John Adams and His Highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same

Yesterday was decided the greatest question which was ever debated in America, and a greater perhaps never was nor will be decided among men. The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America."

John Adams writing to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776.



Mr. Adams got that one wrong, even if he was technically right. The Declaration of Independence was initially passed on July 2nd by a vote of 12 yeas, 0 nays, and 1 abstention. However, over the next 24 hours, or so members of the Continental Congress not a part of the Committee of Five who drafted its language did some heavy editing. The final version of the document, which was missing a fairly large chunk of the original, was passed and dated the 4th of July, which quickly became the official, "birthday," of the United States of America.

Adams was so pissed off at this turn of events he refused to attend any 4th of July celebrations for the rest of his life, which was considerable. He lived for another 50 years before dying on, you guessed it, July 4th, 1826.

It wasn't the only time he got things wrong. Later, during the first session of the First Congress of the United States, Adams, the nation's Vice President, proposed to the Senate the President should always be addressed as, "His highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same." As James C. Alexander wrote in 2008, "The suggestion enraged many, amused some, and was supported by few."

Despite this considerable step back toward a monarchy, even if only in title, John Adams was elected the second President. Being from Massachusetts, he was the only one of the first five chief executives not from Virginia and the only one not to own slaves.

So, he was a great progressive right? Not really. Just because he never owned a slave in his life it didn't mean he was actively against slavery's cruel existence. After his presidency ended Adams was approached by abolitionists looking for support. He refused because he believed the movement was, "...dangerous and potentially destabilizing." According to the Lehrman Institute, Adams wrote he would not support abolitionism unless it was done in a, "gradual way, with much caution and circumspection." He went so far as to say radical abolitionism could, "...produce greater violations of Justice and Humanity than the continuance of the practice."

He also predicted slavery would die out on its own in a short time and we all know how that worked out.

A few years earlier, while he was still President someone came up with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, or what now days would be called, Donald Trump's wet dream. The Fifth congress was in the firm control of Adams' Federalist Party. In a nationalistic and some would say paranoid frenzy, it passed and he signed into law four measures.

The first, the Naturalization Act, stated that to become a citizen of the republic you had to live here at least 14 years instead of five. The Alien Friends Act allowed the president to imprison and deport any non-citizen who was deemed dangerous. The Alien Enemy Act allowed a president to do the same to non-citizens who were from hostile nations. Finally the Sedition Act made it a crime to make false statements which were critical of the federal government.

Although historians point out there isn't a shred of evidence Adams actually deported anyone deemed dangerous, they do admit his Federalist administration tried and convicted a bunch of people using the Sedition Act. They were mainly the owners of newspapers who were critical of John Adams and his policies. Whether they published falsehoods, or not, seemed to have had little bearing on their imprisonment.

Unfortunately for The Big Orange Guy, after Thomas Jefferson defeated Adams in the next election he let three of the four acts expire within a couple of years. The Alien Enemy Act, in revised form, still exists to this day.

Yes, all this insane shit came from a guy who was on that Committee of Five who wrote the first version of the Declaration of Independence--a man who has been called, "a giant," among the founding fathers.

Well, at least we know if John Adams was still alive he wouldn't show up on the mall in Washington tonight to listen to the current resident of the White House.

Maybe that fact alone is worth celebrating today, the 4th of July, 2019. There certainly isn't much else to honor in this age of immigrant concentration camps, overt fascist tendencies, and an endless flood of despicable lies.




7-4-19