sign in sign up
<<
Home , Cotton Tufts, Elbridge Gerry, John Quincy Adams, Josiah Quincy III, Mercy Otis Warren, Oliver Wolcott

Contents

TREATY COMMISSIONER AND MINISTER TO THE AND TO GREAT BRITAIN, 1784–1788 To , , 1784 Washington’s Character ...... 3 To Charles Spener, , 1784 “Three grand Objects” ...... 4 To the Marquis de Lafayette, March 28, 1784 Chivalric Orders ...... 5 To Samuel , May 4, 1784 “Justice may not be done me” ...... 6 To Adams, June 1784 “The Art of writing Letters” ...... 8 From the Diary: June 22–July 10, 1784 ...... 9 To , July 26, 1784 “The happiest Man upon Earth” ...... 10 To Abigail Adams 2nd, July 27, 1784 Keeping a Journal ...... 12 To James Warren, August 27, 1784 Diplomatic Salaries ...... 13 To Benjamin Waterhouse, April 23, 1785 John Quincy’s Education ...... 15 To , May 2, 1785 “Kinds of Vanity” ...... 16 From the Diary: May 3, 1785 ...... 23 To , June 2, 1785 Meeting George III ...... 24 To , August 15, 1785 “The contagion of luxury” ...... 28 xi

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 11 12/10/15 8:38 AM xii Contents To John Jebb, August 21, 1785 Salaries for Public Officers ...... 29 To John Jebb, September 10, 1785 “The first Step of Corruption” ...... 33 To , February 17, 1786 The Ambassador from Tripoli ...... 38 To William White, February 28, 1786 Religious Liberty ...... 41 To Matthew Robinson-Morris, March 4–20, 1786 Liberty and Commerce ...... 42 To Granville Sharp, March 8, 1786 The Slave Trade ...... 45 To Matthew Robinson-Morris, March 23, 1786 Debt ...... 46 From the Diary: March 30, 1786 ...... 49 Notes on a Tour of England with Thomas Jefferson, April 1786 ...... 49 From the Diary: April 19, 1786 ...... 52 To Charles Adams, June 2, 1786 “A schollar is always made alone” ...... 52 From the Diary: July 1, 1786 ...... 53 To Richard Cranch, July 4, 1786 Nabby’s Marriage ...... 54 From the Diary: July 21, 1786 ...... 55 To , November 29, 1786 Tumult in ...... 56 To James Warren, January 9, 1787 “Popularity was never my Mistress” ...... 57 To Thomas Boylston Adams, January 15, 1787 “We are not born for ourselves alone” ...... 59 To Cotton Tufts, August 27, 1787 Buying Land in Braintree ...... 60

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 12 12/10/15 8:38 AM Contents xiii

To Thomas Jefferson, October 9, 1787 Keeping Resolutions ...... 61 To Thomas Jefferson, December 6, 1787 The New Constitution ...... 63 FROM A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the of America, Vol. I, 1787 . . . 64 FROM A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, Vol. III, 1788 . . . 110 To , January 23, 1788 Oratory ...... 161 To Cotton Tufts, January 23, 1788 “Trying the Experiment” ...... 162 To Cotton Tufts, February 12, 1788 Amending the Constitution ...... 163 To Thomas Brand Hollis, April 5, 1788 “A balance of three branches” ...... 164 To Thomas Brand Hollis, December 3, 1788 Balancing Vanity and Comfort ...... 166

VICE PRESIDENT, 1789–1797 To Elbridge Gerry, March 20, 1789 The Presidential Election ...... 171 Inaugural Address as Vice President, April 21, 1789 . . 172 From the Diary of William Maclay: April 25–May 8, 1789 ...... 174 To , May 8, 1789 Monarchy and Aristocracy ...... 188 From the Diary of William Maclay: May 9–14, 1789 . . . 190 To , May 17, 1789 Presidential Protocol ...... 201 To Nathaniel Peaslee Sargeant, May 22, 1789 “We are in great danger” ...... 203 To Abigail Adams, May 24, 1789 A House in ...... 206

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 13 12/10/15 8:38 AM xiv Contents From the Diary of William Maclay: May 26–28, 1789 . 208 To Sr., May 28, 1789 Official Titles ...... 215 To Jeremy Belknap, June 5, 1789 “Human passions are insatiable” ...... 217 To Richard Peters, June 5, 1789 “The avarice of Liberty” ...... 217 To , June 9, 1789 “Fatal Divisions” ...... 219 To Benjamin Rush, June 19, 1789 Republican Governments ...... 221 To William Tudor Sr., June 28, 1789 National and State Sovereignty ...... 222 To Benjamin Rush, July 5, 1789 “The Constitution of human nature” ...... 224 To , July 17, 1789 Species of Governments ...... 226 To Roger Sherman, July 18, 1789 “A monarchical Republic” ...... 228 To Roger Sherman, July 20, 1789 Appointments and the Senate ...... 231 To , January 13, 1790 “You read yourself to death” ...... 235 To John Trumbull, March 12, 1790 Ancestry and Principles ...... 236 To Benjamin Rush, April 4, 1790 Franklin and Washington ...... 242 To Thomas Brand Hollis, June 11, 1790 The Few and the Many ...... 245 To George Washington, August 29, 1790 Preserving Neutrality ...... 247 To John Quincy Adams, October 4, 1790 “Nil Admirari Nil contemni” ...... 250

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 14 12/10/15 8:38 AM Contents xv

To Samuel Adams, October 18, 1790 Republics and Nobility ...... 251 FROM Discourses on Davila, 1790–1791 ...... 258 To Charles Storer, March 16, 1791 The Massacre ...... 290 To Thomas Jefferson, July 29, 1791 “A direct and open personal attack” ...... 291 To Abigail Adams, December 28, 1792 “Four years more” ...... 294 To Abigail Adams, January 9, 1793 “This miserable Scramble” ...... 295 To Abigail Adams, February 3, 1793 The Trial of Louis XVI ...... 297 To Charles Adams, December 23, 1793 “Flowers of Jacobinical Rhetorick” ...... 298 To Charles Adams, January 9–10, 1794 “The modern Doctrine of Equality” ...... 300 To Charles Adams, February 24, 1794 “A moral Equality only” ...... 301 To Charles Adams, May 11, 1794 Chimerical Systems ...... 303 To Charles Adams, May 17, 1794 Uncontrolled Power and Passions ...... 305 To Charles Adams, December 24, 1794 “The Follies of the Times” ...... 307 To Winthrop Sargent, January 24, 1795 “The dirty Torrent of dissolving Europe” . . . . . 308 To John Trumbull, February 13, 1795 “One of my remarkable Cures” ...... 309 To Charles Adams, February 14, 1795 Popularity and Party Spirit ...... 310 To Jeremy Belknap, March 21, 1795 Slavery in ...... 313

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 15 12/10/15 8:38 AM xvi Contents To Jeremy Belknap, October 22, 1795 “Justice to the Negroes” ...... 314 To Abigail Adams, March 11, 1796 “The Ennui of Life” ...... 315 From the Diary: July 12–September 8, 1796 . . . . . 316 To Abigail Adams, January 9, 1797 Hamilton’s Hypocrisy ...... 322 To Abigail Adams, February 4, 1797 Financial Difficulties ...... 323 Farewell Address to the Senate, February 15, 1797 . . 324

PRESIDENT, 1797–1801 Inaugural Address, March 4, 1797 ...... 329 To Abigail Adams, March 5, 1797 The Inaugural Ceremony ...... 335 To , March 30, 1797 “The late Election” ...... 336 To Jr., April 14, 1797 Crisis with ...... 338 Address to Congress in Special Session, May 16, 1797 ...... 340 To Elbridge Gerry, May 30, 1797 “A Strong Antigallican Party” ...... 348 To the Citizens Committee of Boston and Vicinity, August 7, 1797 “Calumnies and Contempts” ...... 350 To William Walter, October 1797 Writing the “Defence” ...... 351 First Annual Message to Congress, November 23, 1797 ...... 353 To , January 24, 1798 Contemplating War with France ...... 359 Message to Congress on Relations with France, March 19, 1798 ...... 361

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 16 12/10/15 8:38 AM Contents xvii

Proclamation of a Fast Day, March 23, 1798 . . . . . 363 To the Mayor and Citizens of , April 23, 1798 “The prospect of Unanimity” ...... 365 To the Grand Jury for Plymouth County, Massachusetts, May 28, 1798 “Plundered, by professed Friends” ...... 366 To the Second Battalion of of Prince George County, , June 6, 1798 French “Ambition and Avarice” ...... 367 To the Citizens of Richmond, Virginia, June 10, 1798 Dangers of Foreign Influence ...... 368 To the Citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, June 25, 1798 Forgetting British Injuries ...... 369 To George Washington, July 7, 1798 “The urgent necessity” ...... 370 To the Citizens of Harrison County, Virginia, August 13, 1798 “A Union of sentiment” ...... 371 To the Greens & Whites Cavalry Troop of the Virginia Militia, August 15, 1798 “The Motives of such base Americans” ...... 372 To Timothy Pickering, September 16, 1798 Passports for French Philosophers ...... 372 To Oliver Wolcott Jr., September 24, 1798 Military Appointments ...... 373 To Timothy Pickering, November 2, 1798 Logan’s Unauthorized Diplomacy ...... 377 To the House of Representatives, December 21, 1798 “France ought to be ashamed” ...... 378 To the General Assembly, December 23, 1798 “The Basis of moral obligation” ...... 379 Valuation of Real Estate, December 1798 . . . . . 381

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 17 12/10/15 8:38 AM xviii Contents To , March 29, 1799 “The real Spirit of the Parties” ...... 384 To Oliver Wolcott Jr., May 17, 1799 Fries Rebellion ...... 384 To Timothy Pickering, June 7, 1799 ...... 385 To Oliver Wolcott Jr., June 21, 1799 Public Credit ...... 386 To Timothy Pickering, August 1, 1799 Prosecuting the “Aurora” ...... 386 To Abigail Adams, October 27, 1799 “The Essence of my Religion” ...... 387 To William Tudor Sr., February 25, 1800 “A name for our Country” ...... 388 To , Oliver Wolcott Jr., and Charles Lee, May 20, 1800 Pardoning the Fries Rebels ...... 389 James McHenry to , May 31, 1800 Crisis in the Cabinet ...... 391 Fourth Annual Message to Congress, November 22, 1800 ...... 400 To Thomas Boylston Adams, January 24, 1801 “All revolutions are alike” ...... 404 To George Churchman and Jacob Lindley, January 24, 1801 “Slavery is fast diminishing” ...... 406 To Samuel Smith, February 7, 1801 “Downright corruption has spread” ...... 407

RETIREMENT, 1801–1826 To Benjamin Stoddert, March 31, 1801 “We have no Americans in America” ...... 411 To Philip Peck, November 16, 1801 A Namesake Request ...... 412

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 18 12/10/15 8:38 AM Contents xix

To Thomas Boylston Adams, March 1, 1802 Appraising the “Defence” ...... 413 To William Cunningham Jr., March 15, 1804 “The awful spirit of ” ...... 414 To Benjamin Rush, February 6, 1805 “Dangerous Questions” ...... 416 To Benjamin Waterhouse, February 19, 1805 Tobacco and Cider ...... 417 To John Trumbull, July 27, 1805 Hamilton and Washington ...... 419 To Benjamin Rush, August 23, 1805 Hamilton’s Talents ...... 427 To Benjamin Rush, September 30, 1805 Avoiding European Alliances ...... 430 To Benjamin Waterhouse, October 29, 1805 Laurence Sterne and ...... 437 To John Trumbull, November 18, 1805 Hamilton and Madison ...... 438 To François Adriaan van der Kemp, January 8, 1806 Meteorites and Natural History ...... 442 To Benjamin Rush, January 25, 1806 General Miranda ...... 445 To John Quincy Adams, February 5, 1806 Blockade and Impressment ...... 449 To John Adams Smith, March 27, 1806 Advantages of a College Degree ...... 451 To François Adriaan van der Kemp, August 23, 1806 “The real Fathers of their Country” ...... 453 To Benjamin Rush, December 22, 1806 “The Perfectibility of Man” ...... 455 To Benjamin Rush, February 2, 1807 The Burr Conspiracy ...... 459 Excerpt from a letter of Abigail Adams to , March 9, 1807 ...... 462

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 19 12/10/15 8:38 AM xx Contents To William Heath, May 11, 1807 Military Discipline ...... 463 To Benjamin Rush, May 21, 1807 The Origin of Independence ...... 465 To Benjamin Rush, May 23, 1807 “Empire rises where the Sun descends” ...... 468 To Benjamin Rush, June 23, 1807 “Calamities of my Enemies” ...... 469 To Mercy Otis Warren, , 1807 Responding to Warren’s “History” ...... 475 To Benjamin Rush, September 1, 1807 Prudence “a rascally Virtue” ...... 481 To Benjamin Rush, November 11, 1807 Washington’s Talents ...... 484 To William Heath, December 14, 1807 “The Art of War” ...... 489 To Benjamin Rush, January 18, 1808 Naivete ...... 491 To John Quincy Adams, February 12, 1808 Judicial Removal ...... 495 To Benjamin Rush, July 25, 1808 The Embargo Act ...... 500 To Benjamin Rush, September 27, 1808 Preserving the Union ...... 503 To Josiah Quincy III, December 23, 1808 Removing the Embargo ...... 505 To Joseph B. Varnum, December 26, 1808 Relations with France and England ...... 508 To Daniel Wright and Erastus Lyman, March 13, 1809 “Strict historical Truth” ...... 512 To Joseph Ward, January 8, 1810 Jefferson and “Sally” ...... 514

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 20 12/10/15 8:38 AM Contents xxi

To François Adriaan van der Kemp, April 9, 1811 “Causes of the Spirit” ...... 518 To Benjamin Rush, June 21, 1811 Family News and the “stormy Science of Politicks” . 519 To Benjamin Rush, August 28, 1811 “My posthumous sermon” ...... 523 To Benjamin Rush, December 25, 1811 Differences with Jefferson ...... 528 To Thomas Jefferson, January 1, 1812 “Two Pieces of Homespun” ...... 531 To John Adams 2nd, February 2, 1812 “That Word ‘worthy’” ...... 532 To Thomas Jefferson, February 3, 1812 Resuming a Correspondence ...... 533 To , March 19, 1812 Strengthening the Navy ...... 537 To Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1812 American Indians ...... 538 To Benjamin Rush, December 29–30, 1812 “Had I been continued President” ...... 541 To Benjamin Rush, January 4, 1813 “A moral essay” ...... 544 To Joseph B. Varnum, January 5, 1813 Naval Anecdotes ...... 546 To Elbridge Gerry, April 2, 1813 Foreign Affairs in 1789 ...... 549 To Elbridge Gerry, April 9, 1813 Judicial Construction ...... 552 To Thomas Jefferson, June 28, 1813 Christianity and Liberty ...... 553 To Thomas Jefferson, June 30, 1813 Terrorism ...... 556

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 21 12/10/15 8:38 AM xxii Contents To Thomas Jefferson, July 9, 1813 Advances in Government ...... 559 To Thomas Jefferson, July 15, 1813 “Where is the Amelioration of Society?” . . . . . 562 To , July 15, 1813 The ...... 564 To Thomas Jefferson, September 14, 1813 God and the Universe ...... 566 To Thomas Jefferson, November 15, 1813 Natural Aristocracy ...... 569 To Richard Rush, November 20, 1813 “I never owned a slave” ...... 576 To John Taylor, April 15, 1814 Liberty and Morality ...... 577 To Thomas Jefferson, July 16, 1814 Plato ...... 580 To John Taylor, January 13, 1815 “Causes of Aristocracy” ...... 586 To James Lloyd, February 17, 1815 Burr and Hamilton ...... 588 To Jedidiah Morse, March 4, 1815 “I have little Faith in History” ...... 592 To John Taylor, March 5, 1815 Knowledge and Equality ...... 593 To James Lloyd, March 31, 1815 “I left my Country in Peace” ...... 596 To George Washington Adams and John Adams 2nd, May 3, 1815 Advice for Foreign Travel ...... 599 To Thomas Jefferson, August 24, 1815 “The Revolution was in the Minds of the People” . . 601 To Charles Francis Adams, October 23, 1815 “Greek and are indispensible” ...... 603

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 22 12/10/15 8:38 AM Contents xxiii

To , October 23, 1815 Clergymen and Priests ...... 603 To Jedidiah Morse, November 2, 1815 Secrecy and the ...... 604 To George Washington Adams, December 15, 1815 Urging a Grandson to Return Home ...... 605 To Thomas Jefferson, May 3, 1816 Death and the Afterlife ...... 607 To Thomas Jefferson, May 6, 1816 “The Uses of Grief” ...... 610 To George Washington Adams, May 27, 1816 “A martial spirit” ...... 613 To John Quincy Adams, July 24, 1816 Newton and the Ether ...... 615 To John Quincy Adams, August 26, 1816 “The most conceited People” ...... 616 To François Adriaan van der Kemp, December 27, 1816 Christianity and Revelation ...... 618 To Henry Colman, January 13, 1817 “A Colony of free Blacks” ...... 620 To John Quincy Adams, January 22, 1817 “Metaphisicks” ...... 621 To John Gorham, January 28, 1817 “The only perfect Chymist” ...... 623 To Benjamin Waterhouse, February 26, 1817 The Fine Arts ...... 626 To , June 17, 1817 Universal Suffrage ...... 627 To Hezekiah Niles, February 13, 1818 “Thirteen Clocks were made to strike together” . . . 629 To John T. Watson, July 23, 1818 “A dull, dreary unfruitful Waste” ...... 636

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 23 12/10/15 8:38 AM xxiv Contents To Mordecai M. Noah, July 31, 1818 Jewish Citizenship ...... 637 To William Tudor Sr., September 23, 1818 Indian Land Rights ...... 638 To Thomas Jefferson, October 20, 1818 Abigail’s Final Illness ...... 641 To Thomas Jefferson, December 8, 1818 “My great Affliction” ...... 642 To William Tudor Sr., , 1819 Samuel Adams ...... 643 To William Willis, February 21, 1819 Temperance ...... 644 To Mordecai M. Noah, March 15, 1819 A Jewish Nation in Judea ...... 645 To Isaac Hall Tiffany, March 31, 1819 Defining “Liberty” and “Republic” ...... 645 To Robert J. Evans, June 8, 1819 The Infamy of the Slave Trade ...... 647 To Vine Utley, September 10, 1819 “My Physical habits” ...... 648 To François Adriaan van der Kemp, September 25, 1819 “This weight of woe” ...... 649 To , December 8, 1819 Women’s Education ...... 650 To Thomas Jefferson, December 21, 1819 Virtue in Nations ...... 651 To Louisa Catherine Adams, December 23, 1819 “The Question” ...... 652 To Louisa Catherine Adams, January 13, 1820 “The gangrene” of Slavery ...... 654 To Jesse Torrey, February 7, 1820 Public Libraries ...... 655 To Thomas Jefferson, May 12, 1820 “Pillows of Ignorance” ...... 656

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 24 12/10/15 8:38 AM Contents xxv

To Samuel Miller, July 7, 1820 Calvinism ...... 658 To Charles Holt, September 4, 1820 “Stubborn facts” ...... 660 To Benjamin Waterhouse, May 8, 1821 Duty to Posterity ...... 661 To Benjamin Waterhouse, May 21, 1821 Natural Genius and Education ...... 662 To David Sewall, May 22, 1821 “Exhilirating prospects” ...... 664 To , June 20, 1821 Indian and African Religions ...... 665 To Louisa Catherine Adams, November 15, 1821 Religious Questions ...... 666 To George Washington Adams, December 27, 1821 Montesquieu ...... 667 To John Van Ness Yates, January 1, 1823 Assisting Greece ...... 669 To Alexander Bryan Johnson, March 1, 1823 Missionaries ...... 670 To Edmund Rogers, April 5, 1824 Coffee ...... 671 To Thomas Jefferson, January 23, 1825 Blasphemy ...... 672 To John Quincy Adams, February 18, 1825 John Quincy Is Elected President ...... 673 To John Adams 2nd, February 19, 1825 “Not an event to excite vanity” ...... 673 To John Whitney, June 7, 1826 Anniversary of Independence ...... 674 Chronology ...... 679 Note on the Texts ...... 706 Notes ...... 720 Index ...... 879

9781598534665_Adams_Writings_791165.indb 25 12/10/15 8:38 AM