1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:05,040 Speaker 1: On this episode of Newsworld, as part of Founding Fathers Week, 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:07,960 Speaker 1: I'm talking about the lives and legacies of our original 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: founders and the impact they've had in our country. On 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: this episode, we're going to talk about probably the most 5 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: misunderstood of the Founding Fathers, John Adams. Adams is a 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: little bit of an odd duck, partly because he's from 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: New England, which at that time was just very different 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: from either New York or Virginia. Partly because Adams himself 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: was really really smart, but he was very argumentative and 10 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: he was very blunt. He also had enormous courage. Adams 11 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: had really developed over time a view of British as 12 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: a tyranny. He didn't arrive at it immediately. He was also, 13 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: of all of the Founding Fathers, probably the one who 14 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: believed the most deep in the rule of law, and 15 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: in fact, one of the most creative and courageous parts 16 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: of his life was his willingness to defend the British 17 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: soldiers who were charged with murder during the Boston Massacre. 18 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: It was very unpopular in Boston because it was sort 19 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: of a lynch mob desire to just hang them, and 20 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: Adams said no, I mean, this whole thing is about 21 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: the rule of law. He ultimately wrote the Massachusetts Constitution, 22 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: which served as a model for the US Constitution, and 23 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: he worked very, very hard to knit together the country. 24 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 1: He understood that Virginia, as the biggest colony and then 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: biggest state in population and wealth, had to be at 26 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: the center. But at the same time he also realized 27 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,199 Speaker 1: that bringing all of New England and really really mattered. 28 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: And it's important to remember that in this period, the 29 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: idea of America is a really sort of vague idea 30 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: to most people. Most people think themselves in terms of 31 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: their colony, or later on in terms of their state. 32 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: On Adam's case, he was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colonies. 33 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: So it's again hard for us to look back and realize, 34 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: but miserally life starting a seventeen thirty five when he 35 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: was born, you know, he was English. He thought of 36 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: himself purely as a colonist. He didn't think it was 37 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: a nationalist. He was educated at Harvard, the first university 38 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: created the United States, and gradually came to believe that 39 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: the British were behaving in the manner of a dictatorship, 40 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: and the real fight here is overpower. It's not over money. 41 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: The stamp tax and other kinds of things are points 42 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: they fight over, but what they're really fighting over is 43 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: the core question, can the British Parliament sitting in London 44 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: pass laws that affect directly people in the colonies, And 45 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: the colonies had become increasingly independent and they were increasingly wealthy. 46 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: By seventeen ninety they would have about three million people 47 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,679 Speaker 1: where Britain had about five million, So they were really 48 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: pretty big already, and of course, given their geographic size, 49 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: they were rapidly going to pass Britain in size and 50 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: ultimately in power. So they're looking around thinking, wait a second, 51 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: why is this parliament sitting in London telling me what 52 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: to do? And why are they taking money out of 53 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: my pocket? And why are they rigging the trade laws 54 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: to favor the British and to hurt the Americans. So 55 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 1: all these things began to build a momentum of criticism 56 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: in a place like Boston, which had a very very 57 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: busy port and which had a trade which included the 58 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: West Indies. The fact is that they were subject to 59 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: British regulation in ways that very much disadvantaged the Boston 60 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: sailors and advantaged the British sailors, and so there was 61 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: a resentment both about regulations. There was a resentment about taxes, 62 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: but most of all there was a resentment about power. 63 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: But where the center of power ought to be. Adams 64 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: is one of those who comes to believe that in 65 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: the end the colonies have to become independent, and they 66 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: recognize that to become independent they need all the colonies 67 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: on the same side. Massachusetts by itself isn't big enough, 68 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: isn't strong enough to take on the British. So I 69 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: think it's important to recognize that Adams and his cousin, 70 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: Samuel Adams, who is more radical than John Adams, more 71 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,280 Speaker 1: of a populist, rabel rouser, the kind of guy who 72 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: would dress up like an Indian and pro tea in 73 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: the harbor, very very different. John Adams is a scholar, 74 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,359 Speaker 1: He's intellectual. He's a man who operates in a law court. 75 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: He doesn't operate out in the street for arousing people. 76 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: The other thing, by the way, is that Adams's wife, 77 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: Abigail Adams, is the most famous, certainly the most literate, 78 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: of the founding mothers, and her letters to John are 79 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: just amazing, and it's very clear that she is sort 80 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 1: of the archetype of the modern woman. She operates independently. 81 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,279 Speaker 1: He is gone for a long time. She's running the 82 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: family farm. She is sending him advice on everything. She's 83 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: very well educated. She's just such a remarkable woman. Adams himself, 84 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: born in Massachusetts October thirtieth, seventeen thirty five, was the 85 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: oldest son to John Adams Senior and Susannah Boylston. His 86 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 1: father was a deacon in the Congregational Church and earned 87 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: a living as both a farmer and shoemaker in Braintree, Massachusetts. 88 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: John wanted to become a farmer, but his father said no, 89 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: he had to get an education and hoped he'd become 90 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: a minister, which in that period was a very very 91 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: prestigious position. But Adams at fifteen, and it's useful to remember, 92 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: by the way, that back then people went to college 93 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: at a much younger age. They also went to work 94 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: at a much younger age. In Adam's case, at fifteen, 95 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: he's off to college. Now, from Braintree to Cambridge is 96 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: only twelve miles, but it's a very big twelve miles 97 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: from rural farming to the center of learning in America 98 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:02,760 Speaker 1: at that time, Adams was so anxiety written he almost 99 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: went home, and his diary he wrote, quote, I at 100 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: first resolved to return home, but foreseeing the grief of 101 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: my father and apprehending he would not only be offended 102 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: with me, but my master, to whom I sincerely loved, 103 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: I aroused myself and collected resolution enough to proceed. Also 104 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 1: gives you sort of a flavor. This guy's a little 105 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: bit pompous. He thinks about himself, he thinks about life. 106 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: He is perfectly at home. Once he gets uged to Harvard, 107 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: he excels academically, graduates in seventeen fifty five at the 108 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: age of twenty. But he doesn't want to be a clergyman, 109 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,359 Speaker 1: so he decides instead to teach in a Latin school 110 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: term tuition fees to study the law. Now, back then, 111 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: you usually studied the law by working with a lawyer. 112 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,160 Speaker 1: When they talked about reading the law, that's what they 113 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,599 Speaker 1: literally meant. You were in a law office and you 114 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: were reading all these law books. You were learning about 115 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:58,599 Speaker 1: the process. And Adams becomes a lawyer. Now he's not 116 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: a very good lawyer. He only had one client in 117 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: his first year, didn't win his first case until three 118 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: years after he opened his practice. And part of it 119 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: is being a lawyer in a small town requires a 120 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: pleasing personality. Well, Adams wasn't very big on pleasing anybody, 121 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: including himself. These represented sort of that curmudgeonly New England 122 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,840 Speaker 1: kind of religiosity, and as long as God was happy 123 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: with him, what did he care about the rest of us. 124 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: But heans to get drawn into the politics of the time. 125 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: He spoke very much against the Stamp Act of seventeen 126 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: sixty five, which was the first effort by Parliament to 127 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: get money out of the Americans. I mean, here's what 128 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: had happened with the help of the Americans, the British 129 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: one what they called the Seven Years War, what we 130 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: called the French and Indian War. Now, the upside and 131 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: downside of that was they drove the French out of Canada. 132 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: It was an upside obviously because in Britain was dominant 133 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: in all of North America. It was a downside because 134 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: it meant the Americans no longer looked to Great Britain 135 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: to protect him because there was no overt threat from France. 136 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: And so the Americans kind of relaxed and thought, you know, 137 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: everything's peaceful. Why are you bothering us? The British, however, 138 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: had run up a huge debt and they were trying 139 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: to figure out a way to pay off their debt, 140 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: and they're thinking, was, wait a second. You know, we 141 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: saved you from the French and the Indians. You owe us. 142 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: And the Americans are going, no, we don't. We volunteered, 143 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 1: we fought in the war. It's not our fault. You 144 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: guys are stupid and it took longer than it should 145 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,800 Speaker 1: have because of you. And the result was that the 146 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: Americans were unhappy to pay it, and the British were 147 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: unhappy not to get paid. Well, that's sort of like 148 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: a bad marriage. By seventeen sixty five, Adams is writing 149 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: an anonymous essay in the Boston Zette entitled A Dissertation 150 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,959 Speaker 1: on Cannon and Feudal Law, and this is what he wrote. 151 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 1: It seems very manifest from the stamp Act itself that 152 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 1: a design is formed to strip us in a great 153 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: measure of the means of knowledge, by loading the press, 154 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 1: the colleges, and even an almanac in a newspaper with 155 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: restraints and duties, and to introduce the inequalities and dependencies 156 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: of the feudal system by taking from the poorer sort 157 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: of people all their little subsistence and conferring on a 158 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: set of stamp officers, distributors and their deputies. This is, 159 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: by the way, the attitude Americans will take to the 160 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: Internal Revenue Service, and the general attitude Americans have had 161 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: ever since, which is why has the government bothered me? 162 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: I made the money. I want to keep the money. 163 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: Why are you putting your hand in my pocket? Now? 164 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 1: Adams went on to write the brain Tree Instructions, which 165 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: were in opposition to the Stamp Act. He presented it 166 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: on September twenty fourth, seventeen sixty five, at the brain 167 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: Tree Town Meeting, which unanimously approved it. And this is 168 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: a key thing, he says. And notice this is about power. 169 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: The tax itself is just what they're fighting over. But 170 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,559 Speaker 1: the underlying core question is where does power lie? This 171 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: is what Adams wrote. This is seventeen sixty five, now 172 00:09:55,559 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: more than a decade before we would declare independence. Quote. 173 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: And we have all always understood it to be a 174 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: grand and fundamental principle of the British Constitution that no 175 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: freeman should be subjected to any tax, to which he 176 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: has not given his own consent in person or by proxy. 177 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: The paper was published in Draper's papers and in newspapers 178 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: across Massachusetts. More than forty towns endorsed and adopted it. Then, 179 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: in October seventeen sixty five, representatives from Massachusetts and eight 180 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: other colonies met in New York for what was called 181 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 1: the Stamp Act Congress. Using Adam's brain tree instructions and 182 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: other resolutions across the colonies, Pennsylvania lawyer John Dickinson drafted 183 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which were sent to 184 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: George the Third. Now this again is eleven years before 185 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: we will declare our independence. In in December eighteenth, seventeen 186 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: sixty five diary entry, Adams called the Stamp Act quote 187 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 1: an enormous engine fabricated by the British Parliament for battering 188 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: down all the rights and liberties of America. Notice again, 189 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,200 Speaker 1: this is not about money. It is going to repeat 190 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: this an enormous engine for battering down all the rights 191 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:08,679 Speaker 1: and liberties of America. This is an attitude about our 192 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,680 Speaker 1: rights and liberties which continues up to today. It's why 193 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: the Second Amendment fight is so deep. It's why the 194 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: whole fight over the rule of law is so deep. 195 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: It's why the intrusion of government spying on us aroused 196 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: of such rage. The fact is Americans have now for 197 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: three hundred years had this deep sense that we are 198 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: a free people, and we deeply distrust any government. The 199 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: British passage of the Towns and Acts in seventeen sixty 200 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: seven led to mob violence throughout the comments. On March fifth, 201 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy, a group of British soldiers were struck with snowballs, 202 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: ice and stones. In the chaos, they opened fire and 203 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: shot five civilians. A few days later, Adams received a 204 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: note from Captain Preston, who was in jail and on 205 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,360 Speaker 1: trial for murder of several Boston citizens during the massacre. 206 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,319 Speaker 1: Preston asked Adams if he would defend him in court, 207 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: since no one else would have agreed to it. He says, 208 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: not let me go to Adams because he's the best 209 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: lawyer around. He's let me go to Adams because he's 210 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 1: the only lawyer dumb enough to defend the British. Adams, 211 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: believing in the rule of law and the right to trial, 212 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: agreed to defend not only Captain Preston, but the eight 213 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,319 Speaker 1: other British soldiers charged with murder. Now think about this. 214 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 1: You're the guy who's not a very successful lawyer anyway, 215 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: but he's a great political writer. He's already having an 216 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 1: impact all the way across America with his writing. And now, 217 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: even though he's a patriot, even though he's been very, 218 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: very opposed to what the British are doing, he does 219 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: something which confuses the average person. He agrees that he 220 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: will defend these soldiers. During the week long trial, Adams 221 00:12:44,559 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: argued that it was impossible to prove that Captain Preston 222 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: had ordered his soldiers to fire. He brought in over 223 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:55,439 Speaker 1: twenty two witnesses. Adams during the trial said, quote, facts 224 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 1: are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, 225 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: or our dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the 226 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 1: state of facts and evidence. It's a very powerful moment 227 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: because in the rule of law, the jury's job is 228 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: to determine the facts, not to determine the emotions. Adams 229 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,720 Speaker 1: later on to say, quote, it is more important that 230 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished 231 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: for guilt, and crimes are so frequent in this world 232 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,480 Speaker 1: that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself 233 00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,319 Speaker 1: has brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, 234 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 1: then the citizen will say whether I do good or 235 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,200 Speaker 1: whether I do evil as immaterial, for innocence itself is 236 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,199 Speaker 1: no protection post quote. There's seldom but of better explanation 237 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: of why the rule of law matters. It is the 238 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: law which protects us from ourselves. It is the law 239 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: which protects us from the mob. It is the law 240 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: which protects us from a sudden wave of emotion. During 241 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,520 Speaker 1: the trial of the a British soldiers, Adams argued that 242 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 1: they acted in self defense. Adams are that since it 243 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: was unclear as to which soldier fired quote, it's of 244 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: more importance to community that innocence should be protected than 245 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: it is that guilt should be punished. The jury acquitted 246 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: six of the eight soldiers, while two who fired directly 247 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:19,000 Speaker 1: into the crowd were convicted of manslaughter. This is not 248 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: an outcome anyone could have predicted at the beginning what 249 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: Adams took on the trial. On the third anniversary of 250 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: the Boston massacre March fifth, seventeen seventy three, Adams wrote 251 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: in his diary quote judgment of death against those soldiers 252 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: would have been as foul as stain upon this country 253 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: as the execution of the Quakers or witches. This, however, 254 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: is no reason why the town should not call the 255 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: action of that night a massacre, nor is it any 256 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: argument in favor of the governor or a minister. Now 257 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: notice his reference back to executing quakers and witches. Remember 258 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: that Massachusetts had been the scene of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, 259 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: a period of people allowing emotions to run muck, to 260 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: create threats that did not really exist, to prosecute people 261 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:07,480 Speaker 1: who clearly, in retrospect or innocent. There was a deep 262 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: feeling that controlling passion and doing what the law required 263 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: in a calm and reasonable way was essential to avoid 264 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: the kind of injustice that the sale of witchcraft files 265 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: had led to. Hi. This is newt We have serious 266 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: decisions to make about the future of our nation. 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Adams, 281 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: himself hardly a shrinking violet, later called his defending of 282 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: the British soldiers quote one of the most gallant, generous, manly, 283 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of 284 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country. 285 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: As you can tell, Adams is not a man of 286 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: modesty or what we might have called somebody who was 287 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: hiding his talents. He was, in fact quite cheerful about 288 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,879 Speaker 1: telling you how great he was. He lost about half 289 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,280 Speaker 1: of his Boston law practice by defending the British soldiers, 290 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: but I think he looked back and thought that was 291 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: exactly right. Now, this did not mean he was pro British, 292 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,840 Speaker 1: and then he was pro the rule of law. And 293 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,959 Speaker 1: you can tell that because shortly after this period he 294 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:27,919 Speaker 1: ends up in April seventeen seventy six writing Thoughts on 295 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: Government in response to a resolution of the North Carolina 296 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: Provincial Congress. In it, he outlined why he believed three 297 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: branches of government was necessary. Quote. Representation of the people 298 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: in one assembly being obtained. A question arises whether all 299 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judicial shall be 300 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,919 Speaker 1: left in this body. I think a people cannot be 301 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: long free, nor ever happy whose government is in one 302 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: assembly close quote. It's important remember that the founding fathers 303 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 1: were very skiptical of the rule of the mob. They 304 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:06,120 Speaker 1: thought that the lesson of Athens had been that when 305 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: you have a pure democracy, that passion influences it, that 306 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,159 Speaker 1: no one is safe, and then the moment of passion, 307 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: anyone can be killed, or anyone can have their property 308 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: taken away. And as a result, there had been a 309 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: constant effort to try to find a structure to think 310 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: themselves sort of as architects of self government, and they 311 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: had taken a great deal from Montesquieu, the French Theatician's 312 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: Spirit of the Laws and the Spirit of the Laws 313 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: Modusque outlines the idea of dividing power into three separate agencies, 314 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: an agency for the judicial, an agency for the executive, 315 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: and an agency for legislation, with the thought that by 316 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: dividing power into three, they will balance each other, and 317 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: it will be much harder to threaten the freedom of people, 318 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 1: because there will be no way to gather all that 319 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: power from all three at the same time. Now. Adams, 320 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: taking that model, became the primary author of the massachue 321 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: Use Constitution in seventeen eighty, which is four years after 322 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: the Declaration of Independence, but right in the middle of 323 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: the Revolutionary War. The Massachusetts Constitution included many of the 324 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: themes of the US Constitution. It says, partly drawn from 325 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:18,920 Speaker 1: the Declaration of Independence, quote, all men are born free 326 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:23,560 Speaker 1: and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, 327 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,159 Speaker 1: among which we reckoned the right of enjoying and defending 328 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: their lives and liberties, that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, 329 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: and find that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness. 330 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: Every subject has a right to be secure from all 331 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 1: unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, his papers, 332 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: and all his possessions. The people have a right to 333 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: keep and bear arms for the common defense. Original purpose 334 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: of the Second Amendment, growing straight out of this line 335 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: in the Massachusetts Constitution, is simple. The people have a 336 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: right to keep and to bear arms for the common defense. 337 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 1: And what did that mean? It meant both defense against 338 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: foreigners and defense against their own government. And they got 339 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: to this because in seventeen seventy five, in April, when 340 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:20,199 Speaker 1: the British army marched to Concord and Lexington to seize 341 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: the American weapons, if they had not had a militia, 342 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: if they had not been prepared to fight, if they 343 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: had not been able to bear arms, the British would 344 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 1: have won instantly. The Revolution would have been over. And 345 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: it was the fact that the Massachusetts farmers did have weapons, 346 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: did know how to use them, were training as a 347 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: militia that enabled them to drive the British back into Boston, 348 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,880 Speaker 1: suffering substantial casualties. Every one of the Founding fathers understood 349 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: that every one of the Founding Fathers believed that you 350 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: had to have the right to bear arms, remain free, 351 00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: and that if you gave up the right to bear arms, 352 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,639 Speaker 1: sooner or later, you'd be faced with a dictatorship that 353 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 1: would take away all of your rights. And Adams, in 354 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: that sense is an explicit direct statement of that. He 355 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 1: goes on to say in the Massachusetts Constitution quote, the 356 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 1: people have a right, in an orderly and peaceable manner, 357 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: to assemble, to consult upon the common good, to give 358 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: instructions to their representatives, and to request of the legislative body, 359 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: by the way of addresses, petitions, or remonstrances, redress of 360 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 1: the wrongs done them and of the grievances they suffer. 361 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:39,920 Speaker 1: No subsidy, charge, tax, imposts, or duties ought to be established, fixed, laid, 362 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: or levied under any pretext whatsoever without the consent of 363 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: the people or their representatives in the legislature. Now, if 364 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: you listen carefully in the Massachusetts Constitution in seventeen eighty, 365 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:58,359 Speaker 1: you see the forerunner of the Bill of Rights. And 366 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,680 Speaker 1: while Jefferson has given it and Madison actually offered it 367 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: in the Congress, it's clear that their concept of the 368 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: bille Rights was deeply shaped by John Adams, who gets 369 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 1: almost no credit for it. And it's one of Adams's 370 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 1: great problems that he was in fact a remarkably important 371 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: person He was extremely thoughtful, but at the same time 372 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,639 Speaker 1: he didn't have a very good publicity machine. He wasn't 373 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: a very attractive personality. He was always in Washington's shadow, 374 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 1: and then as you'll see, he's also in hamilton shadow. 375 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:36,240 Speaker 1: And so Jefferson gets great press as a great propagandist, 376 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: and he and Madison get the credit for things that 377 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:43,959 Speaker 1: in fact John Adams did. Now, after the war and 378 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: after the Constitution is adopted, Adams comes in second to Washington. 379 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: Washington has elected unanimously. They had not thought this through, 380 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: and so you actually voted for the president and vice 381 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:58,200 Speaker 1: president at the same time, and whoever came in first 382 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 1: got to be president, whoever came in second got to 383 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,479 Speaker 1: be vice president, and so you cast both ballots. This 384 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,919 Speaker 1: would really lead to a mess with Jefferson because Jefferson 385 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: and Aaron Burr tie, and so they have a huge 386 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: fight because everybody understood Jefferson was supposed to be president, 387 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,879 Speaker 1: but Aaron Burr, who's a total snake, tries to steal 388 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: the presidency, something which of course permanently estranged him from 389 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: Jefferson Well, and the very first election we ever had 390 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: with people voting twice. Washington is elected president unanimously, and 391 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: in the second ballot, Adams comes in second, but he 392 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: only gets thirty four votes to washington sixty nine. Now 393 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 1: Adams is kind of humiliated because even though Washington clearly 394 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: was the giant who had won the Revolutionary War and 395 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: the man who had presided over the Continental Congress, adams 396 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 1: ego is such that he thought he should be the 397 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: first or just go home. But he then decided that 398 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,920 Speaker 1: he would accept it and become vice president. His job 399 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: was to preside over the Senate. He was not allowed 400 00:23:56,680 --> 00:23:58,720 Speaker 1: to debate, which he had done in the Continental Congress, 401 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: and so in a sense he had this job that 402 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: is symbolic, which is not exactly what Adams wanted. And 403 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: Adams doesn't quite get populism. When they're debating over what's 404 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: the title for the president, Adams suggests his Highness the 405 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: President of United States of America and protector of the 406 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: rights of the same. This is not a country which 407 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 1: says his Highness very easily. And it just gives you 408 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,880 Speaker 1: a flavor that Adams is never quite the common man 409 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: and never quite has the common touch. And part of 410 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: Jefferson's genius was that while he was an intellectual and 411 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 1: had no more interest in commoners than Adams did, he 412 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: nonetheless was able to pretend with great skill, and Adams 413 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 1: just couldn't it. It wasn't worth the effort to him. He 414 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,920 Speaker 1: had a reasonable relationship to Washington, but he was never 415 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: a close advisor. He didn't help shape policies. So for 416 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: eight years he's just sitting around and has a very 417 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: similar attitude towards the vice presidency that a number of 418 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,600 Speaker 1: other vice presidents will get. He writes Abagail at one point, 419 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,679 Speaker 1: quote my country has, in its wisdom contrived for me 420 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:09,719 Speaker 1: the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived, 421 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:14,560 Speaker 1: or his imagination conceived. He considered seriously resigning, but he 422 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: stayed on for eight years. Now. The fact is a 423 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,840 Speaker 1: vice president's basic job was to wait around and see 424 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:25,200 Speaker 1: if the president died, and so Adams was deeply, deeply frustrated. However, 425 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: his patients worked out and a four way race between 426 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: Adams and Thomas Pinkney on the Federalist ticket and Jefferson 427 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 1: and Aaron Burr on the Republican Adams received seventy one 428 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:41,679 Speaker 1: electoral votes and Jefferson sixty eight, and therefore as Vice President, Adams, 429 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 1: as President of Senate, opened and read his own election results, 430 00:25:45,160 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: proclaiming himself president. In seventeen ninety six, Alexander Hamilton urged 431 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: Federalist leaders to support Thomas Pinkney as president to ensure 432 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 1: Jefferson's defeat, but Hamilton made no secret of his preference 433 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: for Pinckney over Adams. In a January seventeen ninety seven 434 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:27,160 Speaker 1: letter to his wife, Abigail Adams said of Hamilton, quote 435 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: Hamilton I know to be proud, spirited, conceited, aspiring mortal, 436 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: always pretending to morality with as debauched morals as old Franklin, 437 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,360 Speaker 1: who was more his model than anyone I know, as 438 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,119 Speaker 1: great a hypocrite as any in the US. Is intrigues 439 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: in the election. I despise that he has talents, I admit, 440 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 1: but I dread none of them. I shall take no 441 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: notice of his puppyhood, but retain the same opinion of 442 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: him I always had, and maintain the same conduct towards 443 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,840 Speaker 1: him I always did, that is, keep him at a distance. 444 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: By the mid seventeen nineties, two political parties existed in 445 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:13,239 Speaker 1: the United States, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. By 446 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,120 Speaker 1: the time Adams became president, the nation was facing worsening 447 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:21,160 Speaker 1: relations with France. France, who thought the United States should 448 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,119 Speaker 1: honor the French American alliance during the American Revolution, was 449 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: angered that the US signed the Jay Treaty with Great Britain. 450 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: French privateers started seizing hundreds of US merchant ships in 451 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:38,879 Speaker 1: the Caribbean beginning in mid seventeen ninety seven. Adams wanted 452 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:45,920 Speaker 1: to resolve the issue diplomatically. However, the Federalist Party demanded war. Adams, 453 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: going against what his party wanted, established a committee of 454 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: three American diplomats to meet with France's Minister of Foreign Affairs. 455 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: When the committee arrived, the French demanded large bribes before 456 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:04,479 Speaker 1: any negotiations. The diplomats disagreed on whether to pay the bribe, 457 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:09,359 Speaker 1: and they eventually left without meeting anyone. Fearing that this 458 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,120 Speaker 1: would push the United States into war, Adams initially refused 459 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: to turn over any notes from the diplomats to Congress. 460 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,399 Speaker 1: When he finally did, Adams redacted the names of the 461 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,719 Speaker 1: French officials that tried to bribe them, calling them x 462 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: Y and Z Instead. The Democratic Republican Party were angered 463 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: with France over the bribery, but were against going to 464 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,679 Speaker 1: war with France. The Federalists, however, were ready to go 465 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: to war. Adams asking Congress to appropriate funds to create 466 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: a navy, improve their coastal defenses, and for authority to 467 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: summon militia men too active duty of needing. The Navy 468 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: Commission privately owned American ships and gave captains permission to 469 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: seize French ships. Between seventeen ninety eight and eighteen hundred, 470 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 1: the private ships captured about eight eighty French ships, but 471 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: war had never been officially declared. Adams again tried a 472 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: diplomatic solution, sending diplomats in early eighteen hundred. The Democratic Republicans, 473 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:16,479 Speaker 1: more moderate Federalist and most of the country agreed with 474 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: this move, but Hamilton and other Federalists were opposed, wanting 475 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: to go to war instead. By the time the diplomats 476 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: arrived in France, Napoleon had seized control of the French government. 477 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: Napoleon signed the Treaty of Montefontaine, which released the United 478 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: States from its Revolutionary War alliance with France and brought 479 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 1: an end to this quasi war with France. Adams viewed 480 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:46,280 Speaker 1: this peace tree of France as his greatest accomplishment as president, 481 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,400 Speaker 1: later writing to James Lloyd in January eighteen eighteen, that 482 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 1: he desired no other inscription over my gravestone. Then here 483 00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: lies John Adams, who took upon himself the responsibility of 484 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 1: the peace with France in the year eighteen hundred. However, 485 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: Hamilton and many Federalists were deeply upset over Adams negotiating 486 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: with France. As president, Adams decided that he would keep 487 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 1: Washington's cabinet rather than appointing his own. Hamilton, who was 488 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 1: not a part of adams administration, influenced several members of 489 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: Adam's cabinet. In the spring of eighteen hundred, Adams requested 490 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: the resignation of two cabinet members, Timothy Pickering, the Secretary 491 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: of State, and James McHenry, the Secretary of War, for 492 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: listening to Hamilton instead of himself. Pickering opposed adams nomination 493 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,080 Speaker 1: of William S. Smith and Henry Knox as Adjutant General 494 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: and second in command of the army. Pickering also conspired 495 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,880 Speaker 1: against Adams reporting to Hamilton and other Federalists what went 496 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: on in cabinet meetings with President Adams. On May tenth, 497 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, Adams wrote a letter to Timothy Pickering requesting 498 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: his resignation. Quote, as I perceive a necessity of introducing 499 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 1: a change in the administration of the Office of State, 500 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: I think it proper to make this communication of it 501 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: to the present Secretary of State, that he may have 502 00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 1: an opportunity of resigning if he chooses. I should wish 503 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: to day on which his resignations take place to be 504 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: named by himself. Pickering, on May twelfth, eighteen hundred, responded 505 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: in a letter refusing to resign. Quote, Nevertheless, after deliberately 506 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,680 Speaker 1: reflecting on the overture you have been pleased to make 507 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: to me, I do not feel to be in my 508 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: duty to resign. Adams responded by discharging Pickering, quote, diverse 509 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: causes and considerations essential to the administration of the government, 510 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: in my judgment, require a change in the Department of State. 511 00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: You are hereby discharged from any further service as Secretary 512 00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:00,480 Speaker 1: of State. On May six, eighteen hundred, James mckenry on, 513 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: like Pickering, wrote his letter of resignation immediately after Adams 514 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:10,480 Speaker 1: requested his resignation. In preparation for the eighteen hundred election, 515 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: Adams separated himself from Hamilton and the Federalists opposed to him. 516 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,920 Speaker 1: The Federalist Party, however, chose Adams as their presidential candidate 517 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: and Pinckney as their second choice. Democratic Republicans decided to 518 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: stay with their seventeen ninety six choices, with Thomas Jefferson 519 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: as their presidential candidate and Aaron Burr as their second choice. 520 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: Eighteen hundred was the last presidential election where the runner 521 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,280 Speaker 1: up of the election would become the vice president, so 522 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,360 Speaker 1: each party had two candidates, hoping to get their most 523 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 1: popular candidate as president and their second most popular as 524 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: vice president, with the possibility the one candidate from each 525 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 1: party could become president and vice president, which, remember is 526 00:32:55,480 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: what had happened in seventeen ninety six when Adams became 527 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: president but his rival Thomas Jefferson became vice president. Was 528 00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: a flaw in the original design of the constitution. From 529 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: the beginning, Adams had two major issues against him. The 530 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,200 Speaker 1: first was the deep divide within his party on Adams 531 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 1: deciding not to wage war with France on October twenty fourth, 532 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:25,000 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, Hamilton wrote a very long pamphlet It was 533 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: called concerning the Public Conduct of John Adams, on why 534 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: he believed Adams should not be re elected as president. 535 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: Hamilton stated that Adams quote does not possess the talents 536 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: adapted to the administration of government, and that there are 537 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 1: great and intrinsic defects in his character which unfit him. 538 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: For the chief magistrate has certain fixed points of character 539 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,280 Speaker 1: which tend naturally to the detriment of any cause of 540 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,120 Speaker 1: which he is the chief of any administration of which 541 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: he is the head. It is a fact that he 542 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: is often liable to paroxisms of anger, which deprive him 543 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 1: of self command and produce very outrageous behavior to those 544 00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: who approach him. Most, if not all, his ministers, and 545 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:13,879 Speaker 1: several distinguished members the two Houses of Congress have been 546 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:18,960 Speaker 1: humiliated by the effects of these gusts of passion close quote. 547 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:25,080 Speaker 1: In addition to the really deep, bitter hostility between Hamilton 548 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,400 Speaker 1: and Adams, there was an unpopularity of the alien and 549 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:33,760 Speaker 1: sedition laws. These laws basically were an effort to censor 550 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,560 Speaker 1: the American people. They said, if you said certain things, 551 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: you could be charged. It was just short of treason. 552 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:44,239 Speaker 1: People hated the idea that the government could try them 553 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:49,240 Speaker 1: for saying the wrong things. In the election, Jefferson and Burr, 554 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:55,240 Speaker 1: both the Democratic Republican candidates, tied with seventy three electoral votes. 555 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: Adams won sixty five votes, Paint Nay one sixty four, 556 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: and John Jay received one vote. Remember that Jay had 557 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:08,920 Speaker 1: been the co author of the Federalist papers. Interestingly, you 558 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 1: now end up with Jefferson and Burr clearly in violation 559 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,120 Speaker 1: of their agreement. Burr, who is a snake who will 560 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:21,280 Speaker 1: later on shoot Alexander Hamilton and then after that engage 561 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,360 Speaker 1: in treasonous acts trying to steal parts of the West 562 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,719 Speaker 1: from the United States. Burr would not concede to Jefferson. 563 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 1: The tie went to the House representatives. Everybody understood Jefferson 564 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:34,800 Speaker 1: was the candidate for president, Burr was the candidate for 565 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: vice president. But Burr's ego and ambition led him to 566 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:44,400 Speaker 1: try to somehow usurp Jefferson, who was really the founding 567 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: genius behind the rise of the Democratic Republican Party, which 568 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 1: is today the longest existing political party in the world. 569 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 1: The Democratic Republican Party evolved into just being called the 570 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 1: Democratic Party, and it is literally the longest serving political 571 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 1: institution in the world today, an attribute both to Jefferson 572 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: and to whatever patterns he developed in that party. Adams 573 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: became the last Federalist president. This was really an amazing 574 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 1: moment in history. There was no real experience of an 575 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:21,360 Speaker 1: opposition party peacefully taking over. Normally it involved a military 576 00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:24,879 Speaker 1: coup de ETAs sometimes it involved a revolution. But here 577 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:27,960 Speaker 1: you had a moment where Washington, who had set the 578 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 1: stage by voluntarily giving up power when he surrendered his 579 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:35,399 Speaker 1: sword after the American Revolution and then once again giving 580 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:39,279 Speaker 1: up power by leaving after eight years in presidency, had 581 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:43,520 Speaker 1: really set a tone that people operated within the constitution, 582 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:48,960 Speaker 1: and Adams, within the constitution, had lost and so you 583 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: had literally the rise of an opposition party, which then 584 00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 1: became the governing party. And in some ways, you know, 585 00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:00,240 Speaker 1: Adam's willingness to follow the constitution, to be a part 586 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:03,440 Speaker 1: of a larger system, and to subordinate his ego to 587 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: his patriotism is one of the key moments in American history. 588 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:11,760 Speaker 1: Months after losing the eighteen hundred election, Adams threw himself 589 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,479 Speaker 1: into writing. For the rest of his life. Adams wrote 590 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 1: his autobiography, He wrote letters to the other Founding Fathers. 591 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:22,319 Speaker 1: In eighteen twelve, a mutual friend brought Jefferson Adams together again, 592 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:26,320 Speaker 1: and they exchanged hundreds of letters until their death fourteen 593 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:32,160 Speaker 1: years later. Interestingly, both Adams and Jefferson died on the 594 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:38,720 Speaker 1: same day, July fourth, eighteen twenty six, the fiftieth anniversary 595 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: of the signing of the Declaration Independence. Jefferson died at 596 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,760 Speaker 1: twelve fifty pm. A few hours after Jefferson's death, Adams 597 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:52,319 Speaker 1: woke from sleep and said, Thomas Jefferson survives. These were 598 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:55,600 Speaker 1: his last words as he fell into a coma. Shortly afterwards, 599 00:37:56,120 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: at about six pm, Adams died. He was ninety one 600 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:04,080 Speaker 1: years old. One of the remarkable Founding fathers and a 601 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:08,400 Speaker 1: man whose dedication to the rule of law, dedication to 602 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: the concept of a constitution, dedication to a belief in 603 00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 1: ideas and that legitimate argument mattered, and dedication to subordinating 604 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: himself to the greater cause of American independence in American 605 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:27,279 Speaker 1: self government make him one I think of most honorable 606 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 1: and most respected of the Founding Fathers. And John Adams 607 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:34,719 Speaker 1: can be always approached with an idea that you're going 608 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,360 Speaker 1: to learn a little bit more by reading what he said, 609 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,239 Speaker 1: It's even more true if you will also read what 610 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:44,279 Speaker 1: his wife, Abigail wrote. She was clearly the most literary 611 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,759 Speaker 1: of all of the Founding Father's wives, and she had 612 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:51,560 Speaker 1: a tremendous impact on John by the letters she wrote 613 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:55,600 Speaker 1: and by her commitment to public life. So I look 614 00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:58,520 Speaker 1: back on Adams and think how lucky we were as 615 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:02,240 Speaker 1: a country to have lis like this willing to dedicate 616 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:12,160 Speaker 1: themselves to the development of freedom. Thank you for listening, 617 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:14,680 Speaker 1: and you can learn more about John Adams at our 618 00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:18,759 Speaker 1: show page at newtsworld dot com. Newtsworld is produced by 619 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: Gingrish three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Guarnsey 620 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:27,759 Speaker 1: Sloan and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for 621 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: the show was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to 622 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: the team at Gingrish three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, 623 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:39,319 Speaker 1: I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate 624 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,600 Speaker 1: us with five stars and give us a review so 625 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,040 Speaker 1: others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners 626 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,840 Speaker 1: of newts World can sign up for my three free 627 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:53,640 Speaker 1: weekly columns at Gingwish three sixty dot com slash newsletter. 628 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,400 Speaker 1: I'm Newt gingrich, This is newtsworld.