England immediately upon this began to increase . . . in power and magnificence, and is now the greatest nation upon the globe.
Soon after the Reformation a few people came over into the new world for conscience sake. Perhaps this (apparently) trivial incident may transfer the great seat of empire into America. It looks likely to me. For if we can remove the turbulent Gallics, our people according to exactest computations, will in another century, become more numerous than England itself. Should this be the case, since we have (I must say) all the naval stores of the nation in our hands, it will be easy to obtain the mastery of the seas, and then the united force of all Europe, will not be able to subdue us. The only way to keep us from setting up for ourselves is to disunite us."
A young and remarkably prescient John Adams, foretelling events in which he would later play a leading part, as quoted in David McCullough, John Adams (Simon & Schuster 2001), pp. 39-40.
I recently re-read this, one of my favorite books of all time.
Before McCullough's biography, John Adams had not been treated well by most historians, who, highlighting his envy and vanity, typically cast him as a sort of grubby Nixon to Jefferson's elegant JFK.
But McCullough is a generous biographer, who comes to genuinely like his subjects, and has a talent for seeing them the way they saw themselves. Therefore, he gives us a John Adams who is cast in the best possible light. Adams' adherence to principle, as in his defense of the British soldiers charged with the "Boston Massacre," is highlighted, together with his historic role in the Second Continental Congress, where he took upon himself the role of chief advocate for and political architect of the vote for independence. And the importance of his later achievements, in negotiating a loan from Holland for the new American republic, and, as our second President, midwifing our first navy and keeping the young United States out of a needless war with France, when short term political calculations would have suggested a different course, are also emphasized.
When describing the episodes which have done the most damage to Adams' historic reputation (his inability to follow Franklin's example in dealing with the French with a light touch, his much-mocked arguments for high-sounding titles for the President, his signing of the alien and sedition acts) McCullough bends over backwards to give us the context of the times, and the experiences which would have caused Adams to react as he did, so that even these events are seen through a friendly eye, as one might tell of the poor business decisions of a nevertheless beloved uncle.
"Now to what higher object, to what greater character, can any mortal aspire than to be possessed of all this knowledge, well digested and ready at command, to assist the feeble and friendless, to discountenance the haughty and lawless, to procure redress to wrongs, the advancement of right, to assert and maintin liberty and virtue, to discourage and abolish tyranny and vice?" John Adams on being a lawyer, p. 53.
But most of all, McCullough makes us love Adams, despite whatever his faults may have been, by repeatedly quoting the virtues, values, and noble sentiments in which Adams believed, as expressed in Adams' voluminous writings. The remarkable relationship he had with Abigail and their incredible correspondence during their many years apart, his support for public education in the constitution of Massachussets which he single-handedly wrote, and his love of learning and reading as expressed in his letters to his children, his writings explaining his abhorrence of slavery, his accurate foresight on the likely outcome of the French Revolution, and his post-Presidential correspondence with Jefferson, as they finally tried to explain themselves to one another, before both dying on the same day, the 50th anniversary of July 4, 1776, are all here. And reading so many of Adams' own words on his political and social and religious and educational beliefs, it is impossible not to admire him. Indeed, his words are so uplifting, that reading this book becomes, itself, like reading the scriptures, an uplifting exercise: true chicken soup for the soul.
This is a great book that every American should read. As McCullough has said, we are extremely lucky, as a nation, in knowing so many details about when and how our country began, and we cannot possibly know too much about our founders.
"If [the] empire of superstition and hypocrisy should be overthrown, happy indeed will it be for the world; but if all religion and all morality should be over-thrown with it, what advantage will be gained? The doctrine of human equality is founded entirely in the Christian doctrine that we are all children of the same Father, all accountable to Him for our conduct to one another, all equally bound to respect each other's self love." John Adams on religion (p. 619.)
(The HBO mini-series purportedly based on this book is extremely well done and fascinating. But it must be said that it gives us McCullough's Adams only in the first two (and best) episodes, then reverts to a much more negative portrait, keeping with how Adams has typically been treated, in its later episodes. Maybe that's inevitable, given that its harder to "show" written words, Adams' best quality, rather than actions, where he stumbled. Or maybe that's because the producers had their own historic beliefs and agenda, or just wanted to give Paul Giamatti a chance to chew scenery by showing Adams descending into various personality disorders. In any event, the truth about who the real John Adams was is probably somewhere between the movie and the book. But I like the book better, and choose to believe in and admire that version of the man.)
This famous painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which hangs in the Rotunda of the Capitol, depicts a signing ceremony which never actually took place. The faces though, are thought to be highly accurate, as the artist spent many years tracking down and doing sketches of the signers. The five men in the Center of the Portrait are Adams' "Committee" for drawing up the document, including Adams, Franklin, and of course Jefferson, who, according to Adams' account, was asked by Adams to draw up the first draft because he, unlike Adams, was popular and well-liked, was a better writer than Adams, and was from the largest colony, Virgina, which ought to be seen as at the center of this business. Adams' advocacy for independence in the Second Continental Congress caused him to be dubbed "the Voice" of independence, with Jefferson called its "Pen." Remarkably, both men would die on the same day: the 50th anniversary of July 4, 1776.
“I never delighted much in contemplating commas and colons, or in spelling or measuring syllables; but now . . . if I attempt to look at these little objects, I find my imagination, in spite of all my exertions, roaming in the Milky Way, among the nebulae, those mighty orbs, and stupendous orbits of suns, planets, satellites, and comets, which compose the incomprehensible universe; and if I do not sink into nothing in my own estimation, I feel an irresistible impulse to fall on my knees, in adoration of the power that moves, the wisdom that directs, and the benevolence that sanctifies this wonderful whole.” The elderly John Adams, as quoted in, David McCullough, John Adams (Simon & Schuster 2001), p. 630.
Completed (second time) September 1, 2012.
Rating: 10 out of 10.
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