Authors: Joseph J. Ellis

Founding Brothers (46 page)

politics, distaste for

presidency after
Washington, perspective on

presidency of

presidential
election of 1796

presidential election of 1800

presidential form of address

press criticism of

reclusive period in mid-1790s

residency issue

reticent nature

retirement in 1793

romanticized
versions of history, beneficiary of

secession issue

self-deception, capacity for

slavery debate

“sovereignty of each generation” idea

treasonable
action, defense of

treasonable activities

on
treaty-making powers

vice presidency of

vision for
American nation

on Washington’s physical decline

Washington’s relationship with

Whiskey Rebellion

see also
Adams-Jefferson correspondence; Adams-Jefferson
relationship Jefferson-Madison collaboration

Jefferson-Madison
collaboration

Adams-Jefferson relationship, comparison with

bipartisan effort regarding Adams presidency and

character
of

Compromise of 1790 and

constitutional questions
and

correspondence

Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions

partisan campaign against Adams presidency

presidential election of 1796

Republican triumph over
Federalists

Virginian perspective

Johnson, Samuel

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Lafayette, Marquis de

Laurance, John

Laurens,
Henry

Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory
(Adams)

Lee, Henry

Lee, Robert E.

Lewis and Clark
expedition

libel law

Liberia

Life of
George Washington, The
(Marshall)

Lincoln, Abraham

Louisiana Purchase

Madison, James

Adams, attitude
toward

Alien and Sedition Acts

assumption issue

constitutional government, efforts on behalf of

economic
philosophy

Federalist orientation prior to 1790

Federalists’ attitude toward

Franklin’s memorial
service

funding of the domestic debt

Hamilton
and

Jay’s Treaty

peace delegations to
France

personal qualities

political skills

Republican conversion

residency issue

Sectional
Compromise

slavery debate

on treaty-making
powers

Washington’s Farewell Address

see
also
Jefferson-Madison collaboration

Marshall, John

Supreme Court appointment

Martin, Luther

Mason,
George

Massachusetts Constitution

Mather, Cotton

Mazzei, Phillip

Mecklenburg Declaration

Mifflin,
Warner

Missouri Compromise

monarchical principle

Monroe, James

extreme Republican mentality

Monroe
Doctrine

Moore, Benjamin

Morris, Gouverneur

Napoleon I of France

national capital,
permanent residence for,
see
residency issue

national
university, proposal for

Native Americans

Washington’s policy toward

natural rights

navy

Necker, Jacques

neutrality policy

New
Army

New York Manumission Society

Northwest Ordinance of
1787

Notes on the State of Virginia
(Jefferson)

nullification issue

Page, John

Paine,
Tom

Peale, Charles Willson

Pemberton, John

Pendleton, Nathaniel

Pennsylvania Abolition Society

Pennsylvania Avenue

People v. Croswell

Pickering, Timothy

Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth

Pinckney, Thomas

Pinckney’s Treaty

political
parties

see also
Federalists; Republicans

Porcupine’
s Gazette

Postlethwayt,
Malachai

Potomac Magazine

Potomac mythology

presidential election of 1796

Adams’s candidacy

electoral vote

Jefferson’s candidacy

Jefferson’s congratulatory letter to Adams

prospective
candidates

qualifications for presidency

uncertainty
about

presidential election of 1800

Jefferson’s
“dishonorable” behavior

presidential form of
address

press, the

Priestley, Joseph

Proclamation
of Neutrality (1793)

property rights

Prospect Before
Us, The
(Callender)

Quakers

Randolph, Edmund

Randolph, John

Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

recovery of public debt,
see
assumption of state debts by the federal government; funding of the domestic
debt

Report on the Public Credit
(Hamilton)

republican paradigm

Republicans

Alien and Sedition
Acts and

ideological warfare

interpretation of
revolutionary era and the early republic

Jefferson’s
leadership role

partisan campaign against Adams presidency

political elitism and

presidential election of 1796

rise to political domination

Washington, rejection of

residency issue

congressional debate

diffusion’s victory over consolidation

as executive
concern following congressional passage

federal government’s
transition to permanent location

Philadelphia’s status as
likely permanent capital

Potomac site, case for

Virginia-writ-large myth and

Washington’s site
selection

see also
Compromise of 1790

revolutionary era and the early republic

American nationhood,
origins of

assets of the new nation

common themes
regarding revolutionary generation

constitutional settlement,
importance of

dissolution of American nation, potential for

historical perspective for understanding

ideological debate
over

institutionalization of ongoing national debate

liabilities of the new nation

as most crucial period in
American history

nonviolent conflict within revolutionary
generation

paradox of

political cacophony of

political leaders’ central role

see also
American Revolution

Reynolds, Maria

Rights of Man,
The
(Paine)

Roman Republic

Roosevelt, Franklin
Delano

Rumbold, Col. Richard

Rush, Benjamin

Adams-Jefferson reconciliation

Adams’s correspondence
with

funding of the domestic debt

Rutledge, John

Schuyler, Philip

Scott, Thomas

Scott,
William

seal for the United States

secession

assumption issue and

Federalist conspiracy

Jefferson’s advocacy of

slavery debate and

Sectional Compromise

Sedgwick, Theodore

Senate

oratory in

president pro tem position

slavery
debate

Shays’s Rebellion

Short, William

Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim

slavery debate

abolition in
northern states

abolitionist position

in
Adams-Jefferson correspondence

J. Q. Adams’s leadership of
abolitionist movement

American Revolution and

Compromise of 1790 and

congressional debate

consolidation issue

constitutionality issue

Declaration of Independence and

demographic dimension

expansion of slavery into the West

Franklin’s
involvement in abolitionist movement

gradual emancipation
plans

historical perspective on

“inevitable
extinction” viewpoint

insurrections, fears about

intractability of slavery problem

Islam’s enslavement
of Christians and

Jefferson’s views

Madison’s views

national leadership’s attitude
toward

“original intentions” issue

owner
compensation plans

petitions for abolition presented to
Congress

proslavery argument

racial dimension

relocation of freed slaves

secession issue

Sectional Compromise

silence about slavery

in
state legislatures

total emancipation, southern concerns
about

viability of a national emancipation policy in 1790

Virginia’s paradoxical position

Washington’s
Farewell Address and

Smith, Abigail Adams

Smith,
Adam

Smith, John

Smith, Venture

Smith, William
Loughton

social equality and the role of elites

“Statement on the Impending Duel” (Hamilton)

Stuart,
Gilbert

Supreme Court

Talleyrand,
Charles

Taylor, John

“Thesis on Discretion”
(Hamilton)

Thoughts on Government
(Adams)

Tolstoy,
Leo

treaty-making powers

Treaty of Mortefontaine
(1800)

Treaty of Paris (1783)

Trumbull, John

Tucker, St. George

Tudor, William

Twenty-second
Amendment

Van Ness, William

vice
presidency

Virgil

Virginia-writ-large myth

Voltaire

War and Peace
(Tolstoy)

War of 1812

Warren, Mercy Otis

Washington, D.C.

see also
residency issue

Washington, George

Adams and

“Address to the Cherokee Nation”

American Revolution military command

blacks, attitude
toward

childlessness of

Circular Letter of 1783

courage under fire

decision-making process

enlarged federal power, program for

final message to
Congress

final years at Mount Vernon

Franklin
and

illness of 1790

Jay’s Treaty

Jefferson’s relationship with

last will and
testament

monarchical tendencies

mythology
surrounding

Native American policy

neutrality
policy

physical appearance

realist outlook in political
and military matters

Republican opposition

residency
issue

slavery debate

surrendering power, flair
for

vice presidency, views on

vision for American
nation

Whiskey Rebellion

see also
Washington’s Farewell Address; Washington’s retirement

Washington’s Farewell Address

authentic meaning, means
for understanding

composition of

foreign policy
message

historical commentary on

as justification for
strong executive leadership

misnaming of

national unity
message

national university proposal, omission of

as
prophecy accompanied by advice

publication of

reactions
to

slavery, silence about

target audience

transcendental status

Washington’s intentions

Washington’s retirement

age and health reasons

as confirmation of republican government

consitutional
significance

departure from office

“disposable
president” principle and

first indications of

press attacks and

tradition of retirement and

voluntary nature

see also
Washington’s
Farewell Address

Webster, Daniel

Whiskey Rebellion

Whitehead, Alfred North

Wilson, James

Wythe,
George

XYZ Affair

JOSEPH J. ELLIS

Founding Brothers

Joseph J. Ellis is the author of several books of American history, among them
Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams
and
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson,
which won the 1997 National Book Award. He was educated at the College of William and Mary and Yale University and lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with his wife, Ellen, and three sons.

ALSO BY
JOSEPH J.
ELLIS

American Sphinx:
The Character of Thomas
Jefferson

Passionate Sage:
The Character and Legacy of
John Adams

After the Revolution:
Profiles of Early
American Culture

School for Soldiers:
West Point and
the Profession of Arms
(with Robert Moore)

The New
England Mind in Transition

FIRST VINTAGE BOOKS EDITION
,
FEBRUARY
2002

All rights
reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published
in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New
York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a
division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 2000.

Vintage and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the Knopf edition
as follows:

Ellis, Joseph J.

Founding
brothers : the revolutionary generation / by Joseph J.
Ellis.—1st ed.

p. cm.

1. Statesmen—United
States—Biography—Anecdotes.

2. Presidents—United
States—Biography—Anecdotes.

3. United
States—History—1783–1815—Anecdotes.

4. United
States—Politics and
government—1783–1809—Anecdotes.

I. Title.

E302.5.E45 2000

973.4'092'2—dc21 99-059304