John Adams
Biography
Of all the early presidents of the United States, John Adams has been the least understood and appreciated. His reputation, both during his lifetime and after, has suffered from this lack of understanding. Yet he was a remarkable man who contributed greatly to the creation of the United States during the American Revolution and in its formative years.
Political Beginnings
Altogether, Adams spent about 25 years in public life. He became interested in politics quite early in his career as a lawyer. In 1765 a crisis arose when the British government passed the Stamp Act. This was an unpopular tax on public documents, newspapers, licenses, insurance policies, and even playing cards. Adams wrote powerful articles against the tax in the Boston Gazette. These articles helped to establish his reputation as a political thinker, as an opponent of Britain’s colonial policies in America, and as a champion of individual liberties.
Continental Congress
Adams served as a delegate from Massachusetts to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774 and to the Second Continental Congress, which met in 1775. With brilliance and persistence, he argued for American independence from Britain. When the fighting broke out in 1775 that marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Adams proposed George Washington as the commander of American military forces.
Adams was a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Although the Declaration was written chiefly by Thomas Jefferson, Adams bore the burden of defending it on the floor of the Continental Congress. It was adopted on July 4, 1776.
Diplomatic Service
Adams’ diplomatic career began in 1778 when he was sent to France to help negotiate a treaty of alliance. In 1780 he returned to Europe as minister to arrange for loans and trade agreements in France and the Netherlands. Two years later Adams, together with Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, signed the preliminary peace treaty with Britain. The treaty, known as the Treaty of Paris, was finally concluded in 1783. It ended the Revolutionary War and crowned Adams’ long struggle for American independence.
In 1785, Adams was appointed the first U.S. minister to Britain. He tried to win British friendship and economic co-operation, but without success. One reason was that he was too outspoken in defense of American interests. He was happy to return home in 1788, after having spent some ten years abroad.
Vice President
In the first presidential election in the United States, in 1788, George Washington won all the Electoral votes cast for President. Adams became Vice President. Both men were re- elected in 1792.
In spite of his general agreement with Washington’s policies, Adams was impatient with his position as vice president. Adams was eager to lead and to act. Instead, he had to confine himself to the largely ceremonial job of presiding over the U.S. Senate.
President
Adams’ frustration was ended by his victory in the presidential election of 1796. Running as the Federalist candidate, he edged out Thomas Jefferson, leader of the Democratic-Republican (also called the Republicans). According to the laws of the time, Jefferson thus became vice president. As a result, the new president and vice president belonged to opposing political parties.
John Adams was the first president to occupy the White House. He and Abigail moved in near the end of his term, in the fall of 1800. The President’s Palace, as it was then known, was still unfinished and littered with debris.
Adams’ one term as president was marked by troubles, both international and domestic. The foreign affairs crisis involved American neutrality at a time when Britain and France were at war. French attacks on American ships stirred up a warlike atmosphere in the United States, even inside Adams’ own Cabinet. The situation was aggravated by the so-called XYZ Affair.
The XYZ Affair
Adams had sent a diplomatic mission to France to arrange a treaty. There the diplomats were visited by three agents of the French foreign minister Talleyrand. These agents, known as X, Y, and Z, asked for a bribe of $240,000. When news of this XYZ Affair reached America, it caused an uproar and led to an undeclared war between the United States and France. But despite immense pressure, including that of members of his own Federalist Party, President Adams knew that the United States was not strong enough to fight the French Empire. He persisted in his efforts for peace, which was finally achieved by the Convention of 1800. Adams considered it his great accomplishment. He said, “I desire no other inscription over my gravestone than: ‘Here lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of the peace with France in the year 1800.’”
Adams’ courageous but unpopular peace policy and his stubborn independence in other political matters cost him the support of his own party. The leading Federalists, including the powerful Alexander Hamilton, turned bitterly against him. This led to a hopeless split in their party.
The Alien and Sedition Acts
President Adams’ unpopularity was aggravated by the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts were a direct result of the excitement over the trouble with France. The country was divided into pro-French and pro-British groups Adams’ Federalist Party was strongly anti-French. The opposition Democratic-Republican Party, led by Jefferson, was just as strongly anti-British.
The Federalists were convinced that opposition against them was aroused by the French and Irish living in America. They were sure that the country swarmed with French spies. The Federalists controlled Congress. In 1798 they decided to crush the opposition through legislation that came to be known as the Alien and Sedition Acts.
The Alien Act contained three provisions. One required that the period of naturalization for foreigners be changed from 5 to 14 years. The second authorized the president to deport all aliens considered dangerous to the peace and security of the country. The third gave the president the power to imprison or banish citizens of an enemy country in time of war.
More serious was the Sedition Act, which was aimed at American opponents of the government. This act made it a crime to oppose the administration directly or indirectly. Even those who voiced criticism in print were made subject to harsh penalties.
The Sedition Act resulted in the prosecution of 25 persons and the conviction of 10 of them. All were prominent Democratic-Republicans.
These acts were violently unpopular. They were considered an attack on the basic liberties of the American people. President Adams was not personally responsible for them, but they were passed by his party and he signed them. Therefore the blame fell upon him. In the election of 1800, Adams and his party suffered disastrous defeat. The Federalist Party never recovered.
On March 4, 1801, after the inauguration of President Jefferson, Adams retired from public life. He returned to Braintree and devoted the remaining 25 years of his life to intellectual pursuits, mainly reading (philosophy, religion, political thought, science) and letter writing. He resumed his friendship and correspondence with Thomas Jefferson in 1812. The two men had been separated for 12 years because of political differences. On July 4, 1826--the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence--John Adams died at Quincy. That same day Jefferson died at Monticello, Virginia.
His Political Philosophy
Adams expressed his ideas in a number of essays and books, as well as in his letters. There are three main elements in his philosophy. One is Adams’ view of human nature. Another is his conception of inequality. The third is his idea of government.
Adams did not agree with democrats like Jefferson that human beings were naturally good and decent. On the contrary, he believed that people were basically selfish and only good because of necessity.
Adams also denied the democratic idea of equality. He pointed out that among all nations the people were "naturally divided into two sorts, the gentlemen and the simple men." The gentlemen, being superior in abilities, education, and other advantages, were therefore qualified to rule.
These views underlay Adams’ philosophy of government. Since human beings were greedy and selfish, it was necessary for society to keep them in check. The average person, he felt, could not be entrusted with power.
Adams believed in liberty and was opposed to tyranny. Though he was sometimes accused of being a monarchist, he actually preferred a republic. But instead of a Jefferson-type Democracy, Adams favored a republican government run by an aristocracy of talented men.
Such views, expressed with his typical bluntness, gained Adams unpopularity and even hostility among the American people. But he was not one to seek popular favor. He died as he had lived, an independent, tough-minded, somewhat opinionated and irritable Yankee--but always a courageous patriot and scholar.
Saul K. Padover
Editor, The World of the Founding Fathers