THEY WORKED EFFECTIVELY
IN CONGRESS BEFORE
THEY WENT TO EUROPE.
AND THEN IT WAS A CLOSE
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WHEN
JEFFERSON AND ADAMS, AND
ABIGAIL, WERE ALL IN PARIS AND,
IN FACT, MUCH OF THE HURT IN
THE MIDDLE YEARS WHEN THEY WERE
NOT IN CORRESPONDENCE, IS
ACTUALLY A COMMENTARY ON HOW
CLOSE THEY HAD BEEN
DURING THAT PERIOD.
AND IT WAS PARTICULARLY ABIGAIL
WHO WAS UPSET WITH THE
SCURRILOUS ABUSE THAT JEFFERSON
WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR
IN ATTACKING ADAMS'
REPUBLICAN CREDENTIALS.
IN A COUPLE OF FAMOUS INSTANCES
THAT CIRCULATED, PRESUMABLY
WITHOUT JEFFERSON'S APPROVAL,
INSULTS AGAINST ADAMS.
SO IT HAD BEEN VERY WARM.
AND IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT'S SO COMPELLING ABOUT
THEIR RECONCILIATION, WHICH
BENJAMIN RUSH ARRANGED,
WAS THAT THEY HAD SO
MUCH TO OVERCOME.
THAT IS, SO MUCH BAD FEELING.
ALL THE BAD FEELING THAT HAD
BEEN MANIFESTED, IN FACT,
IN THE BITTER PARTY
BATTLES OF THE 1790S.
AND SO IT WAS MORE
THAN A MAKING UP OF
A PERSONAL QUARREL.
IT WAS, IN A SYMBOLIC WAY, WE
MIGHT SAY, FOR THOSE OF US TO
GET SENTIMENTAL ABOUT THESE
THINGS, A KIND OF A EFFORT AT
RECONCILIATION BETWEEN
THESE GREAT TITANS OF THE
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
AND AN OVERCOMING OF BOTH THE
BITTER PARTISAN BATTLES OF
THE 1790S AND THE
HYPER-SECTIONALISM
THAT RESULTED.
BUT I WOULDN'T WANT
TO PUSH THAT TOO FAR.
BECAUSE I MENTIONED A LETTER
FROM JEFFERSON TO ADAMS DURING
THE MISSOURI CONTROVERSY.
AND THOUGH, ON THE LEVEL OF THE
FOUNDERS, THAT GENERATION, OF
COURSE, THEY BOTH DIE FIFTY
YEARS AFTER THE DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE, THAT COMING
TOGETHER SHOULD BE SEEN IN
COUNTERPOINT TO THE FALLING
APART OF THE AMERICAN UNION.
THAT'S SIMULTANEOUSLY
TAKING PLACE.
AND FOR WHICH JEFFERSON IS,
IN MANY WAYS, RESPONSIBLE.
THAT WOULD BE, ON THE ONE HAND,
THE DIVISION OVER SLAVERY AND
FREEDOM THAT BECOMES MANIFEST
IN THE MISSOURI CONTROVERSIES.
AND ALSO DEBATES OVER ROLE OF
THE JUDICIARY, HIS LIFELONG
STRUGGLE WITH JOHN MARSHALL.
JEFFERSON TAKES ADVANCED, OR, I
SHOULD SAY, REACTIONARY
POSITIONS ON ALL THE
CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES OF THE DAY
IN TERMS OF THE ROLE OF THE
SUPREME COURT AND THE
NATURE OF THE UNION.
AND JEFFERSON'S DOCTRINES ARE
THE ONES THAT ARE GOING TO
LEAD TOWARD THE CIVIL WAR.
SO THAT'S JUST AN IMPORTANT
COUNTERPOINT TO KEEP IN MIND
IN OUR NATIONAL IMAGINARY,
THE COMING TOGETHER OF ADAMS
AND JEFFERSON MEANS,
SYMBOLIZES UNION.
IT'S THE NORTH AND SOUTH.
IT'S PERSEVERING AGAINST THE
TREMENDOUS DISAGREEMENTS AND
DIFFICULT, TUMULTUOUS PERIODS.
YET, IT'S HAPPENING AT THE
SAME TIME THAT THE UNION
IS ABOUT TO COLLAPSE.
