First Family Part II

I am reading First Family by Joseph J. Ellis. Abigail and John Adams left an remarkably preserved portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence and over the years they exchanged more than twelve hundred letters.

These stand out as I get into our history.

In 1793, John Adams was serving his second term as Vice-President. The French Revolution and approaching war between Great Britain and France created a conflict in the new country. At the same time the division between the North and South was creating a sudden surge of fiercely partisan politics.

First President Washington issued the "Neutrality Proclamation", declaring the United States a disinterested spectator to the looming war. But it was the Adam's belief it was much easier to proclaim than enforce. One of the reasons was the burgeoning political opposition, now styling itself with the Republican Party differentiate itself from the Federalists, who were more than willing to play politics with the issue.

In 1794, President Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to London to negotiate a realistic bargain that would remove the remaining British troops from the Northwestern frontier, redefine commercial relations with Great Britain in terms that avoided war. Jay returned with a treaty that, on the positive side, required the removal of British troops and committed the British to arbitrate American claims of compensation for cargoes confiscated by the British Navy. On the negative side, the treaty recognized British Naval supremacy, a tacit admission that trade with Britain was the lifeblood of the American economy, and required American debtors, mostly Virginian Planters, to pay off their prewar debts to British creditors.

In June 1975, John watched the Senate approve the treaty on a straight party-line vote 20-10. The Republican opposition in the House under Madison devised a strategy to sabotage the treaty by denying the funds for its implementation, which had authority over all money bills. John believed he was watching the triumph of party politics in its most partisan form.

The Republicans had a clear majority in the House. But petitions poured in from merchants, Quakers, and frontier settlers, who came to the realization that failure to pass the treaty meant war with Great Britain. On April 30, 1796, funding for the Jay Treaty passed (51-48).

What John had witnessed in the Jay Treaty debate was the emergence of a highly partisan brand of party politics. This episode would prove to be a preview of coming attractions, the first appearance of what would become a two-party system.

NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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