History provides perspective

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KENNETT, Mo. -- Readers would think me foolish to declare the problems facing America at this moment were not serious ones, meriting both intense attention and wide concern. No denying, we have terrorism at the top of our agenda and the threats it presents have the full attention of all Americans, as indeed they should.

This having been said, there is considerable solace in reading and relating to the history of these United States during times of crisis, which in reality at America's inception were anything but united. Although the early colonists were for the most part English-speaking, Anglican whites, they migrated to the new world from different backgrounds and environments, choosing to settle in their various geographical bailiwicks partly to separate themselves from fellow settlers.

These grographical/religious/vocational outposts may have served the particular needs of the émigrés, ranging from English small farmers to French Royalists, but they were hardly the desired component of a united nation that was reinforced by similar needs and threats to its citizens. Indeed, this colonial divergence that would be transmogrified to a relatively united system of government may well rank as the first major miracle of the new nation, with others just around the corner.

One of the miracles to follow could be given the same names as the best-selling book, "Miracle at Philadelphia," which recounts the obstacles that faced delegates to our first constitutional convention when the shape and form of our guiding document were fashioned. This was, indeed, on the order of modern miracles that have become the domain of organized religion and enjoy its protection. A race track bookies would have called that effort a long shot, which is as good as prospectus as it deserved. But a miracle did emerge, and as they say in Hollywood, the rest is history.

One of the greatest obstacles to the maintenance of a democratic republic, however, is seldom even mentioned, much less accorded the glamour of being a miracle. That obstacle was generated from the miracle at Philadelphia as Americans tried to envision their government upon the retirement of our first President, George Washington. America's first leader, both in war and then in peace, performed brilliantly, creating the kind of leadership that was dedicated to following courses of action that suited the majority - and sometimes even the minority. In a very real sense, Washington created the kind of an administration that would serve as a model for all that would follow, right up to the one led by George W. Bush.

Throughout his two terms in office, Washington refused to assume extralegal duties that would have greatly facilitated solutions for the all too numerous problems facing the new nation. His refusal to go beyond the boundaries of the first Constitution became a guiding principle, but it was quickly put to the test upon the inauguration of the nation's second chief executive, John Adams.

Despite Washington's refusal to advance the goals of either of the two political groups at the time - Federalists and Republicans - virtually all of the nation's leaders placed their trust in one of these two groups which had swiftly created philosophical differences as great as today's Republicans and Democrats. John Adams, a stern yet often brilliant statesman, sought the presidency as a Federalist, while his opponent, Thomas Jefferson, was a Republican, a designation that would shortly be given a new name: Democratic.

As Washington before him, Adams faced a great number of domestic problems, as well as the possibility of further warfare with England and the possibility of a major conflict with France. But unlike Washington before him, Adams quickly took a hard line when facing domestic unrest, and unfortunately his answers were unlike those of his predecessor. Adams' strategy was to exert all military and police power he had against any who advocated moderation in pursuit of unity.

One of the weapons in Adams' arsenal was the enactment of several new laws that permitted the Federalist to imprison critics of the federal government. Enactment of the Alien and Sedition acts in 1798 denied citizens the right of assembly upon evidencing intent to "oppose any measure of the government." It also became illegal to "print, utter or publish" all "false, scandalous and malicious writing." Armed with these powerful weapons, Adams prosecuted journalists, even members of Congress, and several died while in prison, including newspaper editor Thomas Cooper and Congressman Matthew Lyon.

The same year Congress followed Adams' bidding to punish political enemies, its members approved yet another punitive measure, the Naturalization Act of 1798, which increased residency requirements for citizenship from five to 14 years, required aliens to declare their intent of citizenship five years before eligibility, and denied any rights to those who had arrived from "enemy nations."

These and other equally anti-constitutional acts served to alienate Adams' former friends, including not only Washington but Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin and even his own son, John Quincy Adams, who himself would later become president. Indeed, Adams' acts were so egregious that he ultimately doomed his Federalist Party to extinction.

As President, Jefferson, who has served as a powerless vice president during Adams' one term, refused to prosecute any of the violations and penalties mandated by the alien and naturalization acts, which fortunately became mute and were eventually repealed.

America survived this long and painful crisis which posed a devastating threat to the nation, while strengthening its constitutional freedoms to become history's greatest democracy. Our legacy empowers each of us to retain this concept as we address new threats of terrorism more than 200 years later.

Jack Stapleton is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.