Saturday, October 09, 2004
- Lecture by David McCullough, celebrating John Adams (1734 - 1826). Tuesday, 21 September 2004, 8 p.m., Aula Universiteit, Singel 411, Amsterdam. "I hope you know this; if you don't, I hope you won't forget it: John Adams was the only Founding Father who never owned a slave -- it was a matter of principle."
This was David McCullough's opening statement at the lecture organized by the John Adams Institute. One could almost see tears in his eyes as he spoke those words. (By the way, he added, Republicans like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were both slave-owners.)
McCullough went on to briefly discuss Adams's achievements as a politician. These include the appointment of Thomas Jefferson as writer of the Declaration of Independence --which "changed the world"-- and the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, which Adams wrote almost singlehandedly.
This document is the oldest functioning constitution on earth. McCullough emphazised the following statements:
"Wisdom, and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences..."
The image of John Adams as an aristocrat unconcerned by the welfare of the people is wrong, according to McCullough. The Massachusetts constitution soundly refutes this stereotype.
The rest of the lecture was devoted to the craft of the biographer (I listened in carefully, since I plan to write on my own.) John Adams, says David McCullough, is a biographer's dream come true. Unlike Thomas Jefferson -who undertook to systematically hide his own feelings- Adams wrote about almost everything he saw and felt.
A good biographer should accumulate a great deal of knowledge about his or her hero: the food, the climate, the country, the language, the teachings, etc. The biographer should read every personal letter written and read by the character.
"We can't understand them without understanding their life." I thought this was a particularly good remark, and he clearly used this technique in his 2001 book when he discussed Adams' theory of checks and balances.
Adams was consumed by vanity to such a degree that he felt the need of checks and balances at a personal level. This led him to think that religion was a necessary feature of any successful society, a point he explicitely made in the context of his sharp critique of the French Revolution.
"There's no such thing as a self-made man", said McCullough. "You have to get below the surface, and know what their parents were teaching them." McCullough went on to suggest that even diplomatic history and economic history require authors who are ready to plunge into the details of personal life.
The only moment of tension came when the moderator, Herman Beliën, unexpectedly decided to crack a joke. McCullough had said that Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, would have been the US President with by far the highest IQ ever, if such tests would have been available then.
When the Q & A session started, Mr. Beliën immediately asked Mr. McCullough: "Now that we know your opinion about John Quincy Adams' IQ, who would you say is the US President with the lowest IQ ever?" It was an obvious reference to George W. Bush, and an explosion of laughter followed.
But David McCullough did not laugh. In fact, he remained stone-faced, with not a single muscle in his face making the slightest motion. Clearly, he didn't like Mr. Beliën's comment.
At the very end of his remarks, McCullough once again talked about John Adams's insistence on the need to spread education as widely as possible. And he added, as an obvious reference to the West's struggle against Islamic terrorism: "We are confronted -- all of us, not just the United States-- by an ennemy who believes in enforced ignorance." (Thunderous applause.)
This was David McCullough's opening statement at the lecture organized by the John Adams Institute. One could almost see tears in his eyes as he spoke those words. (By the way, he added, Republicans like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were both slave-owners.)
McCullough went on to briefly discuss Adams's achievements as a politician. These include the appointment of Thomas Jefferson as writer of the Declaration of Independence --which "changed the world"-- and the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, which Adams wrote almost singlehandedly.
This document is the oldest functioning constitution on earth. McCullough emphazised the following statements:
"Wisdom, and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties; and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of the people, it shall be the duty of legislatures and magistrates, in all future periods of this commonwealth, to cherish the interests of literature and the sciences..."
The image of John Adams as an aristocrat unconcerned by the welfare of the people is wrong, according to McCullough. The Massachusetts constitution soundly refutes this stereotype.
The rest of the lecture was devoted to the craft of the biographer (I listened in carefully, since I plan to write on my own.) John Adams, says David McCullough, is a biographer's dream come true. Unlike Thomas Jefferson -who undertook to systematically hide his own feelings- Adams wrote about almost everything he saw and felt.
A good biographer should accumulate a great deal of knowledge about his or her hero: the food, the climate, the country, the language, the teachings, etc. The biographer should read every personal letter written and read by the character.
"We can't understand them without understanding their life." I thought this was a particularly good remark, and he clearly used this technique in his 2001 book when he discussed Adams' theory of checks and balances.
Adams was consumed by vanity to such a degree that he felt the need of checks and balances at a personal level. This led him to think that religion was a necessary feature of any successful society, a point he explicitely made in the context of his sharp critique of the French Revolution.
"There's no such thing as a self-made man", said McCullough. "You have to get below the surface, and know what their parents were teaching them." McCullough went on to suggest that even diplomatic history and economic history require authors who are ready to plunge into the details of personal life.
The only moment of tension came when the moderator, Herman Beliën, unexpectedly decided to crack a joke. McCullough had said that Adams' son, John Quincy Adams, would have been the US President with by far the highest IQ ever, if such tests would have been available then.
When the Q & A session started, Mr. Beliën immediately asked Mr. McCullough: "Now that we know your opinion about John Quincy Adams' IQ, who would you say is the US President with the lowest IQ ever?" It was an obvious reference to George W. Bush, and an explosion of laughter followed.
But David McCullough did not laugh. In fact, he remained stone-faced, with not a single muscle in his face making the slightest motion. Clearly, he didn't like Mr. Beliën's comment.
At the very end of his remarks, McCullough once again talked about John Adams's insistence on the need to spread education as widely as possible. And he added, as an obvious reference to the West's struggle against Islamic terrorism: "We are confronted -- all of us, not just the United States-- by an ennemy who believes in enforced ignorance." (Thunderous applause.)
# posted by Agustin @ 5:53 AM 
