To John Adams from Samuel Allyne Otis, 7 July 1788
From Samuel Allyne Otis
New York July 7th 1788
Dear Sir
Permit me tho late to congratulate you & your amiable Lady upon a return to your native Country, The pleasure & delights of which you must relish peculiarly after so long absence. I have never been much of a traveler, but I can hardly conceive of a Country under all circumstances more eligible; And the prospect of public felicity seems the brighter from the accession of ten states to a System which so far as I comprehend it, promises equal liberty, security of property, & decision— I do not indeed flatter myself with the return of the Golden Age. If any of our farmers have heard of Arcadia they may not think of rambling in her meadows, or that her rich harvests will spontaneously flow, Ideas like these do very well in the poets imagination. Nor may our commercial people expect Gold & Silver as in Solomons reign, Yet we may venture to predict that the industrious husbandmen may reap plenteous harvests, & the vigilant, enterprising Mercht, may rationally expect his ships full fraught with articles of foreign growth, in exchange for produce of his own Country— At least this is my hope & belief, altho some sensible, & I doubt not well meaning friends, hold up such a doleful picture to the contrary, as if the D——l himself had sat for it— At all events the experiment will soon be tried. Ten States have acceded.1 Congress feeling an obligation to call upon the people to elect their president &c, have chosen a Committee who will in a day or two report the time for operations to commence under the new Government, & which I think will probably be in Jany or Feb 1789. NYork are indeed opposed, but the last accounts from their Convention from the leaders in favor of the question “lead us hope.” Of NCarolina there can be little doubt— R Island you will be pleased to form your own Judgmt upon— They are a kind of Comet— Virginia & NCarolina & the New settled regions at the Westward, keep teasing about Missisippi.
You may probably not be informed that Congress have ratified your last loan of 1.000,000 florins, Indeed I know of no other alternative, No resources can at present be brot into operation.
You may have heard Congress have resolved “that it is expedient for Kentucky to become a separate State,” but this will not take place at present. The Dominion was so swoln, & Kentucky inflamed, it was thot prudent to administer this cooling application. The business will not progress under the present Confederation, Vermont must go hand in hand with this business—2
I had the pleasure of passing an hour at Col Smiths on Saturday evening— He is delightfully situated about 12 miles from N York, and Mrs Smith is pleased with her residence at Jamaica. I took the liberty to propose directing her Letters to the Easwd, And shall carefully deliver any you may please to cover to me.
I should feel myself honored by a communication of your opinion & advice upon any matter of such importance as to claim your attention, And with my compliments to Mrs Adams & all friends, / I am / Very respectfully / Your Excellencys / Most Humle Sert
Sam. A. Otis
RC (Adams Papers); internal address: “His Excellency John Adams Esqr”; endorsed: “S. A. Otis Esqr / July 7. ansd. 18. 1788.”
1. By the date of Otis’ letter, the following states had met in convention, debated, and ratified the U.S. Constitution: Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Virginia. For New York’s 26 July ratification, see John Jay’s 4 July letter, and note 1, above. North Carolina delegates met in two sessions, 21 July – 4 Aug. 1788 and 16–23 Nov. 1789, ratifying on 21 Nov. in a 194 to 77 vote. Rhode Island, which overwhelmingly rejected the U.S. Constitution in a statewide referendum of 24 March 1788, also held two ratification sessions, 1–6 March 1790 and 24–29 May, ratifying on 29 May in a close vote of 34 to 32. Although North Carolina, Virginia, and New York initially tried to call a second Constitutional Convention, that proposal was tabled in light of the first federal Congress’ meeting. Delegates from Massachusetts, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York were tasked with bringing forward their amendments to the new legislature. On 13 Sept. 1788 Congress resolved that “the first Wednesday in March next,” 4 March 1789, would be the opening day of “proceedings under the said constitution” (, 2:19–25; , 34:522–523). For a view of the extensive press coverage of the ratification debates, see Descriptive List of Illustrations, No. 6, above.
2. Representatives from Kentucky, then part of Virginia, petitioned Congress for statehood on 29 Feb. 1788, and Congress took up the question on 30 May. On 2 June Congress deemed it “expedient” to make Kentucky a state, but the committee overseeing the process was dissolved on 2 July, and the next day Congress resolved to delay its admission until the federal government took shape. Kentucky’s seven counties sent fourteen delegates to the Virginia convention, ten of whom voted against ratification. Kentucky became a state on 1 June 1792. Vermont, seeking independence from New York, joined the union on 4 March 1791 (, 34:72–73, 188–189, 192, 194, 287, 292–294; , p. 16, 237, 305; , 1:189, 191).