The Jubilee of the Constitution

The Jubilee of the Constitution is an oration by John Quincy Adams, delivered at New York, April 30, 1839, before the New York Historical Society. The address mentions the thirtieth of April, 1789, when from the balcony of the city hall the chancellor of the State of New York administered to George Washington the solemn oath to execute the office of President of the United States.

The text speaks of a people among whom were intermingled the descendants of Hollanders, Swedes, Germans, and French fugitives, and in whose bosoms there was burning one clear, steady flame of liberty. A ferocious and bloody seven years' war between the two most powerful and most civilized nations of Europe is described, and Britain is named as the victorious combatant who had conquered the provinces of France. The speaker finds tracing the constituent principles of future greatness in their kernel a more profitable employment, and proposes to inquire into the causes first put in operation at the period of our commemoration.