BOTH JEFFERSON AND ADAMS WOULD
HAVE DISTINGUISHED CAREERS
IN NATIONAL POLITICS.
I'LL TALK ABOUT
JEFFERSON FOR A MINUTE.
THE ARGUMENT, I THINK, IS
EASIER TO MAKE IN JEFFERSON'S
CASE THAT TAKING THE BROAD VIEW
THAT WHAT HAPPENED AT
PHILADELPHIA, THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT THAT WAS ESTABLISHED
AND BEGAN FUNCTIONING IN 1789
AND WAS UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON AND ALEXANDER
HAMILTON, CREATED A
SEMBLANCE OF AN ENERGETIC
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
THAT FEDERAL CONSTITUTION WAS,
IN EFFECT, REVISED OR AMENDED
BY THE ASCENSION OF JEFFERSON
IN THE ELECTION OF 1800.
WHEN JEFFERSON'S READING OF THE
INTERPRETATION SET THE NATION
OFF ON AN ENTIRELY NEW COURSE.
IN OTHER WORDS, THERE ARE TWO
MAJOR PERIODS IN THE EARLY
CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY
OF THE UNITED STATES.
FIRST IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
THE NEW REGIME, WITH THE STRONG
CENTRALIZING TENDENCIES ARE
STILL AT PLAY, OR STILL WORKING.
AND THEN, A REACTION
AGAINST THAT.
AGAIN, THIS, COMING BACK TO MY
THEME OF PROVINCIAL LIBERTIES,
OF COURSE, JEFFERSON TAKES A
LEAD BOTH IN THE REVOLUTION AS
A RADICAL DEFENDER OF
PROVINCIAL LIBERTIES.
AND IN THE EFFORT TO TURN OVER,
OR OVERTHROW, THE FEDERALIST
REGIME ON BEHALF OF AN
INTERPRETATION OF THE
CONSTITUTION THAT
FAVORED STATES' RIGHTS.
AGAIN, PROVINCIAL LIBERTIES
OR STATES' RIGHTS
WERE THE KEY ISSUE.
JOHN ADAMS, IS A MUCH
MISUNDERSTOOD CHARACTER, AND
VERY ATTRACTIVE TO MODERN
HISTORIANS AND MANY READERS OF
DAVID MCCULLOUGH AND SO FORTH.
BECAUSE HE'S NEUROTIC.
HE'S VERY THOUGHTFUL.
HE AGONIZES.
HE DOESN'T TAKE THE CHEERY AND
SUNNY VIEW THAT JEFFERSON
SOMETIMES BUT NOT ALWAYS DOES,
THAT OPTIMISTIC VIEW
OF HUMAN NATURE.
AND ABOUT THE PROSPECTS OF
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
ADAMS IS PROBABLY, IS
FAMOUS FOR MANY THINGS.
HE WAS THE ATLAS
OF INDEPENDENCE.
HE DID MUCH MORE IN THE EARLY
CONGRESSES THEN JEFFERSON DID.
JEFFERSON WAS A CLEVER
WRITER BUT WAS NOT A GREAT
COMMITTEEMAN, AS ADAMS WAS.
BUT ADAMS ALSO HAD THE
INSIGHT INTO THE LIMITS,
OR THE DANGERS, OF
REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE.
THAT HE ANTICIPATED THAT
THE REVOLUTION IN FRANCE
WOULD BE A DISASTER.
AND, OF COURSE, WE ALL
KNOW HE WAS RIGHT.
AND THAT WAS BASED ON HIS
OWN ACUTE UNDERSTANDING
OF POLITICAL HISTORY AND
OF THE NATURE OF THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
PEOPLE LIKE JEFFERSON WANTED
TO THINK THAT THE FRENCH
REVOLUTION WAS GOING TO BE THE
CONTINUATION OF THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION IN EUROPE.
AND THAT THE OLD REGIME
WOULD BE OVERTHROWN.
ADAMS WAS MUCH MORE MODEST
IN HIS SENSE OF WHAT
COULD AND SHOULD BE DONE.
