Readalong: Unalterably Determined

Wallace at Unputdownables is hosting a John Adams readalong, and if you haven't joined in yet, you really should. I missed a week so, this week I am discussing Chapter 5: Unalterably Determined.

So that title is just perfect for this chapter because most of it focuses on the various things Adams did to piss off France, Holland, the American Congress, and even Abigail. Don't get me wrong: everything he did was for the good of the nation, and without his dogged determination and willingness to do what was right even if it wasn't popular or even freaking approved, the conflict between America and Great Britain could have dragged on even longer. So here's a quick, and simplistic, recap of
How Adams Pissed Off Everyone:

• France: Adams and Benjamin Franklin are in Paris to negotiate an alliance, but this dude Vergennes is the Prime Minister and he's all hoity-toity and a wee bit condescending and really only looking out for the best interest of France. While Franklin is all agreeable and non-demanding and in general engaged in kissassery, Adams is forceful and quite a bit disgusted with the general lack of action. When Vergennes gets his chance, he portrays Adams as being "in direct opposition to French policy and thus a threat to relations between France and America" and Vergennes even gets Franklin to write a letter to Congress in a sort of tattle-tell fashion. And he remains pissed at Adams for the next like two years.

• Holland: Adams foray into Holland was unsanctioned by Congress and only approved by France because Vergennes wanted him gone; and yet Adams was met with a decent welcome. That welcome, however, quickly went to ostracism when the British got their hands on a document suggesting an alliance between the Netherlands and America. The indignant Brits used it to threaten a war against the Dutch (which freaked them out - and rightly so) and hence Adams was SOL. This is not, however, what pissed them off. No that came a bit later when, in an effort to get the ball rolling again, Adams went against protocol (which was still a VERY big deal in Europe) and declared himself an emissary from the United States. To explain, "by established diplomatic form, no emissary ever proclaimed his mission...until the government to which he was accredited was ready to receive him...Not until the government at The Hague took it upon itself to recognize the United States [and Adams as its representative] would anyone in the government be permitted to receive Adams officially." Adams said 'crap to that' and proceeded to announce himself through a 16 page memorial he presented to government officials and to the general public through thousands of copies. The sneaky bugger.
• On a side note, Vergennes was writing to Congress while Adams was in Holland to say that Adams was embarrassing them all in his dealings with the Dutch.

• Congress: Congress is continually pissed with Adams throughout these years. First for upsetting the delicate sensibilities of France, and then for announcing himself against protocol and without permission. They went so far as to retract Adams' role as sole peacemaker in Europe, never praised him for any of his accomplishments in Europe, and actually ignored him to the point where Adams, from time to time, had nothing to do, no task to accomplish.
• Another side note: Congress is all pissy with Adams over his forceful declaration, so they send him a letter scolding him. Little did they know that Holland had accepted Adams at this point (communication overseas not being what it is today). So they send off this condescending letter to Adams, and in the meantime a Dutch ship finally arrives with the news that Adams has negotiated for a $2 million dollar loan. The best part is that the name of the ship is Heer Adams.
  

• Congress and France: The peace negotiations with Britain were supposed to take place under the direct approval of France, via Vergennes, but Adams and Jay, along with Franklin, completely ignore this directive, pissing both off in the process. "To Adams there was no conflict in what they had done. The decision to break with the orders from Congress, and thus break faith with the French, had been clear-cut, the only honorable course. Congress had left them no choice. Congress had "prostituted" its own honor by surrendering its sovereignty to the French Foreign Minister. 'It is glory to have broken such infamous orders,' Adams wrote in his diary.
• I love it that these three men negotiate the contract completely outside of communication with Congress and willfully ignoring a directive from them. Rock on with your bad self Adams.
  

In the end, the Dutch acknowledge Adams and the U.S. and give them some serious moola, the British sign a peace treaty Adams negotiated, Franklin takes Adams' side against France, and even Vergennes is all hunky-dory with the man he tried to get fired. The quote that best sums it all up:

It had been his own path that he had taken, alone and in his own way. He had been ignored, ridiculed; he had very nearly died in the process. Yet he had persisted and succeeded.

As Adams said:

Thanks to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right.

Amen brother. As for the Abigail issue, well she was just pissed off because her husband, whom she absolutely adored, lived overseas for years. From time to time he was only writing her once a month or so, and even when writing consistently, the postal service is not exactly up to par. A neglected wife - despite the perfectly reasonable reasons for neglect - has a right to her pissiness from time to time. So at this point in the book, the Treaty of Paris has been signed severing all governmental ties between America and Great Britain, Adams is still rather unappreciated by the American Congress despite his heroic and instrumental efforts, and Abigail wants her some nookie dearly wishes to see her husband. And back to the story....