Details
ADAMS, John, President. Autograph letter signed ("John Adams") AS VICE-PRESIDENT to General Benjamin Lincoln, Quincy, 4 November 1793. 2 pages, 4to. Very fine condition.
INDIAN TREATIES AND EUROPEAN CONFLICTS. An excellent statement of Adams' views on the worsening European situation. Lincoln (1733-1810), a high-ranking officer during the Revolution, had been appointed by Adams as one of the commissioners to the Creek Indians in 1789; at this date he was serving as a federal commissioner to negotiate treaties with the Native American tribes north of the Ohio River. Ironically, peace, Adams here concludes, is as elusive on the American frontiers as it is in enlightened, modern Europe: "The inclosed Reasons why the Commissioners did not make Peace with the Indians, I have read with all the Interest that the Subject and the manner of treating it naturally inspires. The Facts are so natural and conformable at the same time to all the Observations I was able to make, and all the Information I could obtain during my Residence both in France and England, that I have not a doubt of their truth, nor the least difficulty in believing that you have developed the true Causes of the Continuance of the Indian War."
Casting a critical eye to the upheavals in Europe, he continues: "Providence by abandoning the Powers of Europe to the blind Domination of their Passions, is working out for Us, I hope, that Safety which I despaired of enjoying so long, when I left that Quarter of the World. While they are exhausted I hope we may be Safe. But it may not be many years before the inpatience of our own People may involve them in Quarells as exhausting as those of Europe. I am a devout Churchman in one Point: 'Give Us Peace in our Day.' The present unnatural combination of England with Spain, gives me sometimes so much Jealousy that, if I could in Confidence, I should be disposed to go all Lengths with the Rulers in France. But this is impossible."
Adams's suspicion of the European powers and their policies toward America were informed by his ten years in Europe as a diplomat. "The French Revolution, in fact, was an event...that Adams frequently used as a kind of backboard for his own political values, a dramatic example of how not to affect social change" (Joseph Ellis, Passionate Sage, p.92). It remained his conviction, when he suceeded Washington as President, that it was crucial for his new nation to pursue a foreign policy of strict neutrality. This proved exceedingly difficult in practice, and the nation was nearly brought to the brink of war with France only four years later, in the wake of the "X, Y, Z Affair."
INDIAN TREATIES AND EUROPEAN CONFLICTS. An excellent statement of Adams' views on the worsening European situation. Lincoln (1733-1810), a high-ranking officer during the Revolution, had been appointed by Adams as one of the commissioners to the Creek Indians in 1789; at this date he was serving as a federal commissioner to negotiate treaties with the Native American tribes north of the Ohio River. Ironically, peace, Adams here concludes, is as elusive on the American frontiers as it is in enlightened, modern Europe: "The inclosed Reasons why the Commissioners did not make Peace with the Indians, I have read with all the Interest that the Subject and the manner of treating it naturally inspires. The Facts are so natural and conformable at the same time to all the Observations I was able to make, and all the Information I could obtain during my Residence both in France and England, that I have not a doubt of their truth, nor the least difficulty in believing that you have developed the true Causes of the Continuance of the Indian War."
Casting a critical eye to the upheavals in Europe, he continues: "Providence by abandoning the Powers of Europe to the blind Domination of their Passions, is working out for Us, I hope, that Safety which I despaired of enjoying so long, when I left that Quarter of the World. While they are exhausted I hope we may be Safe. But it may not be many years before the inpatience of our own People may involve them in Quarells as exhausting as those of Europe. I am a devout Churchman in one Point: 'Give Us Peace in our Day.' The present unnatural combination of England with Spain, gives me sometimes so much Jealousy that, if I could in Confidence, I should be disposed to go all Lengths with the Rulers in France. But this is impossible."
Adams's suspicion of the European powers and their policies toward America were informed by his ten years in Europe as a diplomat. "The French Revolution, in fact, was an event...that Adams frequently used as a kind of backboard for his own political values, a dramatic example of how not to affect social change" (Joseph Ellis, Passionate Sage, p.92). It remained his conviction, when he suceeded Washington as President, that it was crucial for his new nation to pursue a foreign policy of strict neutrality. This proved exceedingly difficult in practice, and the nation was nearly brought to the brink of war with France only four years later, in the wake of the "X, Y, Z Affair."