John Adams by David McCullough
Uniting thirteen colonies into one nation required the compromise of cultural and economic differences of along regional lines, north and south. Of the first 6 Presidents, four were from the south and two were from the north. This was no accident; it was compromise.
Balancing the interests of the north and the south was important in building consensus in the formation of the union. The most vocal and most violent seeds of the revolution were found in Boston and New England. Some of the most fragile but important commercial relationships with England were from the southern planters. North and south had different values in balancing individual and property rights.
Northern politicians focused on the protecting the right of individual personal liberty, while the southern politicians focused on protecting property rights. Both were prominently protected in the Declaration of Independence. Slavery brought the two rights together in a conflict that threatened the formation of the union.
Selecting the first President from Virginia and the first Vice President from Boston was one of the key compromises. George Washington was a planter with an estimated 200 slaves. John Adams was a well-respected Boston lawyer with abolitionist sympathies. They did not find a permanent solution to the problem of slavery, but they did not let their differences on the subject destroy the long-term objectives of establishing a home for the American Dream.
Due Process has been an integral part of the American experience since before our founding document were established. For example, when the British soldiers were charged with murder after the Boston Massacre in 1770, it was already part of the American jurisprudence that “due process” requires that all defendants in court are entitled to be represented by counsel. It was John Adams who offered to defend these British soldiers in court.
Some rights like the freedom of speech would find their way into the U.S. Constitution by way of the Bill of Rights. The meaning of some of these freedoms would have to be worked out over time as the American experience evolved.
When John Adams was our country’s second President, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, at the end of the 18th century. While they were in effect, the Alien and Sedition Acts were applied to suppress publishers affiliated with the Democratic-Republicans, including several publishers who were arrested for being critical of the Adams administration. The Democratic-Republicans beat Adams in the election of 1800, in part because of the backlash to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Even the Founding Fathers faced conflicts; they did not have crystal balls. The American experience has not always been a smooth path forward.
Adams and Jefferson would mend fences and engage in a lengthy exchange of letters, until their deaths on July 4, 1826.
In the American political system, even rivals can treat each other with respect. We can learn a lot by studying Adams and Jefferson.