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Callender Blasts the Almighty Adams
Kristina Gonzalez
[1] James Thomson Callender is known throughout history as the muckraker and scandalmonger of his time. In 1800, he published and circulated his book The Prospect before Us in hopes of enlightening the populace about the corruption of the Adams administration. Not long after, he was prosecuted under the Sedition Acts of 1798, found guilty, and imprisoned for nine months. In a country founded on the principles of natural born rights and freedom, what line did Callender cross in order to be convicted on the basis of speech alone?
[2] The decade before the turn of the century produced many events open to discussion. As a product of American Independence from Great Britain, France organized its own revolution from 1789-1799. Although a sense of independence lingered in American air, the French Revolution created a schism in opinion among citizens of the United States. As president, which course of action would John Adams choose: to get involved or not to get involved?
[3] In 1794, the U.S. and Great Britain signed Jay's Treaty as a means of averting war and fostering trade. The treaty called for British withdrawal from American Northwest Territory, sent wartime debts into arbitration, and granted Americans rights to trade with British possessions in India and the Caribbean in exchange for American limits on the export of cotton. France interpreted this negotiation as an alliance between America and the French enemy, Britain. As a result, the French ordered the seizure of U.S. ships carrying British goods. Ultimately, President Adams asked Congress to appropriate funds for defensive precaution, which included the augmentation of the Navy, the creation of a provisional army, and the authority to summon 80,000 militiamen to active duty. Adams justified this action with the possibility of a foreign invasion on domestic soil. James Callender, however, interpreted Adams' decision differently.
[4] In an attempt to curb dissension and opposition from those wishing to remain isolationist in French affairs, the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed. The Alien Acts stated that the President had the right to deport any resident alien who posed a threat to the United States, as well as the right to deport any foreign resident if his or her mother country was at war with America. The Sedition Acts prohibited any person to publish false or indecent material against the president or government officials.
[5] Not long after these bills were passed, the Treaty of Montefontaine was signed, which released America from Revolutionary War ties with France and brought peace between the nations. President Adams cherished his peaceful settlement and considered it the apex of his political career. Callender, on the other hand, felt Adams did not deserve any recognition. He was determined to publicize his reasoning for this in his publishing of The Prospect before Us (1800).
[6] The very first line of Callender's preface to the book summarizes his intentions completely. He writes, "The design of this book is to exhibit the multiplied corruptions of the Federal government, and especially the misconduct of the President, Mr. Adams" (3). He further explains, "Every day augments the probability that nothing but the demission of Mr. Adams can save the United States . . . from the calamities of a French War" (3). Callender creates, at this point, a personal agenda to deface the political standing John Adams possesses. He does this by attacking his legitimacy as President, comparing him to a tyrant, and charging him with conspiracy to make war on France.
[7] "Assuredly, he was not the choice of the real majority" (24) -- it is remarkable Callender has the audacity to conjure such a statement. He attributes Adam's victory over the presidential election to a series of tricks and follies, starting in Pennsylvania with a ballot-stuffing postmaster. The polls in Washington and Allegheny counties were supposedly unfairly allotted since Washington had a population of 15,822 Republican inhabitants according to the 1790 census. Allegheny had no more than 4,000 people, consisting of mainly Republican opponents. It is said, then, that Adams and his Republicans closed the polls as soon as the majority of his party cast their votes. Callender fumes, "Neither the constitution, nor the Congress itself, has provided any check for the investigation of fake votes, and the majority . . . trampled on the rights of the real citizens" (26). He insists that in the presidential election of 1796, Thomas Jefferson was the choice of America, not Mr. Adams.
[8] As if accusing Adams of cheating his way to the presidency is not scandalous enough, Callender compares the acts of Adams to those of a tyrant. Several times, Callender shares stories of men broken by the wrath of the "Almighty Adams." Unless a person in office thinks and votes exactly according to the president, he will allegedly be turned out or forced to quit. For instance, a Republican politician was denied his elected seat as Senator after his support for Bache, a printer arrested for sedition, was publicized to the state of Pennsylvania. Furthermore, "the gazette of John Fenno, or rather of John Adams, loaded them with a torrent of invectives too gross to be quoted, and too despicable to be answered" (33). In addition, Adams is considered tyrannical by Callender because "as president, he has never opened his lips, or lifted his pen without threatening or scolding. The grand object of his administration has been to exasperate the rage of contending parties, to calumniate and destroy every man who differs from his opinions" (30).
[9] As previously mentioned, Callender also discredits Adams by accusing him of a conspiracy to make war on France. The primary motive would be for the sake of supporting American commerce, which further bonds ties with Great Britain. Callender mentions frequently that Adams has secret allegiance to Britain. It is only evident that he would want the United States to go to war with France. The XYZ affair further proves this accusation on two levels. First, the secrecy of the envoys to France and diplomatic disobedience could only be accredited to the idea that the ambassadors had private orders from the president. Second, the behavior presented in France proved they only sought a catalyst for war as opposed to proposed peace like the public was later led to believe.
[10] Under the Sedition Act, was Callender's arrest justified by the slander and upheaval he caused through his words? According to Section Two, the answer to this question is yes. The clause states:
If any person shall write, print, utter, or publish . . . scandalous and malicious writings against the government of the United States, or either house of Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States . . . with intent to defame . . . to bring into contempt . . . or to excite against . . . then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States . . . shall be punished by a fine not exceeding 2,000 dollars and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.
[11] In June 1800 the Virginia Gazette printed an article informing the public of Callender's trial. The implied intent of the judge was that the prosecution would deter others from violating American law. Was this set as precedent, then? The article claimed that the trial drew great curiosity since Callender was the first in Virginia to be prosecuted under these terms. It would be easy for the judge to make an example of Callender when his publication attacked not only a politician but also a founding father of great renown. Judge Samuel Chase claimed Callender's offense against the law was great but also that Callender must have known Adams was far from the character portrayed in The Prospect before Us. This opinion then led the judge to criticize the use of the press. He admitted there existed a difference between liberal use and abuse. According to him, "licentiousness of the press would most certainly destroy a government" (Virginia Gazette 24). Was this an attempt to keep tabs on its citizens? Yes, and the only question that truly remains now is not whether Callender was right or wrong in his quest to defame Adams but whether the American legislation was right in placing fetters on the First Amendment.
[12] In any event, James Thomson Callender's attack on the "Almighty Adams" and his arrest for it is virtually the first step in the seemingly never-ending Jefferson-Hemings controversy. Soon Callender would turn his vitriolic wit on Jefferson.
