Great Events in the History of North and South America

by Charles A. Goodrich

"He is eminently conspicuous as one of the great benefactors of the human race; for he not only gave liberty to millions, but his name now stands, and will for ever stand, a noble example to high and low. He is a great work of the Almighty Artist, which none can study without receiving purer ideas and more lofty conceptions of the grace and beauty of the human character. He is one that all may copy at different distances, and whom none can contemplate without receiving lasting and salutary impressions of the sterling value, the inexpressible beauty of piety, integrity, courage, and patriotism, associated with a clear, vigorous, and well-poised intellect.

"Pure and widely disseminated as is the fame of this great and good man, it is yet in its infancy. It is every day taking deeper root in the hearts of his countrymen and the estimation of strangers, and spreading its branches wider and wider to the air and the skies. He is already become the saint of liberty, which has gathered new honors by being associated with his name; and when men aspire to free nations, they must take him for their model. It is, then, not without ample reason that the suffrages of mankind have combined to place Washington at the head of his race. If we estimate him by the examples recorded in history, he stands without a parallel in the virtues exhibited, and the most unprecedented consequences resulting from their exercise. The whole world was the theatre of his actions, and all mankind are destined to partake, sooner or later, in their results. He is the hero of a new species; he had no model. Will he have any imitators? Time, which bears the thousands and thousands of common cut-throats to the ocean of oblivion, only adds new lustre to his fame, new fame to his example, and new strength to the reverential affection of all good men. What a glorious fame is his, to be acquired without guilt, and enjoyed without envy! to be cherished by millions living, hundreds of millions yet unborn! Let the children of my country prove themselves worthy of his virtues, his labors, his sacrifices, by reverencing his name, and imitating his piety, integrity, industry, fortitude, patience, forbearance, and patriotism. So shall they become fitted to enjoy the blessings of freedom and the bounties of Heaven."[66]

Removal of the Seat of Government.—In the year 1800, the seat of government, agreeably to a law passed by congress in 1790, was removed to Washington, in the District of Columbia. This territory, ten miles square, had been granted to the general government by the states of Virginia and Maryland. Public buildings had been erected, and in November of this year, congress, for the first time, held their session in that place. After congratulating the people of the United States on the assembling of congress, on the prospect of a residence not to be changed, the president said: "It would be unbecoming the representatives of this nation to assemble, for the first time, in this solemn temple, without looking up to the Supreme Ruler of the universe, and imploring his blessing. May this territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! In this city, may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and self-government, which adorned the great character whose name it bears, be for ever held in veneration. Here, and throughout our country, may simple manners, pure morals, and true religion, flourish for ever."

Election of Mr. Jefferson.—At this period, a presidential election recurred. From the time of the adoption of the constitution, the republican party had been gradually gathering strength, and, in anticipation of success, great preparations were made by them to elect their candidates, Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Burr. The candidates of the federal party were Mr. Adams and General Pinckney.

Unfortunately for the federal party, the administration of Mr. Adams had not been generally acceptable. "In the early part of it, the acts by which the army and navy were strengthened, and eighty thousand of the militia subjected to his order, were represented, by the republicans, as proofs that, however he might have been a friend to the constitution of his country, he now either wished to subvert it, or was led blindfold into the views of those who did. The republicans scrupled the policy of a war with France, and denied the necessity, even in case of such a war, of a large land force. They believed that spirits were at work to produce this war, or to make the most of a disturbance, in order to lull the people, while they raised an army, which they intended as the instrument of subverting the republican, and establishing a monarchical government."

These insinuations—or, more properly, charges—were doubtless utterly groundless; but they served to bring Mr. Adams' administration into disrepute, and to strengthen the republican party, which were boastful of their superior regard to the constitution, and friendship to the rights and liberty of the people.

Other measures of the administration served to increase the party odium against it, and, in the sequel, to overthrow it. We allude particularly to two acts of congress—the alien and sedition laws, of July, 1798.

The alien law empowered the president "to order all such aliens as he should judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or should have reasonable grounds to suspect were concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United States, within such time as should be expressed in such order." In case of disobedience, such aliens, on conviction before the circuit or district courts of the United States, were subjected to imprisonment for not more than three years, and incapacitated from becoming citizens. The subsequent law, respecting alien enemies, enabled the president, on a declaration of war, to cause the subjects of the belligerent nation "to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies." Under both these acts, they were permitted to remove their property, and under the latter, if not chargeable with crimes against the United States, to defend themselves.

Of the two measures, the sedition act was by far the most unpopular. "The other," says Mr. Tucker, "was condemned by most Americans, like the stork in the fable, for the society in which he was found, and for the sake of soothing the great class of foreigners who were not yet naturalized, the greater part of whom, particularly the Irish and French, were attached to the republican party."[67]

The sedition law, in some of its provisions, went still further. It imposed fine and imprisonment for unlawfully combining and conspiring with intent to oppose the measures of government, when directed by the proper authority: for impeding the operation of any law of the United States; intimidating an officer from the performance of his duty, or counselling or advising, with similar intent, insurrections, riots, or unlawful combinations. It also imposed similar, but lighter penalties, for the publication of false, scandalous, and malicious writings against the government of the United States, either house of congress, or the president, with intent to bring them into contempt, &c. The act was limited to two years.