Let Adams Tell it Himself

John Adams was a wonderful writer, and his wife Abigail was just as clever and talented with a pen.  My favorite part of this book so far is the letters between John and Abigail.  Below are some of my favorite quotes from John Adams so far.  

“But we must be cautious and sparing of our praise, lest it become too familiar.”  (On teaching)

“Upon common theaters, indeed, the applause of the audience is of more importance to the actors than their own approbation.  But upon the stage of life, while conscience claps, let the world hiss!  On the contrary if conscience disapproves, the loudest applauses of the world are of little value.”  (In a letter to Harvard classmate Charles Cushing.)

During the French and Indian war, the colonists began to refer to themselves as Americans.  John Adams saw this as a turning point in history.  As he related in a letter to another classmate in 1755:

“All that part of Creation that lies within our observation is liable to change…England…in power and magnificence, and is now the greatest nation upon the globe.  Soon after the Reformation a few people came over into the new world for conscience sake.  Perhaps this (apparently) trivial incident may transfer the great seat of empire into America.  It looks likely to me…The only way to keep us from setting up ourselves is to disunite us.  Divide et impera.  Keep us in distinct colonies, and then, some great men in each colony, desiring the monarchy of the whole, they will destroy each others’ influence and keep the country in equilibrio.  Be not surprised that I am turned politician.  The whole town is immersed in politics.” 

“Oh! that I could wear out of my mind every mean and base affectation, conquer my natural pride and conceit.” (Diary entry)

“Vanity, I am sensible, is my cardinal vice and cardinal folly.”  (Diary entry)

After marveling at the stars one evening, Adams contemplated God’s love expressed in His Creation.  He then went on in his diary to comment:

“But all the provisions that [God] has [made] for the gratification of our senses…are much inferior to the provision, the wonderful provision that He has made for the gratification of our nobler powers of intelligence and reason.  He has given us reason to find out the truth, and the real design and true end of our existence.”

And this is just the beginning.  He hasn’t even graduated college yet.  

 

Beginnings

The first of John Adams’ ancestors arrived in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1638 along with many other Puritans.  John Adams’ father was a deacon in the local church and a farmer by profession.

“What has preserved this race of Adamses in all their ramifications in such numbers, health, peace, comfort, and mediocrity?  I believe it is religion, without which they would have been rakes, fops, sots, gamblers, starved with hunger, or frozen with cold, scalped by Indians, etc., etc., etc., been melted away and disappeared…”  (John Adams in a letter to good friend Benjamin Rush)

It is no surprise then, that the elder Adams desired John to go to Harvard and become a minister.  John was an intelligent and active boy who was, “unusually sensitive to criticism but also quickly responsive to praise…” (McCullough)  John would have been content to work on the farm for the rest of his life.  (Or so he thought as a boy).

Although John was destined to become a lawyer and not minister or a farmer by trade, he did end up going to Harvard.

“It had long been an article of faith among the Adamses that land was the only sound investment and, once purchased, was never to be sold.  Only once is Deacon John known to have made an exception to the rule, when he sold ten acres to help send his son John to college.”

And so began the formal education of our second president.

New Year, New Book

I am finally on my way!  I recently began reading the book John Adams by David McCullough.  How have I not read a McCullough book before?!?  It’s wonderful!  After just a few days, I’m 110 pages in and have a real sense of who John Adams was.  I can already tell I like him.  

So now let’s begin with the note taking!  Onward!

The End

While on horseback visiting his farms on Thursday, December 12th, it began to snow, hail, and finally rain on Washington.  When he arrived back at home, he found he had guests waiting and did not wish for them to wait any longer.  He chose to dine with them in his cold, wet clothes.  

A sore throat set in, that many now believe was strep throat.  The infection quickly spread, a fever took root, and his breathing became labored.  While on his deathbed, he chose to burn a previous will, leaving only the will that freed his slaves.  

On December 14th, 1799, with Martha by his side, George Washington left this world for eternity.  

Martha was too devastated to attend his funeral that was held outside their Mount Vernon home.  She followed her husband in death on May 22, 1802, and was interned beside him.  

It has been a long journey learning about the life of our first President.  He was no saint, but he was the man God chose to be our first President.  Washington was a tool in God’s hand, which makes God the hero of this story.  God bless America.  

The Will

After retiring from public service, Washington drew up a new will.  It granted immediate freedom to his personal slave William Lee along with an annuity of $30 for the rest of his life.  

He also declared that upon the death of his wife, all of his slaves should be freed.  His heirs were to provide financially for the older slaves, and his heirs were also to provide an education for the younger slaves so that they would be equipped for all sorts of employment.

Upon Washington’s death, Martha freed all of his slaves, likely out of fear that one of them would attempt to murder her knowing that it would mean their freedom.  

Washington had hoped such an example would be followed by the other slave-holding southerners.  It was to be another 62 years until the Civil War would begin, and slavery would finally end.   

To Sum Up

Washington’s presidential accomplishments as described by Ron Chernow:

“Washington’s catalog of accomplishments was simply breathtaking.  he had restored American credit and assumed state debt; created a bank, a mint, a coast guard, a customs service, and a diplomatic corps; introduced the first accounting, tax, and budgetary procedures; maintained peace at home and abroad; inaugurated a navy, bolstered the army, and shored up coastal defenses and infrastructure; proved that the country could regulate commerce and negotiate binding treaties; protected frontier settlers, subdued Indian uprisings, and established law and order amid rebellion, scrupulously adhering all the while to the letter of the Constitution. 

“During his successful presidency, exports had soared, shipping had boomed, and state taxes had declined dramatically.  Washington had also opened the Mississippi to commerce, negotiated treaties with the Barbary states, and forced the British to evacuate their northwestern forts.  Most of all he had shown a disbelieving world that republican government could prosper without being spineless or disorderly or reverting to authoritarian rule.  In surrendering the presidency after two terms and overseeing a smooth transition of power, Washington had demonstrated that the president was merely the servant of the people…

“To his everlasting credit, he showed that the American political system could manage tensions without abridging civil liberties.  His most flagrant failings remained those of the country as a whole-the inability to deal forthrightly with the injustice of slavery or to figure out an equitable solution in the ongoing clashes with Native Americans.”

Second Term

Washington’s second term as President was even more contentious and stressful than the first.  The gap between Federalists and Republicans continued to widen as news of the French revolution reached American shores.  The Federalists were alarmed at what they considered massacres of innocent people and a pursuit of complete anarchy.  Republicans rejoiced as they saw the monarchy fall.

The Whiskey Rebellion led more fuel to the fire, as Washington determined that the entire nation should not be dictated by one small part.  He led troops out himself to squelch the rebellion.  

Jefferson and Hamilton both resigned as cabinet members, and Washington began to believe that loyalty was more important than political diversity in a cabinet.  His feuding cabinet had done little to support his role as President once they became resolved in their own opinions.  

Washington began to long for retirement and his home at Mount Vernon.   

Political Parties

The Federalists vs. The Republicans

AKA the Hamiltonians vs. the Jeffersonians

Washington opposed political parties.  He felt they were unnecessarily divisive and never claimed a party for his own.  

Two of his most brilliant cabinet members, however, soon gained support in their opposing viewpoints and began a heated national debate.  Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson began their own private war.  

Ron Chernow describes their views:

“Before long the two factions took on revealing names.  The Hamiltonian party called itself Federalists, implying that it alone supported the Constitution and national unity.  It took a robust view of federal power and a strong executive branch, and it favored banks and manufacturing as well as agriculture.  Elitist in its politics, it tended to doubt the wisdom of the common people, but it also included a large number of northerners opposed to slavery.  The Jeffersonians called themselves Republicans to suggest that they alone could save the Constitution from monarchical encroachments.  They believed in limited federal power, a dominate Congress, states’ rights, and an agrarian nation free of the corrupting influence of banks, federal debt, and manufacturing.  While led by slaveholders such as Jefferson and Madison, the Republicans credited the wisdom of the common people.  Washington and Hamilton believed wholeheartedly in an energetic federal government, whereas Jefferson and Madison feared concentrated power.”  

Although Washington never claimed a party, he most often sided with the Federalists.  Jefferson could not bring himself to question Washington’s patriotism, so he blamed Washington’s decisions on Hamilton’s cunning and deception instead of Washington’s own personal beliefs.  This could not have been further from the truth.  Washington firmly believed that the best way to protect the national republic, was to make a strong national republic.   

Despite Washington typical siding with the Federalists, both parties felt that only Washington could mediate between them.  They insisted he continue as President for one more term so that the nation would not fall in an irreversible chasm.  Washington reluctantly agreed. 

Foreign Relations

Even after eight years of war with the British, Washington knew that an alliance with Great Britain would be most prudent.  A British diplomat Major George Beckwith echoed Washington’s feelings when he told him, “I have always preferred a connection with you to that of any other country.  We think in English and have a similarity of prejudices and predilections.”

While building an alliance with Great Britain, Washington was also careful to support France in public.  Despite his public support of France, Washington held deep forebodings of the coming revolution.  He warned Lafayette, “against running into extremes and prejudicing your cause.”  He predicted violent mobs and dangerous outcomes.  

He later chose to not send help to the French revolutionaries.   

National Debt & Slavery

Washington and Hamilton both felt strongly that all debt incurred by states during the Revolutionary War, should be consolidated on the national level.  There reasoning was thus:

1.  It would help establish unity among the states.

2.  It could more easily be paid off by the federal government regularly making payments until the debt could be retired.  

3.  It would establish the federal government’s authority in fiscal matters.  

There were many strong opponents to this, especially from men like Thomas Jefferson and the southern states.  They argued:

1.  It would give too much power to the federal government.  

2.  Some southern states such as Virginia had already nearly paid off all it’s wartime debt, and should not have to shoulder the burden of other state’s debts.

3.  If the federal government could establish a national bank and establish a national debt, then the federal government could also abolish slavery.  The south was staunchly opposed to this.

Indeed, slavery continued to be an issue at the forefront of the nation’s conscience.  No sooner had Congress been established, than the Quakers of the north marched in with petitions to immediately halt the slave trade, and gradually abolish slavery.  Although men like Benjamin Franklin stood proudly with the Quakers, many of the founding fathers remained silent, hoping that the next generation of legislatures would resolve the issue once and for all.

Washington continued to wrestle inwardly with slavery, but perhaps the greatest blemish on his record is that he remained silent while the Quakers spoke for those whom God viewed as equals, but the government did not.