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 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow 8 Jan. 1798: MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS; ANNOUNCING THE RATIFICATION OF AN AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. - The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811)

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Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

8 Jan. 1798: MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS; ANNOUNCING THE RATIFICATION OF AN AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811) [1854]

Edition used:

The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 9.

Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.

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MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS;

ANNOUNCING THE RATIFICATION OF AN AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION.

8 January, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

I have now an opportunity to transmit to Congress a report of the Secretary of State, with a copy of an act of the legislature of the State of Kentucky, consenting to the ratification of the amendment of the Constitution of the United States, proposed by Congress in their resolution of the second day of December, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three, relative to the suability of States. This amendment having been adopted by three fourths of the several States, may now be declared to be a part of the Constitution of the United States.

John Adams.

MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS;

RELATIVE TO A FRENCH PRIVATEER.

5 February, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

I have received a letter from his Excellency Charles Pinckney, Esquire, Governor of the State of South Carolina, dated on the twenty-second of October, 1797, inclosing a number of depositions of witnesses to several captures and outrages committed within and near the limits of the United States by a French privateer belonging to Cape François or Monte Christo, called the Vertitude or Fortitude, and commanded by a person of the name of Jordon or Jourdain, and particularly upon an English merchant ship, named the Oracabissa, which he first plundered, and then burned with the rest of her cargo of great value, within the territory of the United States, in the harbor of Charleston, on the seventeenth day of October last, copies of which letter and depositions, and also of several other depositions relative to the same subject, received from the collector of Charleston, are herewith communicated.

Whenever the channels of diplomatical communication between the United States and France shall be opened, I shall demand satisfaction for the insult and reparation for the injury.

I have transmitted these papers to Congress, not so much for the purpose of communicating an account of so daring a violation of the territory of the United States, as to show the propriety and necessity of enabling the executive authority of government to take measures for protecting the citizens of the United States, and such foreigners as have a right to enjoy their peace and the protection of their laws within their limits, in that as well as some other harbors, which are equally exposed.

John Adams.

MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS;

TRANSMITTING DESPATCHES FROM FRANCE.

5 March, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

The first despatches from our envoys extraordinary, since their arrival at Paris, were received at the Secretary of State’s office, at a late hour the last evening. They are all in a character, which will require some days to be deciphered, except the last, which is dated the eighth of January, 1798. The contents of this letter are of so much importance to be immediately made known to Congress and to the public, especially to the mercantile part of our fellow-citizens, that I have thought it my duty to communicate them to both Houses, without loss of time.

John Adams.

MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS;

TRANSMITTING DESPATCHES FROM FRANCE.

19 March, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

The despatches from the envoys extraordinary of the United States to the French republic, which were mentioned in my message to both houses of Congress of the fifth instant, have been examined and maturely considered.

While I feel a satisfaction in informing you that their exertions for the adjustment of the differences between the two nations have been sincere and unremitted, it is incumbent on me to declare, that I perceive no ground of expectation that the objects of their mission can be accomplished on terms compatible with the safety, honor, or the essential interests of the nation.

This result cannot with justice be attributed to any want of moderation on the part of this government, or to any indisposition to forego secondary interests for the preservation of peace. Knowing it to be my duty and believing it to be your wish, as well as that of the great body of the people, to avoid, by all reasonable concessions, any participation in the contentions of Europe, the powers vested in our envoys were commensurate with a liberal and pacific policy, and that high confidence which might justly be reposed in the abilities, patriotism, and integrity of the characters to whom the negotiation was committed. After a careful review of the whole subject, with the aid of all the information I have received, I can discern nothing, which could have insured or contributed to success, that has been omitted on my part, and nothing further which can be attempted, consistently with maxims for which our country has contended at every hazard, and which constitute the basis of our national sovereignty.

Under these circumstances I cannot forbear to reiterate the recommendations which have been formerly made, and to exhort you to adopt, with promptitude, decision, and unanimity, such measures as the ample resources of the country afford, for the protection of our seafaring and commercial citizens, for the defence of any exposed portions of our territory, for replenishing our arsenals, establishing founderies and military manufactories, and to provide such efficient revenue as will be necessary to defray extraordinary expenses, and supply the deficiencies which may be occasioned by depredations on our commerce.

The present state of things is so essentially different from that in which instructions were given to collectors to restrain vessels of the United States from sailing in an armed condition, that the principle on which those orders were issued, has ceased to exist. I therefore deem it proper to inform Congress, that I no longer conceive myself justifiable in continuing them, unless in particular cases, where there may be reasonable ground of suspicion that such vessels are intended to be employed contrary to law.

In all your proceedings, it will be important to manifest a zeal, vigor, and concert, in defence of the national rights, proportioned to the danger with which they are threatened.

John Adams.

MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS;

TRANSMITTING DESPATCHES FROM FRANCE.

3 April, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

In compliance with the request of the House of Representatives, expressed in their resolution of the second of this month, I transmit to both houses those instructions to and despatches from the envoys extraordinary to the French republic, which were mentioned in my message of the nineteenth of March last, omitting only some names and a few expressions descriptive of the persons.

I request that they may be considered in confidence, until the members of Congress are fully possessed of their contents, and shall have had opportunity to deliberate on the consequences of their publication; after which time, I submit them to your wisdom.

John Adams.

MESSAGE TO BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS;

ON THE STATE OF AFFAIRS WITH FRANCE.

21 June, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,

While I congratulate you on the arrival of General Marshall, one of our late envoys extraordinary to the French republic, at a place of safety, where he is justly held in honor, I think it my duty to communicate to you a letter received by him from Mr. Gerry, the only one of the three who has not received his congé. This letter, together with another from the minister of foreign relations to him, of the third of April, and his answer of the fourth, will show the situation in which he remains, his intentions, and prospects.

I presume that before this time he has received fresh instructions (a copy of which accompanies this message) to consent to no loans; and therefore the negotiation may be considered at an end.

I will never send another minister to France, without assurances that he will be received, respected, and honored as the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent nation.

John Adams.

MESSAGE TO THE SENATE;

TRANSMITTING A LETTER FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON.

17 July, 1798.

Gentlemen of the Senate,

Believing that the letter received this morning from Genera Washington will give high satisfaction to the Senate, I transmit them a copy of it, and congratulate them and the public on this great event, the General’s acceptance of his appointment as Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-chief of the army.

John Adams.

MESSAGE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES;

RESPECTING CERTAIN ACTS OF BRITISH NAVAL OFFICERS.

8 January, 1799.

In compliance with your desire, expressed in your resolution of the 2d of this month, I lay before you an extract of a letter from George C. Morton, acting consul of the United States at the Havana, dated the 18th of November, 1798, to the Secretary of State, with a copy of a letter from him to L. Trezevant and William Timmons, Esquires, with their answer. Although your request extends no further than such information as has been received, yet it may be a satisfaction to you to know, that as soon as this intelligence was communicated to me, circular orders were given by my direction to all the commanders of our vessels of war, a copy of which is also herewith transmitted. I also directed this intelligence and these orders to be communicated to his Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States, and to our minister plenipotentiary to the court of Great Britain, with instructions to him to make the proper representation to that government upon this subject.

It is but justice to say, that this is the first instance of misbehavior of any of the British officers towards our vessels of war, that has come to my knowledge. According to all the representations that I have seen, the flag of the United States, and their officers and men, have been treated by the civil and military authority of the British nation, in Nova Scotia, the West India islands, and on the ocean, with uniform civility politeness, and friendship. I have no doubt that this first in stance of misconduct will be readily corrected.

John Adams.

CIRCULAR,

To the Commanders of Armed Vessels in the Service of the United States, given at the Navy Department, December 29th, 1798.

Sir,—

It is the positive command of the President that on no pretence whatever you permit the public vessel of war under your command to be detained or searched, nor any of the officers or men belonging to her to be taken from her, by the ships or vessels of any foreign nation, so long as you are in a capacity to repel such outrage on the honor of the American flag. If force should be exerted to compel your submission, you are to resist that force to the utmost of your power, and when overpowered by superior force, you are to strike your flag, and thus yield your vessel as well as your men; but never your men without your vessel.

You will remember, however, that your demeanor be respectful and friendly to the vessels and people of all nations in amity with the United States; and that you avoid as carefully the commission of, as the submission to, insult or injury.

I have the honor to be, &c.

Ben. Stoddert.