State of the Union Addresses

In this collection listeners hear the opening State of the Union messages delivered by the second President of the United States during the late 1790s. Adams balances practical worries—a deadly fever in Philadelphia that threatened to disperse Congress—with the broader challenges of foreign entanglements and protecting American commerce. His words mix gratitude for domestic blessings with a sober assessment of European wars and maritime piracy, and even suggest constitutional tweaks to improve governance.

Listening to these addresses brings the cadence of late‑18th‑century public discourse to life. Adams’s measured rhetoric and earnest pleas for unity reveal the tension between optimism for America’s future and the stark realities of a world at war. For anyone curious about the early Republic’s political priorities, foreign policy, or the roots of American civic dialogue, these speeches offer a vivid, first‑hand perspective.