and that anything more would be “impossible.”
Washington summoned the Congress to meet in June 1795,
and Adams returned to Philadelphia.
The House of Representatives wanted to see the treaty documents,
and Adams advised that they were jealous of the Senate which had
the authority to ratify treaties while the House did not.
The Senate ratified the Jay Treaty on June 24.
A Republican newspaper printed the treaty, and riots
erupted in New York, Boston, and other places.
The Secretary of State Edmund Randolph was accused of corruption and resigned.
He was the last of Washington’s original Cabinet.
In December 1795 Adams learned that
Washington was not going to run for a third term.
On 7 January 1796 John Adams wrote to Abigail that Washington
was having trouble trying to find a new Secretary of State.
Adams thought about whether he should run for President or not.
On January 20 he wrote to her again celebrating the anniversary
of the armistice between the United States and Britain.
He considered the voice of the people “the voice of God.”
Most Federalists were supporting Adams for President,
and the Aurora endorsed Thomas Jefferson.
Adams decided that he would not be Vice President under Jefferson.
On February 28 Jefferson wrote to Adams thanking him for a book
on the French Revolution, and he discussed the ideas in the book.
Jefferson wrote that he also needed to write to the Auditor about accounts,
and he sent greetings to Mrs. Adams.
On March 1 John Adams wrote to Abigail that
Washington invited him to go to the theatre.
He was not sure that Washington would retire.
He expected that Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Jay, and Hamilton would get votes.
Adams considered whether he should retire with his leader.
He wrote that he does not like speaking to 1,000 people.
On March 11 he thought the government was standing still.
Washington in July sent Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to
replace James Monroe as ambassador in France.
His brother Thomas Pinckney arranged a treaty with Spain
that was signed on October 27.
John Adams wrote to John Sullivan on August 2, and
he discussed what was going on currently in politics.
France recalled their ambassador Pierre Adet from Philadelphia in August,
and they did not replace him.
President Washington sent his Farewell Address to newspapers
on September 17, and it would become an influential classic.
This opened the door to the election, and the Federalist Adams
and the Republican Jefferson were the leading candidates for President.
Yet they both were still residing in their homes.
John Fenno in October published a pamphlet
that criticized Jefferson and defended Adams.
On October 27 the French Minister Adet advised the United States government
that the French Directory announced that neutral ships could be searched,
have property confiscated, and sailors captured.
On December 7 Monroe introduced C. C. Pinckney as his successor.
Four days later the Directory declared they would not recognize
the new ambassador unless their grievances were addressed.
From November 5 to December 7 voting for the electors occurred.
The Republicans Jefferson and Aaron Burr were challenging
the Federalists Adams and Thomas Pinckney.
On 8 February 1797 the Electoral College results showed that
John Adams won with 71 to 68 for Thomas Jefferson.
Adams also won the popular vote 35,726 to 31,115.
Thomas Pinckney became Vice President with 59 electoral votes to 30 for Aaron Burr.
Republicans dominated the south and Pennsylvania
while the Federalists controlled most of the other states.
On February 13 John Adams wrote to Elbridge Gerry
about France and his own experience in the Netherlands.
Secretary of State Timothy Pickering reported how the
French vessels were plundering American ships.
Adams considered trade and manufacturing essential to American prosperity,
and he was resolved to stay out of any war.
On February 15 Vice President Adams delivered his Farewell Address to the Senate.
Washington wrote to him on February 20 advising him
to promote his capable son, John Quincy Adams.
Washington’s neutrality would be the policy of Adams also
Jefferson called on Adams after being away for three years,
and they discussed the situation in France.
Adams asked Jefferson to be plenipotentiary to France on March 2,
and he declined because he was becoming Vice President.
Jefferson also told Adams on March 5 that James Madison
was retiring from Congress and would not take that position either.
Adams replied that there were objections against Madison anyway.
Jefferson resented that and later wrote that President Adams
never consulted him on government policy after that incident.
In his inaugural address on 4 March 1797 President John Adams
reviewed the American struggle for independence and the new
Constitution that was produced from the “good sense” of Americans.
He praised the Washington administration and warned against
factionalism from political parties and foreign pressure.
He intended to be at peace with all nations and that included France
where he had lived for almost seven years.
He presented the principles of good government and his faith in providence.
He reviewed the American history of the revolution against British tyranny
and the process of achieving a union by establishing justice,
protecting domestic harmony while providing for
the “general welfare,” liberty, and the “common defense.”
He recounted how he read the new Constitution
while he was a diplomat in a foreign nation.
After a decade abroad he came home to support the Constitution.
He hoped to work well with the Congress.
He urged citizens to regulate their actions with
“prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude.”
He extended “a spirit of equity and humanity
toward the aboriginal nations of America.”
He expressed “a decent respect for Christianity” and urged public service.
He concluded with a prayer for “virtuous liberty” according to divine providence.
President Adams accepted the Cabinet from Washington’s later year
namely Secretary of State Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts,
Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott Jr. of Connecticut,
Secretary of War James McHenry of Maryland,
and Attorney General Charles Lee of Virginia.
Wolcott, McHenry, and Pickering would usually
follow the advice of Alexander Hamilton.
On April 14 Adams sent a letter asking for advice from the Cabinet officials,
and he described fourteen issues and projects.
On March 13 he learned that the French had rejected
Charles C. Pinckney who then went to Amsterdam.
The French Navy and privateers were also seizing American ships.
The Cabinet met the next day, and Adams said he
would summon Congress to a special session.
On March 25 he told them to meet on May 15.
Hamilton also wanted to avoid war.
Adams told Pickering to provide instructions for the diplomats going to France.
There was the danger of war against France, and Republicans strongly
opposed an alliance with the British in a war against revolutionary France.
On May 16 President Adams addressed the
Special Session of Congress with a fairly long speech.
He reviewed the recent diplomatic relations with France
that included the Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1778.
He suggested that naval power was part of natural defense.
He asked Congress to provide regulations for seafaring citizens.
Frigates may be needed to protect unarmed merchant ships.
He did not want to get involved in European politics.
He called on the House of Representatives to
preserve public credit by paying off public debts.
In a letter to Elbridge Gerry he warned him to watch out
for the danger of “universal avarice and ambition.”
On May 31 Adams named the Federalists John Marshall
and Francis Dana to join Thomas Pinckney in Paris.
On June 2 Adams wrote to his son John Quincy and advised him
to leave Lisbon because Portugal was less important than
Prussia where in Berlin he could renew a treaty.
Then he might go to Sweden or Denmark.
Francis Dana was in bad health, and Adams nominated the moderate
Republican Elbridge Gerry to replace him.
By June the French had captured 300 American ships.
Congress confirmed John Quincy Adams as Minister to Prussia.
On July 3 Adams sent documents to Congress including one
from Senator William Blount to an Indian interpreter.
Blount was impeached on the 7th, and the next day the Senate
voted 25 to 1 to expel him for treason.
The Congress funded three frigates before adjourning on July 10.
Adams in a letter to Abigail had written in 1794,
“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.”
On May 19 John Adams left Philadelphia and went home to
Quincy, Massachusetts while two-thirds of those in Philadelphia
fled from the yellow fever during the summer.
On September 15 Seneca chiefs in the Big Tree Treaty
sold most of their territory to the Holland Land Company.
John and Abigail Adams came back to Philadelphia in October,
and on the 31st he sent some papers to Secretary of State Pickering,
asking his advice whether he should sign them or not.
Adams did not think that Foreign Minister Talleyrand wanted war
despite the Triumvirate’s coup on September 4.
On November 23 President Adams gave his First Annual Message.
His main goals were to preserve peace and attain justice.
He said commerce is essential.
He was concerned that foreigners might incite Indian tribes.
He hoped they could maintain their treaty with Spain.
In January 1798 the Navy Captain John Barry accused
Secretary of War James McHenry of being incompetent.
Congress began an investigation, and President John Adams learned that
McHenry, Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, and
Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott were following
Alexander Hamilton instead of the President.
On January 24 Adams in a letter to Pickering asked him, McHenry,
and Wolcott to give their advice on many questions.
In February Adams notified Congress that a French privateer had attacked
a British ship in Charleston harbor, South Carolina, and British ships
were still seizing American ships and impressing hundreds of sailors.
Spain was refusing to fulfill treaty obligations.
On March 4 news arrived that France had rejected the four American envoys.
The French Directory decreed that French ports were closed to neutral ships,
and they would capture anything from Britain.
Thomas Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry in Paris had only one
short meeting with French Foreign Minister Talleyrand who had three
secret agents that the Americans in dispatches called “X, Y, and Z.”
Talleyrand had asked for $250,000 for himself and a $10 million loan
for France because of insults by Adams in a speech in May 1797.
Pinckney and others said they would not pay tribute.
From the agent Pierre Bellamy they learned that the French
were sending instructions to Republicans in America.
On June 3 the Federal judge Robert Troup wrote to Rufus King
that Americans resented the French rulers, and they were pressuring Congress.
Sweden asked to renew its treaty with the United States,
and Adams sent John Quincy to negotiate as a commissioner.
On March 10 Alexander Hamilton began writing articles using the name “Titus Manlius”
urging the United States to increase its army to face the French threat.
On March 19 President Adams sent a message to both houses
of Congress describing the crisis with the French Republic
and asking them to act to defend their national rights.
On March 23 he proclaimed a Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer on May 9.
That month Spain relinquished their claim to disputed territory north of Florida
and between Georgia and the Mississippi River,
and the United States which responded by organizing that territory.
Adams canceled Washington’s order that prohibited arming merchant ships.
Vice President Jefferson questioned the constitutionality
of doing that without the consent of Congress, and he
urged them to adjourn and confer with their constituents.
On March 27 Republicans proposed a resolution in Congress
to prevent
going to war against France, and they objected to arming merchant ships.
They also asked for documents from President Adams.
Albert Gallatin had succeeded Madison as leader of the Republicans in the House,
and on April 2 he proposed that Adams turn over dispatches.
Federalists helped pass it 65-27 because this would reveal French intentions.
The next day Adams gave them all the dispatches that had been deciphered.
On April 6 the Senate passed a similar resolution.
Hamilton began writing “The Stand” essays criticizing tyrants in France
who were promoting wars, and he called for an army of 50,000 men.
Under Washington the Federalists had reduced the army to 20,000.
President Adams put on a military uniform and a sword
to show that he was commander-in-chief.
On April 27 Congress approved building 12 limited frigates for defense.
They also authorized a regiment of engineers and artillery officers
and an army of up to 80,000 militiamen.
Adams on April 30 signed the bill that established the United States Navy
as a Department and nominated George Cabot as Navy Secretary.
He declined, and Adams chose Benjamin Stoddert on May 18.
John Adams sent Silas Dinsmoor to live with Cherokees
to teach them how to farm land and raise livestock.
When Congress approved a stamp tax to pay for warships,
Gallatin said it was military despotism.
Congress decided to have an army of 10,000 and a Navy with 12 ships.
There was a minor riot on May 9 between the two political parties,
and Adams accepted a sentry to guard the President’s House.
On May 28 Congress increased the army, and Adams signed the bill authorizing
the Navy to seize French ships that had attacked American ships near the coast.
Congress also approved an embargo against French ships.
On June 18 the Senate confirmed Stoddert and provided a salary of $3,000.
This limited war to protect merchant ships came to be known as the “Quazi War.”
John Marshall returned to Philadelphia on June 17 and informed Adams
that France did not want a war against the United States.
Adams learned that Gerry stayed in Paris
because Talleyrand threatened war if he left.
Alien and Sedition Acts were passed, and Abigail Adams
urged laws against sedition in a letter on May 26.
Pickering wanted Bache arrested, and on June 26
Judge Richard Peters issued a warrant for libel.
Republican newspapers accused the government
of violating free speech and a free press.
Pickering criticized Gerry who defended himself
in a letter to Secretary of State Pickering.
The Naturalization Act had become law on June 18
extending time needed for citizenship from five years to 14.
Then on June 25 An Act Respecting Alien Friends allowed
the President to expel any foreigner considered dangerous.
On July 2 Federalists began a war caucus in Congress.
On that day the House of Representatives passed the first direct tax on land,
and Adams named George Washington to command the army.
On the 9th the Evaluation Act went into effect and was called the “Direct House Tax.”
It was progressive because a valuable house
was taxed five times as much as a small house.
They hoped the tax would raise $2 million,
and the federal budget rose to about $8 million.
The auctioneer John Fries began organizing protests of new taxes in July.
Congress approved An Act Respecting Alien Enemies on July 6.
This caused many foreigners to leave the country before it became effective.
On July 14 Congress approved An Act for the Punishment of Certain
Crimes Against the United States, and it was called the “Sedition Act.”
Punishment could be as much as five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Congress adjourned on July 16, and Adams left Philadelphia on the 25th.
In 1798 the yellow fever epidemic with 3,000 deaths was the worst one since 1793.
Vice President Jefferson finished writing the Kentucky Resolutions
on October 4,
and they argued that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional.
On 16 August 1798 the French Directory canceled its embargo of American
ships, and Adams credited Elbridge Gerry with helping to make that happen.
The Quaker, Dr. George Logan, acted as an independent peacemaker,
and he left Paris with a message of peace on August 29.
On September 24 Adams in a letter to Treasury Secretary Wolcott discussed
disagreements regarding the ranks of military officers, and he stated that
Washington was not trying to interfere with his presidency.
Gerry returned from France, and on October 4 he assured Adams
that France and Talleyrand wanted peace.
Republican Congressman Matthew Lyon of Vermont criticized
President Adams, and his trial for sedition began on October 8.
The jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to
four months in prison and a fine of $1,000.
No Federalists were charged with sedition, and in the 1798 election
they increased their majorities in both houses of Congress.
President Adams presented his Second Annual Message to Congress on December 8.
That month the Northwest Territory established a legislature.
On December 21 Adams wrote a letter to the Pennsylvania
House of Representatives warning them of the passion of ambition.
Two days later he wrote “The Basis of Moral Obligation”
for the Maryland General Assembly.
In 1799 citizens petitioned President John Adams to repeal the
Alien and Sedition Acts and reduce taxes and the standing army.
On January 15 Adams asked Secretary of State Timothy Pickering
to work on negotiating a treaty with France.
Vice President Thomas Jefferson advocated a more frugal
government to reduce the national debt.
Adams signed the Logan Act on January 30 that
prohibited private efforts to make peace.
The author Joel Barlow was for reducing the military to pay off the debts,
and he proposed a United States of Europe for peace.
He wrote to George Washington asking him to help prevent a war.
Washington did that in a letter to Adams on February 1.
The next day Adams made public Gerry’s notes from his work in France,
and on February 9 he authorized trade with revolutionary Haiti.
Jefferson warned against insurrection and advised using petitions and elections.
On February 15 Adams learned that France had stopped its maritime decrees.
The United States had prepared for war with an army of 30,000.
On February 18 President Adams ordered the diplomat William Vans Murray
to move from The Hague to Paris in order to negotiate a treaty.
Jefferson read a message from Adams in the Senate.
Hamilton persuaded Pickering, Wolcott, and McHenry
to support a war against France.
Adams wrote a letter to Washington on February 19
about what he was doing for peace.
Adams asked William Vans Murray, Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth,
and Governor Davie of North Carolina to be commissioners.
The United States Congress adjourned on March 29.
Hamilton and Wolcott proposed progressive taxes, and Adams approved them.
In January 1799 resistance against federal taxes had revived in Pennsylvania,
and on March 7 prisoners were moved to a federal court in Philadelphia.
Their leader John Fries warned against assessing another house for the tax.
About 700 men opposed the law, and the assessor went home on March 6.
President Adams sent troops to prevent an insurrection,
and then he went home to Quincy.
Fries with 140 men freed 18 protestors who had been arrested.
On March 12 Adams proclaimed that the insurrection
in Pennsylvania must be stopped.
Gov. Thomas Mifflin delayed sending the militia by consulting the legislature,
and Adams sent 500 soldiers to capture rebels.
They ended their opposition on March 28.
Fries was arrested on April 6, and Adams ordered
him and his supporters tried for treason.
Fries was sentenced to death, and an appeal gave him a second trial on October 11.
Eventually on 15 May 1800 Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase
sentenced Fries and two others to be hanged.
On May 21 President Adams pardoned them,
and he granted a general amnesty to all tax resistors.
Using the militia had cost $80,000.
Two men died in jail, and no one else died or was even wounded in the rebellion.
Adams wrote to Secretary of State Pickering on 17 April 1799,
and he gave him eight instructions on how to handle his job.
On June 23 Adams ended the American trade embargo against Saint Domingue.
An American sailor joined a mutiny on a British ship
and was extradited, tried, and hanged by the British.
The House of Representatives voted not to censure Adams.
On August 5 Adams received a letter from Foreign Minister Talleyran
that American diplomats would be received with respect in France.
The next day Adams wrote to Secretary of State Pickering
advising him how to handle the diplomacy.
In August another yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia
caused the government to move to Trenton, New Jersey.
Pickering, Wolcott, and McHenry demanded again that Adams postpone
the diplomatic mission to France, and on September 18
Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth asked Adams for another delay.
An American agent reported that the British had impressed
over 250 Americans to work on their ships in the West Indies.
Merchants and Navy Secretary Stoddert asked Adams for more protection.
In 1799 the new American Navy reduced the number
of merchant ships lost in the West Indies by two-thirds.
On October 15 Adams arrived at Trenton, and Hamilton, Pickering, Wolcott,
and McHenry urged Adams to suspend or delay the diplomatic mission in France.
The next day Adams ordered Pickering to instruct the commissioners.
He did not do so until November 3, and they left that day.
On November 14 the Kentucky legislature approved more
resolutions to resist violations of the Constitution.
Congress met on November 22, and Adams delivered
his Third Annual Address on December 3.
He reviewed the year and the efforts they were making.
He hoped they were making progress toward peace and prosperity.
Revenue reached a new high in 1799, and
national expenses increased to $9.3 million.
Napoleon took over France’s government in December
and repealed the law against neutral ships.
After being away for ten months Vice President Jefferson
returned to Philadelphia on December 28.
In March 1800 the United States had 26 of its 29 ships at sea.
On May 3 the Federalist caucus selected John Adams for re-election
as President and Charles C. Pinckney for Vice President.
On May 5 Adams asked War Secretary McHenry
to resign for secretly working for Hamilton.
He refused and was dismissed.
Secretary of State Pickering also declined to resign,
and Adams removed him on May 12.
Adams chose Senator Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts to be
Secretary of War and Rep. John Marshall of Virginia as Secretary of State.
On May 10 the Congress approved the Land Act
that provided credit to encourage settlers.
On May 11 the Republicans nominated Vice President Thomas Jefferson
for President and former Senator Aaron Burr for Vice President.
On May 13 the Senate confirmed Secretary of State John Marshall,
and Congress adjourned the next day.
On June 3 Adams visited the District of Columbia where
the new city of Washington was under construction.
A large building for the Treasury Department was already finished.
People there could vote in Maryland.
Adams made speeches in Pennsylvania before going home to Quincy.
He had been away from the capital twice as much as Washington had in eight years.
John Adams wrote 18 letters to John Marshall between July 30 and October 3.
On August 15 the United States Supreme Court ruled that
Congress could authorize violence at sea without declaring war.
In the election Federalists arranged for Pinckney to get one less vote than Adams.
The Republicans did not do that, and Jefferson and Burr each got
73 votes to 65 for Adams and 64 for Pinckney.
Burr tried to win the election in the House of Representatives and was
eventually defeated by Jefferson on the 35th ballot on 17 February 1801.
Pickering and McHenry gave Hamilton confidential files on Adams.
Hamilton published the 54-page “Public Conduct and Character of John Adams,
Esq., President of the United States” with severe criticism,
though he did support Adams in the election.
Aaron Burr got a copy of it and had it printed and distributed by Republicans.
Adams and Jefferson let others campaign for them,
and Burr campaigned especially in New York.
The legislature in most states voted for the electors.
Adams went back to the city of Washington and took up
residence in the unfinished President’s House on November 1.
Six days later they learned that the Morfontaine Convention of Peace,
Commerce, and Navigation with France had been signed on September 30.
Adams believed the French delayed the treaty so that Jefferson would be elected.
Adams submitted the treaty to the Senate on December 16.
Maryland provided most of the popular votes,
and Jefferson defeated Adams by over 20%.
Federalists retained control of the Senate while Republicans gained 22 seats
and a 68-38 majority in the House of Representatives.
The states of Kentucky and Tennessee had joined the union before the 1800 elections.
The United States and France in the Morfontaine Convention agreed
to universal peace and friendship, restoration of captured ships and property,
recognizing debts, free trade, mutual rights of citizens, favorable commerce
to both nations, agents to protect trade, free navigation, regulation of contraband,
free merchandise, equal treatment of property, and agreements
on other issues according to the 27 articles.
The Senate ratified the treaty with reservations on February 2,
and Adams sent Senator James Bayard to France to finish the negotiation.
John Adams gave his last speech while President
as his Fourth Annual Message to Congress on 22 November 1800.
He congratulated the Congress and others for
moving the seat of government to Washington.
He announced that he had discharged the temporary army according to law.
He noted that a treaty of amity and commerce with Prussia had been ratified.
He hoped that the preservation of harmony with all nations would continue.
Their Navy was protecting commerce.
He expected that the manufacture of arms would
replace imports from foreign countries.
He promised to provide a budget for the coming year.
Finally he promised to cooperate with the Congress
“to promote the general happiness.”
President Adams nominated John Marshall to be
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
He was confirmed on December 15 and would serve for 34 years.
Mr. and Mrs. Adams hosted a reception in the President’s House
on New Year’s day, and Jefferson dined with them a few days later.
Adams wrote to William Tudor on January 20 and discussed various issues.
He admitted to paying too little attention to his own interests and reputation.
On the 24th he wrote to George Churchman and Jacob Lindley about slavery,
and he suggested that its abolition should be gradual.
Using violence would only increase the violations of humanity.
He noted that slavery was diminishing, though it threatened to punish their land.
He wished them success in their efforts to end this injustice.
Adams signed the Judicial Act on February 13 that appointed 26 judges
to circuit courts, and all but one of them were confirmed by March 3.
During his four years as President the national debt increased by about 1.2%.
On 4 March 1801 John Adams left the capital at 4 a.m. and went home.
At noon Thomas Jefferson became President of the United States.
After receiving a letter from Jefferson who wrote to him on March 8,
Adams on March 24 wrote to Jefferson about the death of his son Charles Adams.
He wrote 19 or more letters to Benjamin Rush from 1805 to 1813.
In a long letter on 30 September 1805 he warned him about European alliances.
John Adams on 5 February 1806 wrote to John Quincy Adams
to discuss the uncertain relations with France, Spain, and Britain.
After more than a decade went by without a letter between them,
John Adams wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson on 1 January 1812.
Jefferson responded with a letter on January 12, and Adams
wrote a longer letter on manufacturing to Jefferson on February 3.
Jefferson wrote a letter to Adams about Indians on June 11, and on the 15th
he wrote again to John Adams that he too would
let others judge what he had done as President.
John Adams on June 28 responded to Jefferson on American Indians
and compared their philosophy to that of the great Plato and Philo of Alexandria.
On July 9 Adams wrote to Jefferson on advances in government since Aristotle
On September 14 he discussed God and the universe,
and on November 15 he presented his theory of “natural aristocracy.”
Adams in a letter to James Lloyd on 31 March 1815
explained the policies of his administration.
On August 24 Adams questioned Jefferson’s support for the
violent French Revolution as he commented on its history.
On 17 June 1817 John Adams wrote to James Madison about universal suffrage.
On 13 February 1818 he wrote a long letter to Hezekiah Niles
that reviews the history of the American Revolution.
Adams on July 31 wrote to the Jewish Mordecai M. Noah,
and on September 23 he wrote to William Tudor about the rights of Indians.
On October 20 Adams wrote to Jefferson about the fatal illness of his wife Abigail.
On 9 February 1819 Adams praised the life of the revolutionary
Samuel Adams in another letter to William Tudor.
John Adams on 18 February 1825 wrote a short letter to congratulate
his son John Quincy for being elected President of the United States.
John Adams died on 4 July 1826 about six hours before
the death of friend and adversary Thomas Jefferson
on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
John Adams graduated from Harvard College, taught school,
and was an apprentice to learn law.
He studied various philosophers, and he began writing essays
on ethical issues such as conflict and rights.
He was especially influenced by the teachings of Socrates and Jesus.
He kept a diary and wrote his Autobiography.
He disliked religion because of its dogmatism and bigotry.
He became a successful lawyer, and during the Stamp Tax crisis
he wrote extensively on the history of feudal law and the power of religion.
He moved to Boston and became an advocate-general.
He had the courage and empathy to defend the British soldiers
who shot American protesters in March 1770
so that the innocent could be protected.
He was elected to the state legislature and studied
the principles and purposes of governments.
He worked with his cousin Samuel Adams to organize Americans
challenging
British tyranny, and he realized that the Boston Tea Party was a major event.
In 1774 Adams became a delegate to the Continental Congress
and worked on more committees than anyone.
In May 1775 he met Thomas Jefferson, and in June he nominated
George Washington to be commander-in-chief in the War for Independence.
He urged the colonies to have conventions to organize governments.
In January 1776 the Continental Congress elected Adams the head of the Board of War.
He commended Patrick Henry for the Virginia Resolutions,
and he helped persuade the Congress to declare independence.
They got the Congress to offer bounties to attract recruits for the army.
He went to Europe with his son in 1778 and
worked with Ben Franklin as a diplomat in Paris.
In October 1779 Congress appointed Adams to negotiate
a treaty to end the War of Independence.
He wrote extensively about constitutions and governments including a
Declaration of Rights for the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.
Congress sent him to the Netherlands to get a loan, and he also negotiated
a treaty of amity and commerce by the end of 1780.
He realized that France was the key to helping win the war and establish peace.
In June 1781 the Congress sent Jefferson, Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens
to help him negotiate the peace treaty that formally ended the war.
He secured loans from Amsterdam in June 1782.
Adams wrote a Memorial to the Sovereigns of Europe in July calling for world peace.
The Dutch and he signed an amity and commerce treaty in October.
Adams became the ambassador in Britain in April 1785.
Jefferson and Adams made a peace treaty with Morocco in July 1786.
Adams while in London worked on his 3-volume
Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States
from January 1787 to early 1788.
John Adams was elected Vice President and served during the
Washington
Administration from April 1789 to 4 March 1797 when he became President.
President John Adams was a Federalist and gave a moderate inaugural address.
Having narrowly defeated Thomas Jefferson in the 1796,
his Republican rival and friend became Vice President
by the peculiar Electoral College at that time.
Jefferson led the Republicans and often criticized the policies of Adams
especially the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Adams was provoked by diplomatic problems with France
to call a special session of the Congress in May 1797.
He continued Washington’s policy of neutrality
while strengthening defense to protect merchant ships.
He sent John Marshall and others as envoys to France.
Republicans and Federalists quarreled in Congress
and battled verbally in newspapers.
The United States owed money to France and declined to give
the French loans during their war against Britain.
Hamilton advocated expanding the Army to counter the French.
Adams did not want to start a war, and he managed to avoid that.
He proclaimed a day of humiliation and prayer on 9 May 1798.
Federalists and Republicans wore cockades and clashed in the streets.
Diplomats said the French wanted peace.
During the fear of war Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts that
authorized expelling foreigners and punishing people for “malicious” writing
that criticized the government, the President, or his party.
When only Republicans were charged, Jefferson and Madison responded
with the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions justifying that
the states can nullify an unconstitutional federal law.
Congress passed the first tax on land which was progressive on more valuable houses.
Congress abrogated the Treaty with France that had helped
win the War of Independence against Britain.
Adams was determined to prevent a war against France or England.
In addition to diplomatic efforts for peace there was the naval war
to protect merchant ships from the French Navy and privateers.
This half war and half peace was called the “Quasi-War.”
In January 1799 President Adams began negotiating a treaty with France,
shocking the Federalists in Congress.
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania the house tax was unpopular,
and John Fries led those who opposed the law.
Adams accused them of treason and got Pennsylvania’s
Governor Mifflin to send the militia.
Adams also sent 500 Army regulars.
Sixty prisoners were tried in May, and eventually the vindictive
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase sentenced Fries to be hanged.
Adams pardoned him and another man with the same sentence,
and he granted amnesty to the tax resistors.
The Fries rebellion and its suppression had been fairly nonviolent,
and the only casualties were two men who died in prison.
Justice Chase also harshly sentenced the writer James Callender for sedition.
Many men had been imprisoned or fined for violating the Alien and Sedition Acts,
though not one Federalist was charged.
Adams ended the trade embargo against the most
successful slave revolution in Toussaint’s Haiti.
The annual federal budget reached $9.3 million in 1799.
As a lawyer Adams helped free some slaves.
After discovering that three prominent cabinet officials were following
the policies
of the former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Adams replaced them.
John Marshall became Secretary of State and later
at the end of his term Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.
The Judiciary Act was passed in time for Adams to appoint many judges
to federal courts in the final days of his presidency.
Republicans chose Aaron Burr of New York to run for Vice President with Jefferson,
and he helped the Republicans win that state; but when the electoral votes for
Jefferson and Burr were tied because then electors voted for two people,
Burr persuaded Federalists in Congress to refuse to yield until many votes were taken.
Then ten states correctly elected Thomas Jefferson.
Finally the Senate ratified the peace treaty with France in February 1801.
President John Adams was a Federalist and wisely avoided war against France,
but he lost the support of Hamilton who opposed
Jefferson and the Republicans more aggressively.
Adams believed that there is no greater guilt than starting an unnecessary war.
Party conflicts were verbally and legally fierce.
Adams and Federalists reacted with the Alien and Sedition Acts
that punished Republicans for their opinions.
Jefferson, Madison, and other Republicans argued that
unconstitutional laws did not have to be obeyed.
Adams managed to avoid a major war and eventually got a treaty with France.
He had nonviolent tax resistors arrested and eventually pardoned them.
Settlers moving west to the Northwest Territory led to more Indian wars,
and treaties were made that took land.
Adams made efforts to treat the tribes justly, and he encouraged
and supported those who were willing to try farming.
The United States expanded with Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee
becoming states, and diplomacy with Spain opened the Mississippi River
valley between Georgia and Louisiana to the Americans.
Adams had persecuted and prosecuted Jeffersonian Republicans,
and this led to their defeating him in the 1800 election.
During his four years the national debt increased by about $1.2 million.
President Adams made many contributions to American government
over 42 years from the peaceful Stamp Tax to the struggle for independence
and his diplomacy in Europe, to his extensive writing
on government and politics, and to his presidency.
He narrowly lost re-election to Thomas Jefferson.
Adams deserves much credit for avoiding a major war against France,
and his handling of the tax rebellion was skillful.
Yet his violation of human rights in the Alien and Sedition Acts
were political, unfair, and unnecessary,
and they would be quickly repealed under Jefferson.
They led to his defeat in the next election,
and they would be quickly repealed under Jefferson.
During his four years the national debt increased by about $1 million.
I rank John Adams #5.
This work has not yet been published as a book, and all the chapters are free in this website.