Customer Reviews

The Political Writings of John Adams

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pretentious, pugnacious in his temperament, possessed of a sense of nobility, John Adams was the quintessential Yankee and the Second President of the United States. This collection of his most famous political treatises and his correspondence is most appealing. With a keen intellect, his statesmanship is penetrating and has earned him recognition as the American Burke. Adams was prescient in his understanding of human nature, recognizing that "[s]elf-interest, private avidity, ambition, and avarice, will exist in every state of society, and under every form of government. A succession of powers and persons, by frequent elections, will not lessen these passions in any case, in a governor, senator, or representative, nor will the apprehension of an approaching election restrain them from indulgence if they have the power." Reconciling a flawed nature with man's yearning for liberty was no small task, but he suggested that ordered liberty could be fortified through a mixed constitution: "The nation which will not adopt equilibrium of power must adopt a despotism. There is no alternative. Rivalries must be controlled, or they will throw all things into confusion; and there is nothing but despotism or a balance of power which can control them." Adams surmised that the great work of those statesmen at the Convention was to fortify the British inheritance which was itself a mixed constitution while giving it a strong measure of steadiness and permanence by edifice in the Constitution. In Adams' summation, the licentious nature of democracy was to be quelled by establishing a proper equilibrium with the natural aristocratic and monarchial elements. This was requisite for a free government and history demonstrated that a lack of balance sputters off into despotism. Adams was keenly aware of the fragility of the American experiment in ordered liberty, and he shunned quixotic ideologues. He was utterly cynical of Enlightenment views which held the perfectibility of mankind as tenable, and he saw innumerable odds posed against ordered liberty. It is not surprising that John Adam's political theory perhaps has been glossed over by the egalitarian-minded historians of our day, because he rejected the major ideological assumptions fueling the French Revolution. He was keenly appreciative of the Anglo-American common law tradition and the vibrant interplay of cultures that shaped the distinctively American political tradition.

"Few men will deny that there is a natural aristocracy of virtues and talents in every nation and in every part, in every city and village. Inequalities are a part of the natural history of man," avowed John Adams. In stark opposition to the heresy of equality, Adams postulated a natural aristocracy of talent that was innate to all men gathered in association. Adams realised that man would be lead by his better man, but this natural aristocracy (i.e. rule by the best) was not something to be imposed upon civil society, but was essentially meritocratic and again natural. While it is clear that Adams was no egalitarian leveler, he also favored a free economy and possessed not an iota of Hamiltonian traits. In fact, he reserved personal scorn for the man when he derided him as a "bastard brat of a Scottish peddler." Adams disdained large scale, materialistic schemes to augment a nation's wealth. And on the contrary Adams thought that fostering the personal economic independence of every citizen was necessary for the betterment of the republic. The political order was to serve the people and civil society at large, not some hodgepodge fiduciary elite of speculators and financiers. Indeed, the long-term stability of a republic weighed heavily on a secured, landed populace-in the eyes of John Adams. And that idea was not only enmeshed in the minds of southerners, but temperate New Englanders like Adams as well.

Adams was the foremost advocate of religious moors as a buttress of public stability and virtue. "Statesmen... may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand." A great measure of public virtue was deemed requisite for a free government and prosperous civil society. Adams rhetorically inquired, "Have you ever found in history one single example of a nation thoroughly corrupted, that was afterwards restored to virtue? And without virtue, there can be no political liberty."

In my estimation, studying the political theory of John Adams is requisite for serious study of the American founding. Too often shoddy partisan scholarship casts the founding era as one big standoff between those of a austere Jeffersonian or Hamiltonian persuasion. Hamilton's allies within his own party were few, and it imploded after 1800 and many in Jeffersonian camp considered its name bearer to be the compromiser. Reductionist scholarship accentuates the aforesaid personal struggle of minds and also deemphasizes the common ground the founding fathers had. Despite John Adams' influential showing during the early years of the Republic, his political thought has been overlooked especially in contrast to the cult following behind Hamilton, Madison and Jefferson.

Great book...great man.

Of all the founders, he was my favorite, and unlike Jefferson and Washington, who kept slaves because they were wealthy land owners, even though they knew it was wrong...Adams refused the "obmination" forever on principle.

He also wrote the first Constitution of the US (MA) on which ours was modeled after...

And yet, no huge building stands in DC for him...and why?

Because, he was NOT a politician...he was an honest man.

At least, that's my opinion.

Get the book, and be amazed.

You MUST READ this if you liked the Jone Adams you saw in the HBO series. Although he is credieted with the funding of conservative ideology in this country, his insights and record of historical thought are important lessons for all political dispositions. My sugestion for reading - pick and choose sections when current events suggest historical underpinnings. Now go!