June 30 1813: Terrorism of the Day

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On June 28 1813, John Adams catches up on his correspondence and writes to Thomas Jefferson.

Quincy, June 30, 1813.

Dear Sir,— But to return, for the present, to “The sensations excited in free, yet firm minds by the Terrorism of the day.” You say none can conceive them who did not witness them; and they were felt by one party only.

Upon this subject I despair of making myself understood by posterity, by the present age, and even by you. To collect and arrange the documents illustrative of it, would require as many lives as those of a cat. You never felt the terrorism of Shay’s Rebellion in Massachusetts. I believe you never felt the terrorism of Gallatin’s insurrection in Pennsylvania. You certainly never realized the terrorism of Tries’s most outrageous riot and rescue, as I call it. Treason rebellion—as the world, and great judges, and two juries pronounce…

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