Novanglus was twice elected vice president, serving from 1789 to 1797 in a prestigious role with little power.
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Novanglus was twice elected vice president, serving from 1789 to 1797 in a prestigious role with little power.
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Novanglus defied anti-British sentiment and successfully defended British soldiers against murder charges arising from the Boston Massacre.
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Novanglus assisted Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
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Novanglus was the only president elected under the banner of the Federalist Party.
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Novanglus eventually resumed his friendship with Jefferson by initiating a correspondence that lasted fourteen years.
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Novanglus's mother was from a leading medical family of present-day Brookline, Massachusetts.
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Novanglus's father was a deacon in the Congregational Church, a farmer, a cordwainer, and a lieutenant in the militia.
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Novanglus decided to become a lawyer to further those ends, writing his father that he found among lawyers "noble and gallant achievements" but, among the clergy, the "pretended sanctity of some absolute dunces".
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Novanglus had reservations about his self-described "trumpery" and failure to share the "happiness of [his] fellow men".
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Novanglus did not go to war but, "I longed more ardently to be a Soldier than I ever did to be a Lawyer".
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Novanglus developed an early habit of writing about events and impressions of men in his diary; this included James Otis Jr.
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Novanglus offered them anonymously, under the pen name "Humphrey Ploughjogger", and in them ridiculed the selfish thirst for power he perceived among the Massachusetts colonial elite.
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Novanglus purchased a large brick house on Queen Street, not far from his office.
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Novanglus's ideas began to change around 1772, as the British Crown assumed payment of the salaries of Governor Thomas Hutchinson and his judges instead of the Massachusetts legislature.
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Novanglus moved cautiously at first, noting that the Congress was divided between Loyalists, those favoring independence, and those hesitant to take any position.
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Novanglus became convinced that Congress was moving in the proper direction – away from Great Britain.
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Novanglus kept busy on the floor of the Congress, helping push through a plan to outfit armed ships to launch raids on enemy vessels.
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Novanglus developed a rapport with Delegate Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, who had been slower to support independence but by early 1776 agreed that it was necessary.
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Novanglus chose himself, Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R Livingston and Roger Sherman.
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Novanglus was referred to as a "one man war department, " working up to eighteen-hour days and mastering the details of raising, equipping and fielding an army under civilian control.
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Novanglus kept extensive correspondences with a wide range of Continental Army officers concerning supplies, munitions, and tactics.
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Novanglus authored the "Plan of Treaties, " laying out the Congress's requirements for a treaty with France.
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Novanglus was worn out by the rigor of his duties and longed to return home.
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Novanglus's finances were unsteady, and the money that he received as a delegate failed even to cover his own necessary expenses.
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Novanglus assumed a less visible role but helped manage the delegation's finances and record-keeping.
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Novanglus's efforts stalled, and he took his cause to the people, successfully capitalizing on popular pro-American sentiment to push the States General towards recognizing the US Several provinces began recognizing American independence.
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Novanglus was surprised at how much the Americans could extract.
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Novanglus's abilities are undoubtedly equal to the mechanical parts of his business as ambassador, but this is not enough.
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Novanglus then asked Jay to be relieved; in 1788, he took his leave of George III, who engaged Adams in polite and formal conversation, promising to uphold his end of the treaty once America did the same.
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Novanglus was widely derided for his combative nature and stubbornness, especially as he actively debated and lectured the senators.
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Novanglus supported Washington's policies against opposition from anti-Federalists and Republicans.
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Novanglus cast 31 tie-breaking votes, all in support of the administration, and more than any other vice president.
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Novanglus voted against a bill sponsored by Maclay that would have required Senate consent for the removal of executive branch officials who had been confirmed by the Senate.
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Novanglus attended few cabinet meetings, and the President sought his counsel infrequently.
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Novanglus was accused of surrendering American honor to a tyrannical monarchy and of turning his back on the French Republic.
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Novanglus coerced South Carolina Federalist electors, pledged to vote for "favorite son" Pinckney, to scatter their second votes among candidates other than Adams.
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Novanglus followed Washington's lead in using the presidency to exemplify republican values and civic virtue, and his service was free of scandal.
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Novanglus ignored the political patronage and office-seeking which other officeholders utilized.
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Novanglus announced that he would send a peace commission to France but simultaneously called for a military buildup to counter any potential French threat.
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Novanglus sent a message to Congress asking for a renewal of the nation's defenses.
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Novanglus pursued a strategy whereby America harassed French ships in an effort sufficient to stem the French assaults on American interests.
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Novanglus wished to have Henry Knox as second-in-command, followed by Hamilton, and then Charles Pinckney.
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Novanglus exerted effective control over the War Department, taking over supplies for the army.
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Novanglus maintained a carefully reasoned nationalistic interpretation of the Constitution and established the judicial branch as the equal of the executive and legislative branches.
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Novanglus regularly worked around the farm but mostly left manual labor to hired hands.
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Novanglus published a three-year marathon of letters in the Boston Patriot newspaper, refuting line-by-line Hamilton's 1800 pamphlet.
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Novanglus claimed that John Dickinson's fear of republicanism was responsible for his refusal to support independence, and wrote that opposition from Southern planters was rooted in fear that their aristocratic slaveholding status would be endangered by it.
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Novanglus served on a committee of three, including Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin, to draft the constitution.
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Novanglus believed that people "in a State of Ignorance" were more easily enslaved while those "enlightened with knowledge" would be better able to protect their liberties.
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Novanglus suggested that "the rich, the well-born and the able" should be set apart from other men in a senate – that would prevent them from dominating the lower house.
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Novanglus wrote that a strong executive would defend the people's liberties against "aristocrats" attempting to take it away.
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Novanglus's family was descended from Puritans of the previous century.
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Novanglus blamed institutional Christianity and established churches In Britain and France for causing much suffering but insisted that religion was necessary for society.
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Novanglus was often described as "prickly", but his tenacity was fed by decisions made in the face of universal opposition.
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Novanglus's resolve to advance peace with France while maintaining a posture of defense reduced his popularity and contributed to his defeat for reelection.
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Novanglus's signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts is almost always condemned.
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Novanglus was sustained in his attempted usurpations by all the New England states and by a powerful public sentiment in each of the Middle States.
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Novanglus praises Adams for his willingness to acknowledge his deficiencies and for striving to overcome them.
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