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| GEORGE WASHINGTON | Summary of Events2 | The Politics |
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SPEEDY DEATH TO GENERAL WASHINGTON
Kick This Treaty To Hell
THE DAMNEDEST LIAR
HE MAY RETIRE WITH UNDIMINISHED GLORY |
Washington had been unanimously elected by the Electoral College in 1788 and 1792 |
Former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson hated the English, adored France,
and demanded retaliation. Secretary of the Treasury Jefferson had quit in
1793 and organized the Republicans who opposed Washington's Federalists.
Alexander Hamilton, who was always arguing with Jefferson over over foreign policy and economics, felt America could not win a war with Britain. |
| Britain, at war
with France, was seizing U.S. ships trading with France. In addition, London was reneging on its pledge, made as part of the treaty ending the Revolutionary War, to vacate forts in Oswego, Niagara, Detroit, and Michilmackinac. She was also arming Indians and spurring them to attack American settlers. These attacks were killing helpless women and children. Trying to avoid a war with Great Britain that might "strangle the infant nation in its cradle," Washington sent aristocratic Chief Justice John Jay to England to negotiate a secrete treaty. Eventially word got out and many found some treaty demands humiliating. Article 12 stated America could trade with the West Indies, but not using very large ships really aggrieved Southerners as it severely hurt their exports. Another article stated the U.S. could not export products native to the islands. To make matters worse, a Provision Order issued later by Britain required U.S. ships carrying grain to France be stopped and the cargo confiscated. |
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| Some wanted Washington impeached as cartoons depicted the President being marched to a guillotine and his beloved Virginia Revolutionary veterans cried, " A speedy Death to General Washington!" | A Virginia Republican ignored Washington's order to keep the contents of the treaty secrete and passed a copy to the French who saw that the contents were made public. When Hamilton defended the treaty in front of the New York City Hall, he was stoned and left with a bloody face. In Boston, a British ship was set aflame. | |
| To support the treaty, powerful Federalist rolled into gear and stopped issuing ship insurance until the treaty was enacted, in Philadelphia, debtors were pressured by their banks to support the treaty. By 1796, Britain had scrapped the Provision Order, accepted Washington's version of the treaty excluding Article 12, and the tide had turned in favor of the treaty. | ||
| The Republican
controlled house tried to withhold ninety thousand dollars needed to to
enact the Jay Treaty. John Adams feared a war with Britain might
result in a "civil war" between the Anglophile Northeast and the Southern
Francophiles. The funding vote tie of 49 to 49 was surprisingly broken by Republican Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania who was chairing a Committee of the Whole. He committed political suicide by voting for the funding and against the wishes of his German American constituents who hated England. After the vote, Frederick was stabbed by his German-American brother-in-law. In a letter to John Jay, Washington stated he had survived "the Storm" and would never forget the "pernicious" people "disseminating the poison" against him. As Washington predicted, in 1812, America was powerful enough to win a war with England. |
Jeffersonian Edward Livingston of New York demanded Washington hand over all documents related to treaty bargaining. Limited access was granted and Washington said the only way to get unlimited access was to impeach him. | |
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1 From the 2007 first edition |
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| John Adams | Summary of Events | The Politics |
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RIVALRIES IRRITATED TO MADNESS
OH, THAT I WAS A SOLDIER
ROCKS AND QUICKSAND ON ALL SIDES
THE MOST SPLENDID DIAMOND IN MY CROWN |
Federalist John
Adams defeated Republican Thomas Jefferson by three votes.
Living in Washington's shadow was not easy and Adam's complained that "Old Muttonhead" could not write a sentence without a few misspellings. Adams had inherited the danger of a war with France's newest revolutionary regime called the "Directory." Because of the Jay Treaty, French privateers were ordered to seize and plunder U.S. ships. Now Vice President , Francophile Jefferson, was made minister to France. Twelve new frigates were built to fortify the Eastern coast. The ultra-Federalist unsuccessfully demanded a fifteen thousand man army and said concerning the horrible French tyrants, the Republicans want to "lick" their "feet." |
Hamilton had back Thomas Pickering in the 1796 election because he could be
more easily controlled.
Adams kept Washington Cabinet fearing firing them would turn the world upside down. Upon arriving in France, Jefferson advised the Directory to drag its feet on a treaty as Adams would be a one term President. |
| The French
Foreign Minister tried to bribe an American envoy for what today would be about six million
dollars and the reply was "Millions for defense, but not one cent for
tribute." Outrage followed, but Adams never shared the ultra-Federalist
zeal to face down the French. He attempted keep the bribe secret but the
Federalist made the information public. It became known as the "XYZ Affair."
By 1798, talk of war was rampant and John Adams became a war leader. He enjoyed it. Always jealous of Washington's battlefield reputation, Adams could not resist the opportunity to portray a dashing military figure including a sword hanging from his waist. He had proclaimed a "warlike" spirit and congress passed the notorious Alien and Sedition Acts which gave Adams the power of deportation. A congressman was arrested for anti-government writing, fined one thousand dollars, and jailed. A new property tax was passed to pay for a twenty thousand man army. Eventially Adams announced a new peace mission and the Federalists were none too pleased. It caused Adams to fall into a deep depression. |
Because new U.S. citizens would vote Republican, Federalist extended the
waiting period for citizenship to fourteen years. Ultra-Federalist war hawks thought Adams weak. Eventially he gave in and let them exacerbate differences with France for "electioneering purposes." By backing the Federalist taxes and military spending, Adams felt he was helping America's acquire "monstrous fortunes." Many, like Quaker doctor George Logan, told Adams that the French wanted to talk. When Logan told the secretary of State the same thing, he was thrown out and the High Federalists got the Logan Act passed. To this day it bans U.S. citizens without official sanction from bargaining with foreign governments. |
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| By 1800, even the
most self-absorbed Hamilton understood that the country's politics was
becoming a struggle "between the rich and the poor."
In May, the Republicans won in South Carolina and with it, the votes needed to defeat Adams for reelection. Adams tried to regroup by finally firing some of his pro Hamilton high Federalist cabinet. He also abolished the Provisional Army which he considered a "wildest extravagance" of that "knight-errant." The successful peace negotiations in France came too late for John Adams to be reelected and Thomas Jefferson beat New York Republican Aaron Burr. The Auroar published in Philadelphia, printed that God had thrown Adams out like "polluted water." |
Hamilton asked Washington to denounce the peace mission but the Hero of
Mount Vernon was too tired to join the Federalist family feud. A month
before his death in late 1799, Washington wrote that it was "anxious and
painful" for him to see his cherished country moving "by hasty strides
to some awful crisis. Adam's response to political attacks from Jefferson stated that the real problem was that Hamilton suffered from "a super-abundance of secretions which he could not find whores enough to draw off!" To his death, Adams never understood why his making peace with France never carried the esteem brought by Washington's peace with Britain. He felt America must realize that "great is the guilt of an unjust war." |
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1 From the 2007 first edition 2. Table, column and row titles, and name abbreviations are by Walter Antoniotti 3. Walter's addition 4. Authors note: My original plan was to summarize the entire book to learn if the past would help explain the present. I found my mission was accomplished with only two Presidents. Please e-mail if you would like me to continue. |
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