One of the great Benefits studying History is that it helps put Contemporary Life and Events into Perspective. The Current Headlines about Attempts by Foreign Powers to Interfere in American Elections and about Conversations Regarding Immigration Restrictions and not New concerns.

Fear of Foreign Meddling in American Politics, Suspicion of Immigrants, and Controversy over Newspaper Coverage of Presidents go back to the Dawn of the American Republic. These Issues weighed heavily on the minds of early U.S. Leaders, including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams.

In December 1787, Jefferson and John Adams were stationed in Europe on behalf of their fledgling Country. Adams had been named the First U.S. Minister to Great Britain in February 1785, and Jefferson served as Minister of France from 1785 to 1789. Comrades during the Revolutionary War, the two Men remained good friends during their time in Europe, although their Relationship Fractured over Radically different Political outlooks when they returned to the U.S.

In 1978, the Constitution was being debated in Philadelphia and Jefferson and Adams closely followed developments from afar. In an oft-quoted Letter written by Adams to Jefferson on Dec. 6th, 1787, Adams referred to the Project of the new Constitution and the various Objections both Men had to the evolving Document. Adam famously declared, You are afraid of the one - I, of the few. Jefferson was concerned that an Installation of a Powerful Executive would Overturn the Principles of the American Revolution and create a Quasi-Monarchy. But Adams feared Power of a different sort. He worried about the Creation of an Elite Aristocracy in the form of Senators, and he Advocated for a Strong Executive, maintaining, I would have given more power to the President and less to the Senate.

But what is largely overlooked in Adam's Letter is his Discussion of the Potential Danger of Foreign Meddling in American Elections. You are apprehensive of foreign Interference, Intrigue, and Influence, Adams wrote. So am I, - But, as often as Elections happen, the danger of foreign Influence recurs. If Elections were held less often, Adams argued, the danger of foreign influence will be less.

This has been one of my ideas. Use the Louisiana model of No Primaries, just a General Election with All the Candidates and Write-Ins using Ranked-Choice Voting to decide the Winer. This will require Parties to run their own Party Elections to Elect: Party Officials, County and State Committee Members, and Presidential Electors.

Adams View did not Prevail, of course, and regular Elections, and the Peaceful Transfer of Power are still regarded as Hallmark of American Democracy.

Many of the same Issues resurfaced as America stood on the brink of a Violent Conflict with France in the late 1790s. After Adams and Jefferson returned to America, deep Divisions developed between the two nascent American Political Parties: Federalists, headed by George Washington and John Adams; Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Old Alliances fractured and the subject of the French Revolution became a pivotal Flashpoint. Jefferson viewed the event as a step toward Ousting the Monarchy and bringing Progressive Republican Ideals of Freedom and Liberty to the Oppressed Common People. John and Abigail Adams on the other hand, were appalled at the Violence and Chaos the French Revolution has unleashed in what they viewed as the Excesses of Unfettered Democracy.

From the beginning of his Presidency, George Washington had tried to steer a Neutral course with Foreign Nations. But during his Second Term, the Signing of the 1795 Jay Treaty with Great Britain convinced the French, who were than at War with England, that the U.S. has Abandoned a Neutral Stance in European Affairs. Still, after his Election as the Nation's Second President in 1796, John Adam's stood firm on American Neutrality, even in the light of Provocative French Seizures of American Merchant Ships and Sailors. Soon after He took Office, Adams dispatched a Delegation to Paris to try to improve Relations.

Instead, Three French Government Agents, referred to in American Documents only by the aliases of X, Y, and Z, demanded a Loan of $10 Million and a $250,000 Bribe before they would initiate Negotiations, precipitating the most Serious Crisis of Adam's Administration. The American Government refused to acquiesce to the Demands, but the News of the nefarious French overtures leaked and American Citizens were outraged. Many called for War against French. In the end, Adams was determined to pursue Good Relations with France and Appointed an American Minister who was able to eventually successfully Negotiate Peace.

During the height of the tense period, Federalists accused Republicans of Colluding with the French against the best interests of the U.S. In 1798, Abigail Adams, then America's First Lady, declared in a Letter to Her Sister Mary Cranch that the U.S. now had proof of the base views and designs of French to Plunder us of all we hold dear & Valuable, our Religion, our Liberty, our Government, and our Property.

As time passed, Abigail Adams and other prominent Federalist increasingly feared what they regarded as French Subversion, and She repeatedly raised the specter of Jacobins, a radical French Political Ideology, infiltrating the American Government. Abigail Adams maintained that Jacobin Allies, by then She counted Jefferson among them, in Congress exerted misguided and undue influence. In June 1798, Alexander Hamilton, a fervent Federalist, wrote an Article in a prominent Newspaper in which he accused Jeffersonian Republicans of being more Frenchmen than Americans.

One of the outcomes that stemmed from the Fear of Foreign Meddling in American Affairs was the Alien and Sedition Acts, passed in the Summer of 1798. The Acts were composed of Four Laws aimed at Curtailing any Criticism of the Government that was broadly deemed Treasonable, increasing Immigrant Residency Requirements for obtaining American Citizenship, allowing the U.S. Government to Arrest and Deport Male Citizens of Enemy Nations in the event of War, and giving the President the Power to Deport Aliens suspected of Plotting against the Government, even in times of Peace.

Abigail Adams threw Her full support behind the Legislation, which She hoped would curtail what She Perceived as the Excesses of the Press and at the same time Restrict Immigration from France. Always highly sensitive to Criticism of Her Husband in the Newspapers of the Day, she confided to Her Sister in May 1798, I wish the Laws of our country were competent to punish the stirrer up of sedition, the writer and Printer of base and unfounded calumny. This would contribute as much to the peace and Harmony of our Country as any measure, and in times like the present, a more careful and attentive watch ought to be kept over foreigners. this will be done in the future if the Alien Bill passes.

John Adams Signed the Sedition Act into Law July 14th, 1798, much to the chagrin of Republican Leaders, including Jefferson and Madison. They believed the Legislation upended First Amendment Protection of Freedom of Speech and the Press, as a number of Republican faction-backed Newspaper Editors were Prosecuted under the Law. Jefferson and Madison countered with the Anonymously Authored Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, which argued that the Sedition Act was Unconstitutional.

Despite John Adams' best intentions, the Legislation was popularly perceived as a visible Curtailment of Republican notions of American Liberty, Free Speech and the Right of Assembly, and it placed a Pivotal Role in Adams' Unsuccessful Bid for a Second Term. Instead, Jefferson was Elected President, in what is termed the Revolution of 1800.

The Deep Schism between the First American Political Parties, the Federalists and Republicans, Fear of Unrestricted Immigration, Controversy over Fair Reporting, and Accusations of Foreign Meddling in Elections in the U.S. go back to the Dawn of the American Republic. Indeed, Politics were every bit as Divisive and Fractious then as they are now. American's First Presidents vocally entered the Fray. And despite that Rancorous Rhetoric and Division, the Country eventually united by Principled Convictions and a sincere underlying Devotion to the Public Good, Survived and Thrived.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker