John Adams and the US Navy

Earlier this month, Mary Beth and I attended the Tall Ships Celebration in Bay City, Michigan. This festival of sailing ships is a periodic event, but this was our first time going. We attended on the opening Thursday and, instead of going to the docks along the Saginaw river, we thought we would travel closer to Saginaw Bay and try to see the ships coming in under sail. Now, I’m not a sailor, or even really a boater, but there is something about seeing sailing ships, especially ships of some size, coming in under the power of the wind that is thrilling to me. Our vantage point in a riverside park in Essexville, Michigan wasn’t far enough out to sea to actually see the ships coming in solely by wind power, but many of them had their sails unfurled, giving the illusion of natural propulsion. Some members of a local boating club saluted each of the eleven ships (one from as far away as Denmark) with a mock cannon blast. Each ship answered the salute, either with mock cannons of its own, or by blowing the ship’s horn. The sky was bright blue, the temperature not too hot; all in all a great day.
This experience got me thinking about the US Navy. The Tall Ships Celebration website told me that some of the ships I was seeing would be participating in a mock lake battle on Labor Day, recreating a naval battle in Lake Erie during the War of 1812. I already knew how important the French fleet had been to the struggling 13 colonies during the Revolutionary War, and that without the protection of those ships, the war with Great Britain might well have been lost.
That same idea resonated with John Adams, too. “It was John Adams who drafted the first set of rules and regulations for the new navy — a point of pride for him as long as he lived. Indeed, in the 25 years that John Adams served his country, and especially as President, in his advocacy of a strong navy he stood second to none.” (David McCullough) Adams called the Navy “the wooden walls of America,” and fought tirelessly to create and strengthen it. No early test of the American Navy was greater than that faced during the War of 1812. In the ocean, and on the Great Lakes, the ships authorized by Adams during his Presidency performed brilliantly, far better, actually, than our land-based troops, which suffered defeat after defeat until Andrew Jackson’s post-peace victory in New Orleans (where he was aided by the ships of pirates). One-time friend turned political enemy Thomas Jefferson wrote Adams: “I sincerely congratulate you on the success of our little navy, which must be more gratifying to you than to most men, as having been the early and constant advocate of wooden walls.” Today, John Adams is known as the “Father of the Navy.”
I was also reminded, watching the ships enter the harbor in Bay City, of our trip to Massachusetts over the July 4th Holiday two years’ ago, when Mary Beth and I had the chance to tour the USS Constitution. Authorized by President Washington, built in Boston, and boasting 44 guns, this oldest of all surviving US naval vessels was launched on October 21, 1797, during the first year in office of John Adams and just nine days before his 62nd birthday. Whether through superior building materials or fantastic luck, the Constitution withstood every assault aimed at her, earning her the nickname “Old Ironsides.” Much as Francis Scott Key’s ode to the “Star-Spangled Banner” sustaining over Fort McHenry, the survival and victories of the Constitution bucked up a nation desperately in need of positive news. Indeed, the victories of the Navy are thought by some historians to have played a large part in the wearing down process that finally brought Britain to the treaty table. Adams must have been very proud.
These topics, and many others, are touched on in GEM Theatrics’ production of Mary G. Kron’s “My Dearest Friend” available for booking at your venue right now. We’re thrilled to announce that the One-Act version of “My Dearest Friend” will be produced at Davenport University in September, 2013, as part of the Constitution Week commemoration. The full Two-Act version will be produced as part of the Lake Effect Fringe Festival at Grand Rapids’ Dog Story Theater February 28 – March 2, 2014. More details will soon appear on our website: http://www.gemtheatrics.com
We hope to see all of you at one of our performances!!
(All photos (c) Gary E. Mitchell; all rights reserved)

“Foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy — Philadelphia!”

Those lines from the Broadway musical “1776”, which I had the pleasure of being in during the 2007 season of the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, are resonating with me today. The City of Philadelphia played such an important part in the life of John Adams, and our Nation. As we celebrate Independence Day and the 237th anniversary of our beginning as a free people, we should pause a minute from our barbecues, our picnics, our fireworks, and our trips to the beach and reflect upon the men who met in Philadelphia in that blistering summer of 1776 and hammered out, not only a desire to be free from British rule, but the foundations for the new Nation they saw for the people of the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence isn’t a long document; it takes less than 15 minutes to read. But, owing to the genius of Thomas Jefferson, Adams, and others, it contains ideas upon which we have built the wonderful country we live in. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Building upon that premise, delegates of our newly won country gathered again in Philadelphia in 1787. Again, according to the record, it was beastly hot. The windows of Independence Hall were fastened shut, so that the secret discussions inside wouldn’t be prematurely leaked. Because, what was being discussed was a brand new foundation for our Country — a Constitution that would bind the separate States together under a strong central government. Opinions were divided then, as they are sometimes today, about how strong that central government should be, but it was one of the beauties of our country then, as it is now, that the right to debate those issues could take place without fear of reprisal or imprisonment. Out of that steaming cauldron inside Independence Hall was brewed the perfect recipe for a new Nation “conceived in liberty”, as Abraham Lincoln would put it four score and seven years later.
When John Adams first came to Philadelphia in 1774 as a Massachusetts delegate to the First Continental Congress, the trip from Boston took nearly a week. Now, of course, it takes only minutes. Prior to 1800, Philadelphia was the country’s largest city and from 1790 – 1800, when John Adams was first Vice-President and then President, it was the seat of the federal government.
Today, Philadelphia is the fifth largest city in the U.S. Like Boston, Philadelphia has retained the historic buildings so crucial to our early history. In 2009, Mary Beth and I got to visit for a few days. A slide show of our photos can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/A2xr_C3kIi8. If you get the chance, you should visit. And, if you want to see history re-told in Mary Kron’s delightful play, “My Dearest Friend,” then book us! We’ll be glad to bring John and Abigail Adams to life in your venue!
Happy Birthday from GEM Theatrics to the United States of America!

Humanities Council and War of 1812

I know this should be two separate blogs, but we’re so busy at GEM Theatrics right now, that I’m making this one do double duty.
First, we just found out that our production of “My Dearest Friend,” by Mary G. Kron, has been selected to be part of the 2012 – 2015 Arts and Humanities Touring Directory by the Michigan Humanities Council. We’re gratified by this selection! Every entry is judged by an “independent panel of experts in the appropriate humanities and arts fields” in order to be included. What this selection means is that not only was our show deemed worthy, but non-profit groups all over the state will be able to see our entry and, if they want to book us, will be able to get financial assistance from the Council to make the presentation of our show happen! The new Directory will be available online by August 1, 2012. If you know a school or library or museum that would like to bring a quality historical theatrical piece to their venue, let them know about us!

Second, June 1, 2012 marks the 200th Anniversary of the beginning of the War of 1812. On June 1, 1812, President James Madison sent to Congress a declaration of the grievances against Great Britain and a request for a Declaration of War. Congress obliged on June 18. The grievances stated were: British interference with US trade with France, the impressment of US sailors who were former British citizens, and British support of Indian raids on US outposts in the territories.
You might be thinking: “Gary, what has this got to do with John and Abigail Adams? Adams was defeated in 1800 and had long retired from politics.” All of that is true. But, what is also true is that, without John Adams, the United States might well have lost the War of 1812. We almost lost as it was. For the only time in our history, a foreign power invaded Washington, DC and burned government buildings, including the White House (in fact, the Executive Mansion wasn’t called the White House until after the war, when white paint was used to cover the charred exterior). The truth is that we only “held our own” during the conflict and our only real victory (Jackson’s defeat of the British in New Orleans) came after the peace treaty had been signed. That we were able to hold our own was largely due to the long out of office John Adams. Adams had managed during his presidency to avoid a much sought after war with France that surely would have decimated US capital and armaments. In addition, Adams was responsible for the growth of the US Navy, without which our ground troops would surely have been overrun by British forces landing on our shores. Adams had, since the Revolution, believed that sea power was the one force of arms that would establish the US as a true world power. In this, as in many other things, he was truly ahead of his time. US naval strength would prove itself time and time again to be of monumental importance in safeguarding American freedoms, and, despite the advance in nuclear and other weapons, is still a vital force in the world today.
We at GEM Theatrics salute our Navy and all of our men and women serving their country at home and abroad in every branch of our armed forces. If you’d like to bring our bit of history to your venue, we’d be extremely pleased to hear from you to set it up!

GEM Theatrics celebrates Black History Month!

As I’m sure most of you know, February is Black History Month, and while I’m not black, I do know some history and I thought I’d share some information with you.
Here at GEM Theatrics, we spend quite a bit of time delving into the early days of our country. Our newest production, “My Dearest Friend” by Mary G. Kron, focusses on the lives of John and Abigail Adams, who both had strong opinions on the issues of slavery and racial equality. We today tend to think of slavery as a southern state phenominon, and largely it was, as a result of the largely agricultural economy of the South. But, the sad truth is that for many years after the first settlers came to our shores at Jamestown and Plymouth, African slavery was a way of life in most of the thirteen colonies until the Revolution and after. And, even after slavery was abolished in some northern colonies, New England seafarers profited from the slave trade by carrying slaves to America in ships as part of the “triangle trade” (‘Molasses to Rum to Slaves’ from “1776”).
In fact, Abigail Adams’ own father, the Reverend William Smith, had owned a slave, Phoebe, that had been well beloved by Abigail. Reverend Smith made provisions in his will to free Phoebe and provided her with a life-long pension. Phoebe was married in John and Abigail’s home and Abigail put her in charge of the Adams’ household when she went to France and, later, England to be with her husband in the 1780s.
Despite this history of slavery, even in her own family, Abigail was convinced that slavery was wrong and that blacks deserved equal educational, if not social and political, rights. Indeed, she recounts in her letters a memorable incident with a local resident about the education of a free hired black lad working on the Adams’ farm. A telling of that story is on the first page of our website — http://www.gemtheatrics.com.
It is possible that John Adams lagged behind his wife in his thinking about this issue. I’ve come to the conclusion that Abigail was often more “progressive” than John is areas of social conscience, but John, his cousin Samuel Adams, and others, recognized that the slavery issue would one day impede the country’s progress. Sam Adams wrote in the 1770s that the slavery issue would cause “trouble a hundred years hence.” John wrote that slavery would “cost the country dear.” Even Thomas Jefferson, main author of the Declaration of Independence, and a slave-holder, included language in the Declaration condemning it, but southern state delegates forced it to be removed.
Slavery was, of course, officially abolished after the Civil War by the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would officially do away with segregation and racial discrimination, but we all know that the fight for equality goes on.
For myself, I hope that the day comes soon when, in the words of Abigail Adams: “I heard nothing more about the matter” and that we “shall all go to heaven together.”

ps — MB and I will be at the Grand Rapids Public Library February 13 at 7p to present our signature piece, “Love Letters” by A. R. Gurney. Admission is free! AND Gary is performing with AP Theatrical in Holland in “Marriage Is Murder” by Nick Hall. This is dinner theater. The food is very good and the price is reasonable. Performances are every Friday and Saturday in February. Go to http://www.aptheatrical.com for details and to order tickets.