The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk

Collection Reference Number GLC00747
From Archive Folder Documents Relating to 1805 
Title John Adams to Benjamin Rush concerning his and George Washington's administrations
Date 4 December 1805
Author Adams, John (1735-1826)  
Recipient Rush, Benjamin  
Document Type Correspondence; Government document
Content Description Writes concerning his and George Washington's administrations by referring to those "melancholly books" such as "Tully's Memoirs" and "Cicero's Life" from which he compares the first and second triumvirates to Hamilton's "Schemes, to get rid of Washington, Adams, Jay and Jefferson, and monopolise all power to him Self."
Subjects President  Classical World and Ancient Civilization  Corruption and Scandal  Politics  Government and Civics  Health and Medical  Education  Revolutionary War  Battle  Battle (Siege, Surrender) of Yorktown  Military History  Global History and Civics  France  Ballooning  
People Adams, John (1735-1826)  Rush, Benjamin (1746-1813)  Hamilton, Alexander (ca. 1757-1804)  Jay, John (1745-1829)  Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826)  
Place written Quincy, Massachusetts
Theme The Presidency; Arts & Literature; Government & Politics; Health & Medicine; Education; Foreign Affairs
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information During the 1790s and early 1800s, the United States confronted many of the same problems that have confronted newly independent nations in Africa and Asia in the twentieth century. Like other nations born in anticolonial revolutions, the United States faced severe challenges in building a sound economy, preserving national independence, and providing a place for a legitimate political opposition. The textbook picture of the past tends to be calm and dispassionate, but in real life, events were confusing and unpredictable. The nation's first two decades under the Constitution were rife with conflict, partisan passion, and threats of disunion and civil war. In a bitter letter written two years after Vice President Aaron Burr (1756-1836) shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, former President Adams offers a savage attack on the former Treasury Secretary's character. Adams draws a comparison between the early years of the new republic and the history of the Roman republic. Adams, like many Americans of the founding generation, believed that the Roman republic, which provided a model for such American institutions as the Senate, had collapsed because of the malevolent designs of scheming men and the public's lack of virtue. He is haunted by a fear that the new American republic is doomed to follow the same fate.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859
Transcript Show/hide