Adams Papers Editorial Project

FAIN: RQ-287004-22

Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston, MA 02215-3631)
Sara Martin (Project Director: December 2021 to present)

Preparation for publication of volumes 22 and 23 of the papers of John Adams (1735-1826) and volumes 16, 17, 18 of the Adams Family’s correspondence. (36 months)

The Adams Papers Editorial Project at the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is the authoritative scholarly edition of the diaries, letters, official records, public writings, and literary miscellanies written by three generations of the Adams Family of Massachusetts, including Abigail Adams, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Louisa Catherine Adams, Charles Francis Adams, and their families. Since 1956, the project has published 56 volumes, with 49 freely available online (https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/). This family record charts the generational shifts in American life from the Revolution through the Civil War. As the nation’s 250th anniversary approaches, editors are focused on the founding generation’s efforts to establish “A More Perfect Union,” a complex saga that will unfold in 17 more volumes by 2039. The Adams Papers has received continuous aid from the NEH since 2003; we seek further support to make this unparalleled resource accessible to all.

Associated Products

Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14, Adams Papers Digital Edition (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Adams Family Correspondence, volume 14, Adams Papers Digital Edition
Author: Woodward, Hobson
Author: Martin, Sara
Author: Minty, Christopher F.
Author: Norton, Amanda M.
Author: Millikan, Neal E.
Author: Fries, Gwen
Author: Georgini, Sara
Abstract: “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it,” John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams as he took up residence in the building that became known as the White House. John and Abigail’s reflections on an emerging nation as they settle into the new national capital of Washington, D.C., are one highlight of the nearly 280 letters written over seventeen months printed in this volume of Adams Family Correspondence. The volume opens with the Adamses’ public and private mourning of George Washington and concludes with John’s defeat in the contentious presidential election of 1800. Electioneering, charges of sedition, and state-by-state strategizing are debated by the Adamses and their correspondents as the election advances toward deadlock and concludes with victory for Thomas Jefferson in the House of Representatives. John’s retirement from public life had some sweet mixed with the bitter. The U.S. mission to France resulted in the Convention of 1800 that ended the Quasi-War and John’s nomination of John Marshall as chief justice marked the beginning of a transformative era for the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall’s nomination preceded the so-called “midnight appointments” at the close of John’s presidency, a coda anticipated in Abigail’s request to John in the final days of his administration—“I want to see the list of judges.”
Year: 2023
Primary URL: https://www.masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/volume/ADMS-04-14
Primary URL Description: This is the link to the landing page for volume 14 of the Adams Family Correspondence, as included in the Adams Papers Digital Edition on the website of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Secondary URL: https://founders.archives.gov/content/volumes#Adams
Secondary URL Description: The annotated documents within this volume are also available within Founders Online.
Access Model: Open Access

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