President John Adams Address on Preserving the United States as Both a Republic and an Independent Nation ("When foreign Nations interfere, and by their acts, and agents, excite and foment them into parties and factions, such interference and influence, must be resisted and exterminated or it will end in America. in our total destruction as a republican Government and Independent power.")

"American political leaders of the late eighteenth century were convinced that a republic was the best form of government ever conceived ? but also the most fragile. It required constant vigilance and the commitment of the American people to put the needs of the many ahead of the individual. As the wars of the French Revolution continued to grow in the 1790s, this put an increasing pressure on the United States to redouble its commitment to liberty and republican self-government," writes historian Robert G. ParkinsonWhen Adams became President in March of 1797, the French had seized nearly 300 American ships bound for British ports. They had ordered this measure in retaliation for the Jay Treaty the U.S. had signed with Great Britain, which the French considered evidence of an Anglo-American alliance. Relations between France and the U.S. worsened when Talleyrand, the French foreign minister, rejected the Federalist Charles C. Pinckney as America's minister to France.https://vimeo.com/755678185In the U.S., Republicans believed that it was the intention of the Adams administration to stir up trouble with France (like selecting an anti-French ambassador to Paris) so as to steer the U.S. towards the British, and they opposed the President?s measures and appointments. The American people were more disunited and disaffected than ever; the French continued to seize American ships, many Federalists demanded war on France, and Republicans cried foul. Seeking to avoid a war, President Adams sent a three member commission to Paris consisting of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry. After many delays the American commissioners were approached by three intermediaries of Talleyrand, who demanded apologies for allusions critical of France made by Adams and payment of a bribe of several million dollars before official negotiations could proceed.The American delegates found this bribery unacceptable and the mission ended unsuccessfully. Adams received a report of this exchange in March 1798 and he was outraged. He hesitated, however, to release the complete details of the report for fear that it would increase war fever. Congress, and particularly his Republican opponents, thought he was withholding information because the talks showed a peaceable resolution was feasible, and on April 2 demanded the entire report be immediately turned over to it. Adams complied.At this point Adams? situation was completely transformed. Americans were furious at the bribery demand and opposition to Adams? handling of the crisis collapsed. As many of his critics became advocates, Adams became widely popular, the only time in his life of which this can be said. As a tangible expression of this sentiment, patriotic addresses of support came in from around the country. Adams revelled in his new-found popularity, and as stated in The Age of Federalism by Elkins & McKitrick, ?Adams spent a large portion of his time feasting upon these addresses, composing replies to each one himself.each reply echoing the soaring feelings they inspired in his bosom.?The President was a historian, philosopher and classical scholar, and as he drafted his responses, he made full use of his knowledge to not merely address the issues of the day, but to provide historical lessons and offer his considered opinions on political philosophy and republics. A number of the more important of these addresses, with Adams? answers to them, were printed at the time in book form: A Selection of the Patriotic Addresses to the President of the United States. Together with the President's Answers, John W. Folsom, Boston, 1798. In it, we find ?The Address and Memorial of the Citizens of Baltimore and Baltimore County, to the President, the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States.?This letter from America?s fifth largest city, directed to Adams and supporting the government, must have warmed his heart. The Baltimorians wrote: ?That your memorialists at this i.…