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SENIOR CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS


PAUL FLOWERS, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT PEMBROKE
KLAUS THEOPOLD, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
RICHARD LANGLEY, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY
EDWARD J. NETH, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
WILLIAM R. ROBINSON, PHD
OpenStax
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Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1: Essential Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1 Chemistry in Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2 Phases and Classification of Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3 Physical and Chemical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
1.4 Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
1.5 Measurement Uncertainty, Accuracy, and Precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1.6 Mathematical Treatment of Measurement Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Chapter 2: Atoms, Molecules, and Ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.1 Early Ideas in Atomic Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.2 Evolution of Atomic Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.3 Atomic Structure and Symbolism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
2.4 Chemical Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Chapter 3: Electronic Structure and Periodic Properties of Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
3.1 Electromagnetic Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
3.2 The Bohr Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
3.3 Development of Quantum Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
3.4 Electronic Structure of Atoms (Electron Configurations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
3.5 Periodic Variations in Element Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
3.6 The Periodic Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
3.7 Molecular and Ionic Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Chapter 4: Chemical Bonding and Molecular Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
4.1 Ionic Bonding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
4.2 Covalent Bonding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
4.3 Chemical Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
4.4 Lewis Symbols and Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
4.5 Formal Charges and Resonance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
4.6 Molecular Structure and Polarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Chapter 5: Advanced Theories of Bonding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
5.1 Valence Bond Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
5.2 Hybrid Atomic Orbitals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
5.3 Multiple Bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
5.4 Molecular Orbital Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Chapter 6: Composition of Substances and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
6.1 Formula Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
6.2 Determining Empirical and Molecular Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
6.3 Molarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
6.4 Other Units for Solution Concentrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Chapter 7: Stoichiometry of Chemical Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
7.1 Writing and Balancing Chemical Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
7.2 Classifying Chemical Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
7.3 Reaction Stoichiometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
7.4 Reaction Yields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
7.5 Quantitative Chemical Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Chapter 8: Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
8.1 Gas Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
8.2 Relating Pressure, Volume, Amount, and Temperature: The Ideal Gas Law . . . . . . . 407
8.3 Stoichiometry of Gaseous Substances, Mixtures, and Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
8.4 Effusion and Diffusion of Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
8.5 The Kinetic-Molecular Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
8.6 Non-Ideal Gas Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Chapter 9: Thermochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
9.1 Energy Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
9.2 Calorimetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
9.3 Enthalpy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
9.4 Strengths of Ionic and Covalent Bonds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
Chapter 10: Liquids and Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
10.1 Intermolecular Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
10.2 Properties of Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534
10.3 Phase Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
10.4 Phase Diagrams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
10.5 The Solid State of Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
10.6 Lattice Structures in Crystalline Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
Chapter 11: Solutions and Colloids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
11.1 The Dissolution Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
11.2 Electrolytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604
11.3 Solubility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
11.4 Colligative Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 618
11.5 Colloids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Chapter 12: Thermodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
12.1 Spontaneity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
12.2 Entropy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
12.3 The Second and Third Laws of Thermodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
12.4 Free Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Chapter 13: Fundamental Equilibrium Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
13.1 Chemical Equilibria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
13.2 Equilibrium Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
13.3 Shifting Equilibria: Le Châtelier’s Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 698
13.4 Equilibrium Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702
Chapter 14: Acid-Base Equilibria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
14.1 Brønsted-Lowry Acids and Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730
14.2 pH and pOH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
14.3 Relative Strengths of Acids and Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
14.4 Hydrolysis of Salts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754
14.5 Polyprotic Acids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759
14.6 Buffers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 762
14.7 Acid-Base Titrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769
Chapter 15: Equilibria of Other Reaction Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
15.1 Precipitation and Dissolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
15.2 Lewis Acids and Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 805
15.3 Coupled Equilibria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808
Chapter 16: Electrochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 827
16.1 Review of Redox Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 828
16.2 Galvanic Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
16.3 Electrode and Cell Potentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835
16.4 Potential, Free Energy, and Equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841
16.5 Batteries and Fuel Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
16.6 Corrosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 852
16.7 Electrolysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 855
Chapter 17: Kinetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871
17.1 Chemical Reaction Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872
17.2 Factors Affecting Reaction Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877

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17.3 Rate Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 880
17.4 Integrated Rate Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887
17.5 Collision Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898
17.6 Reaction Mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904
17.7 Catalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908
Chapter 18: Representative Metals, Metalloids, and Nonmetals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939
18.1 Periodicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940
18.2 Occurrence and Preparation of the Representative Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 950
18.3 Structure and General Properties of the Metalloids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953
18.4 Structure and General Properties of the Nonmetals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 962
18.5 Occurrence, Preparation, and Compounds of Hydrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 970
18.6 Occurrence, Preparation, and Properties of Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
18.7 Occurrence, Preparation, and Properties of Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979
18.8 Occurrence, Preparation, and Properties of Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984
18.9 Occurrence, Preparation, and Compounds of Oxygen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
18.10 Occurrence, Preparation, and Properties of Sulfur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001
18.11 Occurrence, Preparation, and Properties of Halogens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003
18.12 Occurrence, Preparation, and Properties of the Noble Gases . . . . . . . . . . . . 1009
Chapter 19: Transition Metals and Coordination Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027
19.1 Occurrence, Preparation, and Properties of Transition Metals and Their Compounds 1027
19.2 Coordination Chemistry of Transition Metals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1042
19.3 Spectroscopic and Magnetic Properties of Coordination Compounds . . . . . . . . 1057
Chapter 20: Nuclear Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075
20.1 Nuclear Structure and Stability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076
20.2 Nuclear Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083
20.3 Radioactive Decay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1086
20.4 Transmutation and Nuclear Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097
20.5 Uses of Radioisotopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1112
20.6 Biological Effects of Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117
Chapter 21: Organic Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1137
21.1 Hydrocarbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1138
21.2 Alcohols and Ethers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156
21.3 Aldehydes, Ketones, Carboxylic Acids, and Esters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1160
21.4 Amines and Amides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1166
Appendix A: The Periodic Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1187
Appendix B: Essential Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1189
Appendix C: Units and Conversion Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1197
Appendix D: Fundamental Physical Constants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1199
Appendix E: Water Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1201
Appendix F: Composition of Commercial Acids and Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207
Appendix G: Standard Thermodynamic Properties for Selected Substances . . . . . . . . . . 1209
Appendix H: Ionization Constants of Weak Acids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1223
Appendix I: Ionization Constants of Weak Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1227
Appendix J: Solubility Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1229
Appendix K: Formation Constants for Complex Ions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1233
Appendix L: Standard Electrode (Half-Cell) Potentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1235
Appendix M: Half-Lives for Several Radioactive Isotopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1241
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1311
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Preface 1

Preface
Welcome to Chemistry: Atoms First 2e, an OpenStax resource. This textbook was written to increase student access
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About Chemistry: Atoms First 2e


This text is an atoms-first adaptation of OpenStax Chemistry 2e. The intention of “atoms-first” involves a few basic
principles: first, it introduces atomic and molecular structure much earlier than the traditional approach, and it threads
these themes through subsequent chapters. This approach may be chosen as a way to delay the introduction of material
such as stoichiometry that students traditionally find abstract and difficult, thereby allowing students time to acclimate
their study skills to chemistry. Additionally, it gives students a basis for understanding the application of quantitative
principles to the chemistry that underlies the entire course. It also aims to center the study of chemistry on the atomic
foundation that many will expand upon in a later course covering organic chemistry, easing that transition when the
time arrives.
The second edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while
maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Substantial improvements have been made in the figures,
2 Preface

illustrations, and example exercises that support the text narrative.


Coverage and scope
In Chemistry: Atoms First 2e, we strive to make chemistry, as a discipline, interesting and accessible to students. With
this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression
from fundamental to more advanced concepts of chemical science. All of the material included in a traditional general
chemistry course is here. It has been reorganized in an atoms-first approach and, where necessary, new material
has been added to allow for continuity and to improve the flow of topics. The text can be used for a traditional
two-semester introduction to chemistry or for a three-semester introduction, an approach becoming more common
at many institutions. The goal is to provide a progressive, graduated introduction to chemistry that focuses on the
fundamentally atom-focused nature of the subject. Topics are introduced within the context of familiar experiences
whenever possible, treated with an appropriate rigor to satisfy the intellect of the learner, and reinforced in subsequent
discussions of related content. The organization and pedagogical features were developed and vetted with feedback
from chemistry educators dedicated to the project.

Changes to the second edition


OpenStax only undertakes second editions when significant modifications to the text are necessary. In the case of
Chemistry: Atoms First 2e, user feedback indicated that we needed to focus on a few key areas, which we have done
in the following ways:
Content revisions for clarity and accuracy. The revision plan varied by chapter based on need. About five
chapters were extensively rewritten and another twelve chapters were substantially revised to improve the
readability and clarity of the narrative.
Example and end-of-chapter exercises. The example and end-of-chapter exercises in several chapters were
subjected to a rigorous accuracy check and revised to correct any errors, and additional exercises were added
to several chapters to more fully support chapter content.
Art and illustrations. Under the guidance of the authors and expert scientific illustrators, especially those
well-versed in creating accessible art, the OpenStax team made changes to much of the art in the first edition
of Chemistry: Atoms First. The revisions included correcting errors, redesigning illustrations to improve
understanding, and recoloring for overall consistency.
Accessibility improvements. As with all OpenStax books, the first edition of Chemistry: Atoms First was
created with a focus on accessibility. We have emphasized and improved that approach in the second edition.
To accommodate users of specific assistive technologies, all alternative text was reviewed and revised for
comprehensiveness and clarity. Many illustrations were revised to improve the color contrast, which is
important for some visually impaired students. Overall, the OpenStax platform has been continually upgraded
to improve accessibility.

Partnership with University of Connecticut and UConn Undergraduate Student


Government
Chemistry: Atoms First 2e is a peer-reviewed, openly licensed introductory textbook produced through a collaborative
publishing partnership between OpenStax and the University of Connecticut and UConn Undergraduate Student
Government Association.

Pedagogical foundation
Throughout Chemistry: Atoms First 2e, you will find features that draw the students into scientific inquiry by taking
selected topics a step further. Students and educators alike will appreciate discussions in these feature boxes.
Chemistry in Everyday Life ties chemistry concepts to everyday issues and real-world applications of
science that students encounter in their lives. Topics include cell phones, solar thermal energy power plants,
plastics recycling, and measuring blood pressure.

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Preface 3

How Sciences Interconnect feature boxes discuss chemistry in context of its interconnectedness with other
scientific disciplines. Topics include neurotransmitters, greenhouse gases and climate change, and proteins
and enzymes.
Portrait of a Chemist features present a short bio and an introduction to the work of prominent figures from
history and present day so that students can see the “faces” of contributors in this field as well as science in
action.

Comprehensive art program


Our art program is designed to enhance students’ understanding of concepts through clear, effective illustrations,
diagrams, and photographs.
4 Preface

Interactives that engage


Chemistry: Atoms First 2e incorporates links to relevant interactive exercises and animations that help bring topics to
life through our Link to Learning feature. Examples include:
PhET simulations

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Preface 5

IUPAC data and interactives


TED talks

Assessments that reinforce key concepts


In-chapter Examples walk students through problems by posing a question, stepping out a solution, and then asking
students to practice the skill with a “Check Your Learning” component. The book also includes assessments at the
end of each chapter so students can apply what they’ve learned through practice problems.

Additional resources
Student and instructor resources
We’ve compiled additional resources for both students and instructors, including Getting Started Guides, PowerPoint
slides, and an instructor answer guide. Instructor resources require a verified instructor account, which you can apply
for when you log in or create your account on openstax.org. Take advantage of these resources to supplement your
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To reach the Community Hubs, visit www.oercommons.org/hubs/OpenStax.

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As allies in making high-quality learning materials accessible, our technology partners offer optional low-cost tools
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About the University of Connecticut


The University of Connecticut is one of the top public research universities in the nation, with more than 30,000
students pursuing answers to critical questions in labs, lecture halls, and the community. Knowledge exploration
throughout the University’s network of campuses is united by a culture of innovation. An unprecedented commitment
from the state of Connecticut ensures UConn attracts internationally renowned faculty and the world’s brightest
students. A tradition of coaching winning athletes makes UConn a standout in Division l sports and fuels our
academic spirit. As a vibrant, progressive leader, UConn fosters a diverse and dynamic culture that meets the
challenges of a changing global society.

About our team


Senior contributing authors
Paul Flowers, University of North Carolina–Pembroke
Dr. Paul Flowers earned a BS in Chemistry from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in 1983 and a PhD in Analytical
Chemistry from the University of Tennessee in 1988. After a one-year postdoctoral appointment at Los Alamos
National Laboratory, he joined the University of North Carolina–Pembroke in the fall of 1989. Dr. Flowers teaches
courses in general and analytical chemistry, and conducts experimental research involving the development of new
devices and methods for microscale chemical analysis.
Klaus Theopold, University of Delaware
6 Preface

Dr. Klaus Theopold (born in Berlin, Germany) received his Vordiplom from the Universität Hamburg in 1977. He
then decided to pursue his graduate studies in the United States, where he received his PhD in inorganic chemistry
from UC Berkeley in 1982. After a year of postdoctoral research at MIT, he joined the faculty at Cornell University.
In 1990, he moved to the University of Delaware, where he is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry and serves as an Associate Director of the University’s Center for Catalytic Science and Technology. Dr.
Theopold regularly teaches graduate courses in inorganic and organometallic chemistry as well as General Chemistry.
Richard Langley, Stephen F. Austin State University
Dr. Richard Langley earned BS degrees in Chemistry and Mineralogy from Miami University of Ohio in the early
1970s and went on to receive his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska in 1977. After a postdoctoral
fellowship at the Arizona State University Center for Solid State Studies, Dr. Langley taught in the University of
Wisconsin system and participated in research at Argonne National Laboratory. Moving to Stephen F. Austin State
University in 1982, Dr. Langley today serves as Professor of Chemistry. His areas of specialization are solid state
chemistry, synthetic inorganic chemistry, fluorine chemistry, and chemical education.
Edward J. Neth, University of Connecticut (Chemistry: Atoms First)
Dr. Edward J. Neth earned his BS in Chemistry (minor in Politics) at Fairfield University in 1985 and his MS
(1988) and PhD (1995; Inorganic/Materials Chemistry) at the University of Connecticut. He joined the University
of Connecticut in 2004 as a lecturer and currently teaches general and inorganic chemistry; his background includes
having worked as a network engineer in both corporate and university settings, and he has served as Director
of Academic Computing at New Haven University. He currently teaches a three-semester, introductory chemistry
sequence at UConn and is involved with training and coordinating teaching assistants.
William R. Robinson, PhD

Contributing authors
Mark Blaser, Shasta College
Simon Bott, University of Houston
Donald Carpenetti, Craven Community College
Andrew Eklund, Alfred University
Emad El-Giar, University of Louisiana at Monroe
Don Frantz, Wilfrid Laurier University
Paul Hooker, Westminster College
Jennifer Look, Mercer University
George Kaminski, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Carol Martinez, Central New Mexico Community College
Troy Milliken, Jackson State University
Vicki Moravec, Trine University
Jason Powell, Ferrum College
Thomas Sorensen, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Allison Soult, University of Kentucky

Reviewers
Casey Akin, College Station Independent School District
Lara AL-Hariri, University of Massachusetts–Amherst
Sahar Atwa, University of Louisiana at Monroe
Todd Austell, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
Bobby Bailey, University of Maryland–University College
Robert Baker, Trinity College
Jeffrey Bartz, Kalamazoo College
Greg Baxley, Cuesta College
Ashley Beasley Green, National Institute of Standards and Technology

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Preface 7

Patricia Bianconi, University of Massachusetts


Lisa Blank, Lyme Central School District
Daniel Branan, Colorado Community College System
Dorian Canelas, Duke University
Emmanuel Chang, York College
Carolyn Collins, College of Southern Nevada
Colleen Craig, University of Washington
Yasmine Daniels, Montgomery College–Germantown
Patricia Dockham, Grand Rapids Community College
Erick Fuoco, Richard J. Daley College
Andrea Geyer, University of Saint Francis
Daniel Goebbert, University of Alabama
John Goodwin, Coastal Carolina University
Stephanie Gould, Austin College
Patrick Holt, Bellarmine University
Kevin Kolack, Queensborough Community College
Amy Kovach, Roberts Wesleyan College
Judit Kovacs Beagle, University of Dayton
Krzysztof Kuczera, University of Kansas
Marcus Lay, University of Georgia
Pamela Lord, University of Saint Francis
Oleg Maksimov, Excelsior College
John Matson, Virginia Tech
Katrina Miranda, University of Arizona
Douglas Mulford, Emory University
Mark Ott, Jackson College
Adrienne Oxley, Columbia College
Richard Pennington, Georgia Gwinnett College
Rodney Powell, Coastal Carolina Community College
Jeanita Pritchett, Montgomery College–Rockville
Aheda Saber, University of Illinois at Chicago
Raymond Sadeghi, University of Texas at San Antonio
Nirmala Shankar, Rutgers University
Jonathan Smith, Temple University
Bryan Spiegelberg, Rider University
Ron Sternfels, Roane State Community College
Cynthia Strong, Cornell College
Kris Varazo, Francis Marion University
Victor Vilchiz, Virginia State University
Alex Waterson, Vanderbilt University
Juchao Yan, Eastern New Mexico University
Mustafa Yatin, Salem State University
Kazushige Yokoyama, State University of New York at Geneseo
Curtis Zaleski, Shippensburg University
Wei Zhang, University of Colorado–Boulder
Preface

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Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas 9

Chapter 1

Essential Ideas

Figure 1.1 Chemical substances and processes are essential for our existence, providing sustenance, keeping us
clean and healthy, fabricating electronic devices, enabling transportation, and much more. (credit “left”: modification
of work by “vxla”/Flickr; credit “left middle”: modification of work by “the Italian voice”/Flickr; credit “right middle”:
modification of work by Jason Trim; credit “right”: modification of work by “gosheshe”/Flickr)

Chapter Outline
1.1 Chemistry in Context
1.2 Phases and Classification of Matter
1.3 Physical and Chemical Properties
1.4 Measurements
1.5 Measurement Uncertainty, Accuracy, and Precision
1.6 Mathematical Treatment of Measurement Results

Introduction
Your alarm goes off and, after hitting “snooze” once or twice, you pry yourself out of bed. You make a cup of coffee
to help you get going, and then you shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and check your phone for messages. On your
way to school, you stop to fill your car’s gas tank, almost making you late for the first day of chemistry class. As you
find a seat in the classroom, you read the question projected on the screen: “Welcome to class! Why should we study
chemistry?”
Do you have an answer? You may be studying chemistry because it fulfills an academic requirement, but if you
consider your daily activities, you might find chemistry interesting for other reasons. Most everything you do and
encounter during your day involves chemistry. Making coffee, cooking eggs, and toasting bread involve chemistry.
The products you use—like soap and shampoo, the fabrics you wear, the electronics that keep you connected to your
world, the gasoline that propels your car—all of these and more involve chemical substances and processes. Whether
you are aware or not, chemistry is part of your everyday world. In this course, you will learn many of the essential
principles underlying the chemistry of modern-day life.
10 Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas

1.1 Chemistry in Context


By the end of this module, you will be able to:
• Outline the historical development of chemistry
• Provide examples of the importance of chemistry in everyday life
• Describe the scientific method
• Differentiate among hypotheses, theories, and laws
• Provide examples illustrating macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic domains
Throughout human history, people have tried to convert matter into more useful forms. Our Stone Age ancestors
chipped pieces of flint into useful tools and carved wood into statues and toys. These endeavors involved changing the
shape of a substance without changing the substance itself. But as our knowledge increased, humans began to change
the composition of the substances as well—clay was converted into pottery, hides were cured to make garments,
copper ores were transformed into copper tools and weapons, and grain was made into bread.
Humans began to practice chemistry when they learned to control fire and use it to cook, make pottery, and smelt
metals. Subsequently, they began to separate and use specific components of matter. A variety of drugs such as aloe,
myrrh, and opium were isolated from plants. Dyes, such as indigo and Tyrian purple, were extracted from plant and
animal matter. Metals were combined to form alloys—for example, copper and tin were mixed together to make
bronze—and more elaborate smelting techniques produced iron. Alkalis were extracted from ashes, and soaps were
prepared by combining these alkalis with fats. Alcohol was produced by fermentation and purified by distillation.
Attempts to understand the behavior of matter extend back for more than 2500 years. As early as the sixth century
BC, Greek philosophers discussed a system in which water was the basis of all things. You may have heard of the
Greek postulate that matter consists of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Subsequently, an amalgamation of
chemical technologies and philosophical speculations was spread from Egypt, China, and the eastern Mediterranean
by alchemists, who endeavored to transform “base metals” such as lead into “noble metals” like gold, and to create
elixirs to cure disease and extend life (Figure 1.2).

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Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas 11

Figure 1.2 This portrayal shows an alchemist’s workshop circa 1580. Although alchemy made some useful
contributions to how to manipulate matter, it was not scientific by modern standards. (credit: Chemical Heritage
Foundation)

From alchemy came the historical progressions that led to modern chemistry: the isolation of drugs from natural
sources, metallurgy, and the dye industry. Today, chemistry continues to deepen our understanding and improve our
ability to harness and control the behavior of matter.

Chemistry: The Central Science


Chemistry is sometimes referred to as “the central science” due to its interconnectedness with a vast array of
other STEM disciplines (STEM stands for areas of study in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields).
Chemistry and the language of chemists play vital roles in biology, medicine, materials science, forensics,
environmental science, and many other fields (Figure 1.3). The basic principles of physics are essential for
understanding many aspects of chemistry, and there is extensive overlap between many subdisciplines within the
two fields, such as chemical physics and nuclear chemistry. Mathematics, computer science, and information theory
provide important tools that help us calculate, interpret, describe, and generally make sense of the chemical world.
Biology and chemistry converge in biochemistry, which is crucial to understanding the many complex factors and
processes that keep living organisms (such as us) alive. Chemical engineering, materials science, and nanotechnology
combine chemical principles and empirical findings to produce useful substances, ranging from gasoline to fabrics to
electronics. Agriculture, food science, veterinary science, and brewing and wine making help provide sustenance in
the form of food and drink to the world’s population. Medicine, pharmacology, biotechnology, and botany identify
and produce substances that help keep us healthy. Environmental science, geology, oceanography, and atmospheric
science incorporate many chemical ideas to help us better understand and protect our physical world. Chemical ideas
are used to help understand the universe in astronomy and cosmology.
12 Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas

Figure 1.3 Knowledge of chemistry is central to understanding a wide range of scientific disciplines. This diagram
shows just some of the interrelationships between chemistry and other fields.

What are some changes in matter that are essential to daily life? Digesting and assimilating food, synthesizing
polymers that are used to make clothing, containers, cookware, and credit cards, and refining crude oil into gasoline
and other products are just a few examples. As you proceed through this course, you will discover many different
examples of changes in the composition and structure of matter, how to classify these changes and how they occurred,
their causes, the changes in energy that accompany them, and the principles and laws involved. As you learn about
these things, you will be learning chemistry, the study of the composition, properties, and interactions of matter. The
practice of chemistry is not limited to chemistry books or laboratories: It happens whenever someone is involved in
changes in matter or in conditions that may lead to such changes.

The Scientific Method


Chemistry is a science based on observation and experimentation. Doing chemistry involves attempting to answer
questions and explain observations in terms of the laws and theories of chemistry, using procedures that are accepted
by the scientific community. There is no single route to answering a question or explaining an observation, but
there is an aspect common to every approach: Each uses knowledge based on experiments that can be reproduced to
verify the results. Some routes involve a hypothesis, a tentative explanation of observations that acts as a guide for
gathering and checking information. A hypothesis is tested by experimentation, calculation, and/or comparison with
the experiments of others and then refined as needed.
Some hypotheses are attempts to explain the behavior that is summarized in laws. The laws of science summarize
a vast number of experimental observations, and describe or predict some facet of the natural world. If such a
hypothesis turns out to be capable of explaining a large body of experimental data, it can reach the status of a
theory. Scientific theories are well-substantiated, comprehensive, testable explanations of particular aspects of nature.
Theories are accepted because they provide satisfactory explanations, but they can be modified if new data become
available. The path of discovery that leads from question and observation to law or hypothesis to theory, combined
with experimental verification of the hypothesis and any necessary modification of the theory, is called the scientific
method (Figure 1.4).

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Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas 13

Figure 1.4 The scientific method follows a process similar to the one shown in this diagram. All the key components
are shown, in roughly the right order. Scientific progress is seldom neat and clean: It requires open inquiry and the
reworking of questions and ideas in response to findings.

The Domains of Chemistry


Chemists study and describe the behavior of matter and energy in three different domains: macroscopic, microscopic,
and symbolic. These domains provide different ways of considering and describing chemical behavior.
Macro is a Greek word that means “large.” The macroscopic domain is familiar to us: It is the realm of everyday
things that are large enough to be sensed directly by human sight or touch. In daily life, this includes the food you eat
and the breeze you feel on your face. The macroscopic domain includes everyday and laboratory chemistry, where we
observe and measure physical and chemical properties such as density, solubility, and flammability.
Micro comes from Greek and means “small.” The microscopic domain of chemistry is often visited in the
imagination. Some aspects of the microscopic domain are visible through standard optical microscopes, for example,
many biological cells. More sophisticated instruments are capable of imaging even smaller entities such as molecules
and atoms (see Figure 1.5 (b)).
However, most of the subjects in the microscopic domain of chemistry are too small to be seen even with the most
advanced microscopes and may only be pictured in the mind. Other components of the microscopic domain include
ions and electrons, protons and neutrons, and chemical bonds, each of which is far too small to see.
The symbolic domain contains the specialized language used to represent components of the macroscopic and
microscopic domains. Chemical symbols (such as those used in the periodic table), chemical formulas, and chemical
equations are part of the symbolic domain, as are graphs, drawings, and calculations. These symbols play an important
role in chemistry because they help interpret the behavior of the macroscopic domain in terms of the components of
the microscopic domain. One of the challenges for students learning chemistry is recognizing that the same symbols
can represent different things in the macroscopic and microscopic domains, and one of the features that makes
chemistry fascinating is the use of a domain that must be imagined to explain behavior in a domain that can be
observed.
14 Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas

A helpful way to understand the three domains is via the essential and ubiquitous substance of water. That water is
a liquid at moderate temperatures, will freeze to form a solid at lower temperatures, and boil to form a gas at higher
temperatures (Figure 1.5) are macroscopic observations. But some properties of water fall into the microscopic
domain—what cannot be observed with the naked eye. The description of water as comprising two hydrogen atoms
and one oxygen atom, and the explanation of freezing and boiling in terms of attractions between these molecules, is
within the microscopic arena. The formula H2O, which can describe water at either the macroscopic or microscopic
levels, is an example of the symbolic domain. The abbreviations (g) for gas, (s) for solid, and (l) for liquid are also
symbolic.

Figure 1.5 (a) Moisture in the air, icebergs, and the ocean represent water in the macroscopic domain. (b) At the
molecular level (microscopic domain), gas molecules are far apart and disorganized, solid water molecules are close
together and organized, and liquid molecules are close together and disorganized. (c) The formula H2O symbolizes
water, and (g), (s), and (l) symbolize its phases. Note that clouds actually comprise either very small liquid water
droplets or solid water crystals; gaseous water in our atmosphere is not visible to the naked eye, although it may be
sensed as humidity. (credit a: modification of work by “Gorkaazk”/Wikimedia Commons)

1.2 Phases and Classification of Matter


By the end of this section, you will be able to:
• Describe the basic properties of each physical state of matter: solid, liquid, and gas
• Distinguish between mass and weight
• Apply the law of conservation of matter
• Classify matter as an element, compound, homogeneous mixture, or heterogeneous mixture with regard to its
physical state and composition
• Define and give examples of atoms and molecules
Matter is defined as anything that occupies space and has mass, and it is all around us. Solids and liquids are more
obviously matter: We can see that they take up space, and their weight tells us that they have mass. Gases are also

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Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas 15

matter; if gases did not take up space, a balloon would not inflate (increase its volume) when filled with gas.
Solids, liquids, and gases are the three states of matter commonly found on earth (Figure 1.6). A solid is rigid and
possesses a definite shape. A liquid flows and takes the shape of its container, except that it forms a flat or slightly
curved upper surface when acted upon by gravity. (In zero gravity, liquids assume a spherical shape.) Both liquid and
solid samples have volumes that are very nearly independent of pressure. A gas takes both the shape and volume of
its container.

Figure 1.6 The three most common states or phases of matter are solid, liquid, and gas.

A fourth state of matter, plasma, occurs naturally in the interiors of stars. A plasma is a gaseous state of matter that
contains appreciable numbers of electrically charged particles (Figure 1.7). The presence of these charged particles
imparts unique properties to plasmas that justify their classification as a state of matter distinct from gases. In addition
to stars, plasmas are found in some other high-temperature environments (both natural and man-made), such as
lightning strikes, certain television screens, and specialized analytical instruments used to detect trace amounts of
metals.
16 Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas

Figure 1.7 A plasma torch can be used to cut metal. (credit: “Hypertherm”/Wikimedia Commons)

Link to Learning

In a tiny cell in a plasma television, the plasma emits ultraviolet light, which in turn causes the display at
that location to appear a specific color. The composite of these tiny dots of color makes up the image that
you see. Watch this video (http://openstaxcollege.org/l/16plasma) to learn more about plasma and the
places you encounter it.

Some samples of matter appear to have properties of solids, liquids, and/or gases at the same time. This can occur
when the sample is composed of many small pieces. For example, we can pour sand as if it were a liquid because it
is composed of many small grains of solid sand. Matter can also have properties of more than one state when it is a
mixture, such as with clouds. Clouds appear to behave somewhat like gases, but they are actually mixtures of air (gas)
and tiny particles of water (liquid or solid).
The mass of an object is a measure of the amount of matter in it. One way to measure an object’s mass is to measure
the force it takes to accelerate the object. It takes much more force to accelerate a car than a bicycle because the car
has much more mass. A more common way to determine the mass of an object is to use a balance to compare its mass
with a standard mass.
Although weight is related to mass, it is not the same thing. Weight refers to the force that gravity exerts on an object.
This force is directly proportional to the mass of the object. The weight of an object changes as the force of gravity
changes, but its mass does not. An astronaut’s mass does not change just because she goes to the moon. But her
weight on the moon is only one-sixth her earth-bound weight because the moon’s gravity is only one-sixth that of the
earth’s. She may feel “weightless” during her trip when she experiences negligible external forces (gravitational or
any other), although she is, of course, never “massless.”
The law of conservation of matter summarizes many scientific observations about matter: It states that there is no
detectable change in the total quantity of matter present when matter converts from one type to another (a chemical
change) or changes among solid, liquid, or gaseous states (a physical change). Brewing beer and the operation of
batteries provide examples of the conservation of matter (Figure 1.8). During the brewing of beer, the ingredients
(water, yeast, grains, malt, hops, and sugar) are converted into beer (water, alcohol, carbonation, and flavoring
substances) with no actual loss of substance. This is most clearly seen during the bottling process, when glucose turns
into ethanol and carbon dioxide, and the total mass of the substances does not change. This can also be seen in a

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Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas 17

lead-acid car battery: The original substances (lead, lead oxide, and sulfuric acid), which are capable of producing
electricity, are changed into other substances (lead sulfate and water) that do not produce electricity, with no change
in the actual amount of matter.

Figure 1.8 (a) The mass of beer precursor materials is the same as the mass of beer produced: Sugar has become
alcohol and carbon dioxide. (b) The mass of the lead, lead oxide, and sulfuric acid consumed by the production of
electricity is exactly equal to the mass of lead sulfate and water that is formed.

Although this conservation law holds true for all conversions of matter, convincing examples are few and far between
because, outside of the controlled conditions in a laboratory, we seldom collect all of the material that is produced
during a particular conversion. For example, when you eat, digest, and assimilate food, all of the matter in the original
food is preserved. But because some of the matter is incorporated into your body, and much is excreted as various
types of waste, it is challenging to verify by measurement.

Classifying Matter
Matter can be classified into several categories. Two broad categories are mixtures and pure substances. A pure
substance has a constant composition. All specimens of a pure substance have exactly the same makeup and
properties. Any sample of sucrose (table sugar) consists of 42.1% carbon, 6.5% hydrogen, and 51.4% oxygen by
mass. Any sample of sucrose also has the same physical properties, such as melting point, color, and sweetness,
regardless of the source from which it is isolated.
Pure substances may be divided into two classes: elements and compounds. Pure substances that cannot be broken
down into simpler substances by chemical changes are called elements. Iron, silver, gold, aluminum, sulfur, oxygen,
and copper are familiar examples of the more than 100 known elements, of which about 90 occur naturally on the
earth, and two dozen or so have been created in laboratories.
Pure substances that can be broken down by chemical changes are called compounds. This breakdown may produce
either elements or other compounds, or both. Mercury(II) oxide, an orange, crystalline solid, can be broken down by
heat into the elements mercury and oxygen (Figure 1.9). When heated in the absence of air, the compound sucrose
is broken down into the element carbon and the compound water. (The initial stage of this process, when the sugar is
turning brown, is known as caramelization—this is what imparts the characteristic sweet and nutty flavor to caramel
apples, caramelized onions, and caramel). Silver(I) chloride is a white solid that can be broken down into its elements,
silver and chlorine, by absorption of light. This property is the basis for the use of this compound in photographic
18 Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas

films and photochromic eyeglasses (those with lenses that darken when exposed to light).

Figure 1.9 (a) The compound mercury(II) oxide, (b) when heated, (c) decomposes into silvery droplets of liquid
mercury and invisible oxygen gas. (credit: modification of work by Paul Flowers)

Link to Learning

Many compounds break down when heated. This site (http://openstaxcollege.org/l/16mercury) shows
the breakdown of mercury oxide, HgO. You can also view an example of the photochemical
decomposition of silver chloride (http://openstaxcollege.org/l/16silvchloride) (AgCl), the basis of
early photography.

The properties of combined elements are different from those in the free, or uncombined, state. For example, white
crystalline sugar (sucrose) is a compound resulting from the chemical combination of the element carbon, which is
a black solid in one of its uncombined forms, and the two elements hydrogen and oxygen, which are colorless gases
when uncombined. Free sodium, an element that is a soft, shiny, metallic solid, and free chlorine, an element that is a
yellow-green gas, combine to form sodium chloride (table salt), a compound that is a white, crystalline solid.
A mixture is composed of two or more types of matter that can be present in varying amounts and can be separated
by physical changes, such as evaporation (you will learn more about this later). A mixture with a composition that
varies from point to point is called a heterogeneous mixture. Italian dressing is an example of a heterogeneous
mixture (Figure 1.10). Its composition can vary because it may be prepared from varying amounts of oil, vinegar,
and herbs. It is not the same from point to point throughout the mixture—one drop may be mostly vinegar, whereas a
different drop may be mostly oil or herbs because the oil and vinegar separate and the herbs settle. Other examples of
heterogeneous mixtures are chocolate chip cookies (we can see the separate bits of chocolate, nuts, and cookie dough)
and granite (we can see the quartz, mica, feldspar, and more).
A homogeneous mixture, also called a solution, exhibits a uniform composition and appears visually the same
throughout. An example of a solution is a sports drink, consisting of water, sugar, coloring, flavoring, and electrolytes
mixed together uniformly (Figure 1.10). Each drop of a sports drink tastes the same because each drop contains
the same amounts of water, sugar, and other components. Note that the composition of a sports drink can vary—it
could be made with somewhat more or less sugar, flavoring, or other components, and still be a sports drink. Other
examples of homogeneous mixtures include air, maple syrup, gasoline, and a solution of salt in water.

This OpenStax book is available for free at http://cnx.org/content/col26488/1.3


Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas 19

Figure 1.10 (a) Oil and vinegar salad dressing is a heterogeneous mixture because its composition is not uniform
throughout. (b) A commercial sports drink is a homogeneous mixture because its composition is uniform throughout.
(credit a “left”: modification of work by John Mayer; credit a “right”: modification of work by Umberto Salvagnin; credit
b “left: modification of work by Jeff Bedford)

Although there are just over 100 elements, tens of millions of chemical compounds result from different combinations
of these elements. Each compound has a specific composition and possesses definite chemical and physical properties
that distinguish it from all other compounds. And, of course, there are innumerable ways to combine elements and
compounds to form different mixtures. A summary of how to distinguish between the various major classifications of
matter is shown in (Figure 1.11).

Figure 1.11 Depending on its properties, a given substance can be classified as a homogeneous mixture, a
heterogeneous mixture, a compound, or an element.

Eleven elements make up about 99% of the earth’s crust and atmosphere (Table 1.1). Oxygen constitutes nearly one-
half and silicon about one-quarter of the total quantity of these elements. A majority of elements on earth are found
in chemical combinations with other elements; about one-quarter of the elements are also found in the free state.

Elemental Composition of Earth


Element Symbol Percent Mass Element Symbol Percent Mass

oxygen O 49.20 chlorine Cl 0.19

silicon Si 25.67 phosphorus P 0.11

aluminum Al 7.50 manganese Mn 0.09

Table 1.1
20 Chapter 1 | Essential Ideas

Elemental Composition of Earth


Element Symbol Percent Mass Element Symbol Percent Mass

iron Fe 4.71 carbon C 0.08

calcium Ca 3.39 sulfur S 0.06

sodium Na 2.63 barium Ba 0.04

potassium K 2.40 nitrogen N 0.03

magnesium Mg 1.93 fluorine F 0.03

hydrogen H 0.87 strontium Sr 0.02

titanium Ti 0.58 all others - 0.47

Table 1.1

Atoms and Molecules


An atom is the smallest particle of an element that has the properties of that element and can enter into a chemical
combination. Consider the element gold, for example. Imagine cutting a gold nugget in half, then cutting one of the
halves in half, and repeating this process until a piece of gold remained that was so small that it could not be cut
in half (regardless of how tiny your knife may be). This minimally sized piece of gold is an atom (from the Greek
atomos, meaning “indivisible”) (Figure 1.12). This atom would no longer be gold if it were divided any further.

Figure 1.12 (a) This photograph shows a gold nugget. (b) A scanning-tunneling microscope (STM) can generate
views of the surfaces of solids, such as this image of a gold crystal. Each sphere represents one gold atom. (credit a:
modification of work by United States Geological Survey; credit b: modification of work by “Erwinrossen”/Wikimedia
Commons)

The first suggestion that matter is composed of atoms is attributed to the Greek philosophers Leucippus and
Democritus, who developed their ideas in the 5th century BCE. However, it was not until the early nineteenth century
that John Dalton (1766–1844), a British schoolteacher with a keen interest in science, supported this hypothesis with
quantitative measurements. Since that time, repeated experiments have confirmed many aspects of this hypothesis,
and it has become one of the central theories of chemistry. Other aspects of Dalton’s atomic theory are still used but
with minor revisions (details of Dalton’s theory are provided in the chapter on atoms and molecules).

This OpenStax book is available for free at http://cnx.org/content/col26488/1.3


Another random document with
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At length Livingston agreed to stand provided both Clinton and Gates
would run. Straightway, Burr rushed to Gates. It was a hard struggle. Burr
pleaded, cajoled, flattered, appealed to party pride. Finally Gates agreed to
run if Clinton would make the race. And there Burr almost met his
Waterloo. The rugged old war-horse was prejudiced against Jefferson. He
had ambitions for the Presidency himself, and they had been passed over.
Burr left the matter open, smiled, flattered, bowed, departed. Then, out from
his office committees began to make their way to Clinton with
importunities to stand. The personal friends of the stubborn old man were
sent to persuade him. He was adamant. A scene at Burr’s home at
Richmond Hill: Present, the nominating committee and Clinton. A mass
movement on Clinton—he would not budge. Then Burr’s master-stroke. A
community had a right to draft a man in a crisis—the crisis was at hand.
Without his consent they would nominate him. The rebellious veteran,
flattered, agreed not to repudiate the nomination. The victory was Burr’s—
and Jefferson’s.
A little later, the press announced that a meeting of the Democrats had
been held at the home of J. Adams, Jr., at 68 William Street, where the
Assembly ticket had been put up. Spirited resolutions were adopted. The
enthusiasm of the Jeffersonians reached fever heat. Hamilton and the
Federalists were paralyzed with amazement. The impossible had happened.
Against Hamilton’s mediocre tools—this ticket, composed of commanding
figures of national repute![1729] Immediately the frantic fears of the
Federalists were manifest in the efforts of ‘Portius’ in the ‘Commercial
Advertiser’ to frighten the party into action. Jefferson had become a
possibility—the author of the Mazzei letter! Clinton and Gates candidates
for the Assembly! Old men laden with honors who had retired, in harness
again! Clearly no office lured them—it must be the magnitude of the issue.
And who were Clinton, Gates, and Osgood? Enemies of the Constitution!
To your tents, O Federalists![1730] A few days later the merchants met at the
Tontine Coffee-House to endorse the Hamiltonian ticket because ‘the
election is peculiarly important to the mercantile interests.’[1731] In the ‘Pig
Pen’ the Tammanyites read of the action of the merchants, clicked their
glasses, and rejoiced. Hamilton, now thoroughly alarmed, redoubled his
efforts. The Federalist press began to teem with hysterical attacks on
Jefferson, Madison, and Clinton—men who were planning the destruction
of the Government.[1732]
Meanwhile, Burr, calm, confident, suave, silent, was giving New York
City its first example of practical politics. Money was needed—he formed a
finance committee to collect funds. Solicitors went forth to wealthy
members of the party to demand certain amounts—determined upon by
Burr. It was a master psychologist who scanned the subscription lists. One
parsimonious rich man was down for one hundred dollars.
‘Strike his name off,’ said Burr. ‘You will not get the money and ... his
exertions will cease and you will not see him at the polls.’
Another name—that of a lazy man liberal with donations. ‘Double the
amount and tell him no labor will be expected of him.’
With infinite care Burr card-indexed every voter in the city, his political
history, his present disposition, his temperament, his habits, his state of
health, the exertions probably necessary to get him to the polls. The people
had to be aroused—Burr organized precinct and ward meetings, sent
speakers, addressed them himself. And while Burr was working, the
lowliest too were working on the lowliest. One evening ‘a large corpulent
person with something of the appearance of Sir John Falstaff’ was seen in
the lobby of a theater ‘haranguing an old black man who sells peanuts and
apples to come forward and vote the Republican ticket.’
‘You pay heavy taxes this year.’
‘Yes, Massa, me pay ten dollars.’
‘Well, if you vote the Republican ticket you will have little or no taxes to
pay next year; for if we Republicans succeed, the standing army will be
disbanded, which cost us almost a million of money last year.’
The peanut vendor promised to appear at the polls ‘with six more free-
born sons of the African race.’[1733] Whereupon the campaigner had a tale
to tell to the boys at the Wigwam that night.
The polls opened on April 29th and closed at sunset on May 2d. Days of
intense ceaseless activity. Hamilton and Burr took the field. From one
polling-place to another they rushed to harangue the voters. When they met,
they treated each other with courtly courtesy. Handbills were put out,
flooding the city during the voting. In the midst of the fight Matthew L.
Davis found time at midnight to send a hasty report to Gallatin in
Philadelphia. ‘This day he [Burr] has remained at the polls of the Seventh
ward ten hours without intermission. Pardon this hasty scrawl. I have not
ate for fifteen hours.’[1734] The result was a sweeping triumph for the
Democrats. When the news reached the Senate at Philadelphia, the
Federalists were so depressed and the Democrats so jubilant that the
transaction of business was impossible, and it adjourned.[1735]
Hamilton was stunned, and ready for trickery to retrieve the lost battle.
The next night he was presiding over a secret meeting of Federalists where
it was agreed to ask Governor Jay to call an extra session of the Legislature
to deprive that body of the power to choose electors. Hamilton approached
Jay in a letter. ‘In times like these,’ he wrote, ‘it will not do to be over-
scrupulous.’ There should be no objections to ‘taking of legal and
constitutional steps to prevent an atheist in religion and a fanatic in politics
from getting possession of the helm of state.’[1736] Jay read the letter with
astonishment, made a notation that it was a plan to serve a party purpose,
and buried it in the archives. It was the blackest blot on Hamilton’s record.
That victory elected Jefferson.
It destroyed Hamilton—and it made Burr Vice-President.
Scarcely had the polls closed when Burr’s friends, giving him the whole
credit, as he deserved, began to urge on the leaders in Philadelphia his
selection for the Vice-Presidency. Davis wrote Gallatin that the Democrats
of New York were bent on Burr.[1737] Admiral James Nicholas, the father-
in-law of Gallatin, wrote that the triumph was a miraculous ‘intervention of
Supreme Power and our friend Burr, the agent.’ It was his ‘generalship,
perseverance, industry, and execution’ that did it, and he deserved ‘anything
and everything of his country.’ He had won ‘at the risk of his life.’[1738] On
May 12th Gallatin wrote his wife: ‘We had last night a very large meeting
of Republicans, in which it was unanimously agreed to support Burr for
Vice-President.’
That was a bitter month for the Federalists. In the gubernatorial contests
in New Hampshire and Massachusetts the Democrats had polled an
astonishing vote. Painfully labored were the efforts of the Federalist press to
explain these remarkable accessions. The ‘Centinel’ in Boston had
previously sounded a note of warning under the caption, ‘Americans, Why
Sleep Ye?’ The Democrats, it said, were ‘organized, officered, accoutered,
provided, and regularly paid.’ They were ‘systematized in all points.’ In
Pennsylvania a Jeffersonian Governor had thrown Federalist office-holders
‘headlong from their posts.’ In New Hampshire the Democrats were
fighting ‘under cover of an ambuscade.’ In all States new Jeffersonian
presses were established, ‘from Portsmouth in New Hampshire to Savannah
in Georgia,’ through which ‘the orders of Generals of the faction are
transmitted with professional punctuality; which presses serve as a
sounding board to the notes that issue through that great speaking trumpet
of the Devil, the Philadelphia Aurora.’ Did not Duane get the enormous
salary of eight hundred dollars a year? ‘Why Sleep Ye?’
Dismayed, disgruntled with Adams, but afraid to reject him openly, the
Federalist caucus convened in Philadelphia and selected Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney as his running mate with the idea of electing him to
the Presidency through treachery to Adams.

When Adams learned of the Federalist defeat in New York, he


momentarily went to pieces. His suspicious mind instantly saw in his
humiliation the hand of Hamilton and his supporters. He had long been
cognizant of the treachery about him, in his official household. On the
morning of May 5th, McHenry received a note from the house on Market
Street: ‘The President requests Mr. McHenry’s company for one minute.’
As the poet-politician walked up Market Street in response that spring
morning, he could not have conceived of any other issue than a brief
discussion of some departmental matter. Only a few weeks before he had,
with Adams’s knowledge, arranged for a house at Georgetown, and for the
removal of his family thither.[1739] As he had surmised, the subject which
had summoned him to the conference was a minor matter relating to the
appointment of a purveyor. This was satisfactorily disposed of. Was there
something smug or offensive in the manner of Hamilton’s messenger that
suddenly enraged the old man, smarting under the sting of the defeat in
New York? Suddenly he began to talk of McHenry’s derelictions, his anger
rising, his color mounting, his voice ringing with unrepressed rage.
McHenry thought him ‘mad.’ Washington, said Adams, had saddled him
with three Secretaries, Pickering, Wolcott, and McHenry. The latter had
refused to give a commission to the only elector in North Carolina who had
voted for Adams. He had influenced Washington to insist on giving
Hamilton the preference over Knox—which was true. In a report to
Congress, McHenry had eulogized Washington and sought to praise
Hamilton—the President’s enemy. He had urged the suspension of the
mission to France. The old man was spluttering with fury, and his disloyal
Secretary was dumb with amazement. It was time for him to resign.
McHenry beat a hasty retreat, returned to his office, prepared his
resignation, which in decency should have been voluntarily submitted long
before, and sent it in the next morning.[1740]
Having set himself to the task of ridding his household of his enemies,
Adams bethought himself of Pickering. Five days after the stormy scene
with McHenry, the austere Secretary of State received a note from the
President inviting a resignation. This was on Saturday. On Monday
morning, Pickering went to his office as usual, having been long
accustomed to ignoring or thwarting the wishes of his chief, and sent a
letter dealing, strangely enough, with his pecuniary embarrassments, and
refusing to resign.[1741] The letter had not been sent an hour before an
answer was in his hands. It was curt and comprehensive. ‘Divers causes and
considerations essential to the administration of the government, in my
judgment requiring a change in the department of state, you are hereby
discharged from any further service as Secretary of State.’[1742]
Hamilton, enraged at the dismissal of his servitors, hastened an
astonishing letter of instructions to Pickering. He should ‘take copies and
extracts of all such documents as will enable you to explain both Jefferson
and Adams.’ No doubt Pickering was ‘aware of a very curious journal of
the latter when he was in Europe—a tissue of weakness and vanity.’ The
time was coming when ‘men of real integrity and energy must write against
all empirics.’[1743] To McHenry he wrote that ‘a new and more dangerous
era has commenced’; that ‘Revolution and a new order of things are
avowed in this quarter’; and, with something of Adams’s hysteria, that
‘property, liberty, and even life are at stake.’[1744]
The news that Adams had rid himself of his betrayers, and found in John
Marshall and Samuel Dexter as successors men incapable of treachery,
made a profound impression. To Duane of ‘The Aurora’ it was a
vindication. Two months before he had divided the Cabinet into
Hamiltonians and Adamsites, with Pickering and McHenry bearing the
brand of Hamilton.[1745] Announcing the dismissals under the caption, ‘The
Hydra Dying,’ he described Pickering as ‘an uncommon instance of the
mischiefs that may be done in a country by small and contemptible talents
and a narrow mind when set on fire by malignity.’[1746] The Federalist
papers were hard put to sugar-coat the pill. The ‘Centinel’ cautiously said
that ‘the best men here have variant opinions on the measure’ of Pickering’s
dismissal.[1747] Three days later, it rushed to the defense of the humiliated
representative of the Essex Junto with the comment that the best eulogy on
his official conduct was ‘the chuckling of the Jacobins over his removal’
and the assurance that he carried into retirement ‘the regrets of all good
men.’[1748] The Essex Junto made no attempt to conceal their disgust.
Cabot, Ames, Gore, and Pickering were soon sending their versions to
Rufus King in London. ‘You are so well acquainted with the sort of
sensibility for which our chief is remarkable, that you will be less surprised
than most men,’ wrote Cabot.[1749] Gore wrote that the dismissal ‘produces
general discontent.’[1750] The delicate moral sensibilities of all these
politicians were much hurt because Adams had fallen into the habit of
swearing and using ‘billingsgate.’[1751] He was even speaking with
bitterness of the Essex Junto and the British faction, quite in the manner of
Jefferson. It was even ‘understood’ among the Hamiltonians that the
dismissals were the price of the alliance which had been formed between
Jefferson and Adams.[1752]
But Adams knew what he was about. He knew that a plan had been
made to trick him out of his reëlection. The scheme was bald, bold, stupid.
All the Federalist electors in the North would be urged to vote for Adams
and Pinckney; in the South enough would be asked to vote for Pinckney,
and not Adams, to bring the Hamiltonian Carolinian in ahead. Hamilton
was writing frankly to his friends in this vein, ready to ‘pursue Pinckney as
my single object’;[1753] while Gore was writing King that ‘the intention of
the Federalists is to run General Pinckney and Mr. Adams as President and
Vice-President.’[1754] When, in July, Adams appeared in Boston at a dinner
and toasted Sam Adams and John Hancock, the much-abused Jeffersonians,
as ‘the proscribed patriots,’ the Hamiltonians groaned their disgust and the
Democrats shouted with glee. ‘This was well understood by the Jacobins
whom it will not gain,’ wrote Ames.[1755] ‘The Aurora’ observed that ‘he
did not give the great orb [Franklin] around which he moved as a
satellite.’[1756] The rupture was now complete. When Adams was permitted
to leave Philadelphia without a demonstration the latter part of May, ‘The
Aurora’ was unseemly in its mirth. ‘Did the Blues parade? No? What—not
parade to salute him “whom the people delight to honor”—“the rock on
which the storm beats”—the “chief who now commands”? Did not the
officers of the standing army or the marines parade? The new army officers
are not fond of the President; he has dismissed Timothy.’[1757]
Meanwhile, the most consummate of the betrayers, Wolcott, unsuspected
still, remained within the fort to signal to Hamilton.

VI

It was common knowledge early in the spring that Hamilton would exert
his ingenuity to defeat Adams by hook or crook. ‘The Aurora’ declared,
March 12th, that ‘the party with Alexander Hamilton at their head have
determined to defeat Adams in the approaching elections.’ The watchful
eye of the suspicious Adams, who felt the treachery, unquestionably read
the article and heard the gossip. When, after the death of Washington, the
Cincinnati met in New York to select Hamilton as the head of the order,
Adams was informed that his enemy had electioneered against him among
the members. He heard particularly of the action of ‘the learned and pious
Doctors Dwight and Babcock, who ... were attending as two reverend
knights of the order, with their blue ribbons and bright eagles at their sable
button-holes,’ in saying repeatedly in the room where the society met, ‘We
must sacrifice Adams,’ ‘We must sacrifice Adams.’
Thus, when in June, Hamilton, under the pretext of disbanding the army
in person, fared forth in his carriage on a tour of the New England States,
no one doubted the political character of his mission. His purpose was to
prevail upon the leaders to give unanimous support to Pinckney and to drop
a few Adams votes, or, that impossible, to give Pinckney the same support
as Adams. The records of this dramatic journey are meager enough. It is
known that in New Hampshire he talked with Governor Gilman, who was
the popular leader, and ‘took pains’ to impress upon him ‘the errors and the
defects of Mr. Adams and of the danger that candidate cannot prevail by
mere Federal strength.’ He urged support of Pinckney on the ground that in
the South he would get some anti-Federal votes.[1758] In Rhode Island he
evidently encountered a spirited protest from Governor Fenner. The
Governor expressed the hope that all the electors would be Federalists, but
clearly gave no encouragement to the Pinckney candidacy, according to
Hamilton’s own version of the conference.[1759] There were other versions,
however, indicative of a stormy interview. The ‘Albany Register’ advised
Hamilton, in giving the story of his tour to the ‘Anglo-Federal party which
wishes to make Charles C. Pinckney President,’ to ‘forget his interview
with the Governor of Rhode Island.’[1760] ‘The Aurora’ followed in a few
days with a more circumstantial story. Hamilton had ‘warmly pressed
Governor Fenner to support Pinckney’ and ‘the old Governor’s eyes were
opened and he literally drove the gallant Alexander out of the door.’[1761] 3
But in Massachusetts, albeit the home of Adams, Hamilton could count
upon a cordial reception for his views, since it was also the home of the
Essex Junto. This was composed of the Big-Wigs of the party in that State,
all ardently devoted to Hamilton, sharing in his hate of democracy and
doubt of the Republic. For years these men had met at one another’s homes
and directed the politics of Massachusetts. They were men of intellect and
social prestige, intimately allied with commerce and the law. There was
George Cabot, the greatest and wisest of them all, and one of the few men
who dared tell Hamilton his faults. He was a man of fine appearance, tall,
well-moulded, elegant in his manners, aristocratic in his bearing, earnest but
never vehement in conversation; a man of wealth, and a merchant.[1762]
There was Fisher Ames, brilliant, vivacious, smiling, cynical, eloquent,
exclusive in his social tastes, and wealthy. There was Theophilus Parsons,
learned in the law, contemptuous of public opinion and democracy,
reactionary beyond most of his conservative contemporaries, more
concerned with property than with human rights. Tall, slender, cold in his
manner, colder in his reasoning, he stood out among the other members of
the Junto because of his slovenliness in dress. Among his friends, at the
dinner table, he was a brilliant conversationalist, for he liked nothing better
than to eat and drink, talk and laugh, unless it was to smoke, chew tobacco,
and use snuff.[1763] He was the personification of the political intolerance
of his class. There, too, was Stephen Higginson, one of the wealthiest and
most cultured merchants of his day, a handsome figure of a man who took
infinite pains with his toilet and always carried a gold-headed cane. Given
to writing for the press, he made ferocious attacks on John Hancock under
the nom-de-plume of ‘Laco,’ and the truckmen on State Street whom he
passed on his way to business taught a parrot to cry, ‘Hurrah for Hancock;
damn Laco.’ So intolerant and bigoted was his household that a child,
hearing a visitor suggest that a Democrat might be honest, was shocked.
[1764] There also was John Lowell, able lawyer, cultured, ultra-conservative,
disdainful of democracy; and there was Christopher Gore, who amassed a
fortune in speculation, and held a brilliant position at the Bar. A striking
figure he was, when he appeared at the unconventional meetings of the
group, tall, stout, with black eyes and florid complexion, his hair tied
behind and dressed with powder, courtly in his manners, eloquent in speech,
utterly intolerant in his Federalism, and completely devoted to Hamilton’s
policies.[1765] These and their satellites were Hamilton’s Boston friends;
more, they were the backbone of his personal organization, his shock
troops. Thus, when he crossed into Massachusetts on his tour, he was going
to his own with the knowledge that they would receive him gladly—and
they did.
Reaching Boston on Saturday evening, he conferred with his friends, and
on Sunday ‘attended divine services at the Rev. Mr. Kirkland’s.’ On
Monday a dinner was given in his honor, where, the party paper insisted,
‘the company was the most respectable ever assembled in the town on a
similar occasion.’ General Lincoln presided. Higginson and Major Russell
of the ‘Centinel’ were vice-presidents. Governor Strong, the Lieutenant-
Governor, the Speaker of the House, Chief Justice Dana, Ames, Cabot,
several members of Congress, and members of ‘the Reverend Clergy’ sat
about the boards. ‘The tables were loaded with every dainty the season
affords and every luxury which could be procured.’[1766] It appears that
some Adamsites or Jeffersonians declined to do homage, for we find the
‘Centinel’ commenting that ‘had a certain citizen known that General
Hamilton resembled his demi-god, Bonaparte, instead of refusing a ticket to
the dinner he would have solicited the honor of kissing—his hand.’[1767]
The Hamiltonians were clearly delighted with the occasion; Hamilton
himself expanded and talked with freedom in the friendly atmosphere. He
talked for Pinckney and against Adams; and in an especially expansive
moment, dwelling on the sinister presumption of democracy, said that
within four years ‘he would either lose his head or be the leader of a
triumphant army.’ The dinner over, the conference concluded, he made an
inspection of Fort Independence on Castle Island, and was on his way,
accompanied ‘as far as Lynn by a cavalcade of citizens.’[1768] Everything
had been carried off with becoming éclat, for had he not stayed at ‘the
elegant boarding house of Mrs. Carter?’[1769] Unhappily the carriage in
which he rode with the ‘cavalcade’ broke down in the middle of the street,
[1770] to the delight of the Jacobins, but his composure gave his followers
much satisfaction.
Had not the Adamsites implied that he had received the cold shoulder
elsewhere in Massachusetts we might never have known his activities
beyond Lynn. He was ‘everywhere welcomed with unequivocable marks of
respect, cordiality, and friendship.’ He dined in Salem with Mr. Pickman,
‘drank tea at Ipswich,’ arrived at Davenport’s late in the evening, departed
early in the morning for Portsmouth, and reached Newburyport on Sunday.
That is the reason there was no demonstration there. But there in the
evening he stayed with Parsons ‘in company with some of the most
respectable gentlemen of the town.’[1771]
But Hamilton and the Junto were not soon to hear the last of that tour.
The Democrats harped incessantly on the promise to lose his head or be the
leader of a triumphant army. ‘We have often heard of a French gasconade,’
said ‘The Aurora,’ ‘but we have now to place alongside of it a Creole
gasconade in America. Alexander Hamilton leading an army to effect a
Revolution! Why, the very idea is as pregnant with laughter as if we were to
be told of Sir John Falstaff’s military achievements.’[1772] ‘Manlius’ rushed
to the attack, ostensibly in behalf of Adams, in the ‘Chronicle.’ Why this
trip to ‘disband the army’? Had Hamilton ever been in the camp before?
Had he appeared ‘to plant the seed of distrust in the bosom of the troops?
against Adams?’ And what a painful effect upon the great men of Boston!
‘Your personal appearance threw poor Cabot into the shade. Even what had
been deemed eloquence in the smiling Ames was soon reduced to
commentary; and so petrifying was your power that our District Judge has
scarcely since dared to report an assertion from his Magnus Apollo of
Brookline, either on politics or banking.’ And lose his head or lead a
triumphant army if Pinckney were not elected? ‘Your vanity was more gross
than even your ignorance of the characters of the people of the eastern
States.’[1773] Two months later, the echoes were still heard. The Reverend
Mr. Kirkland, flattered by Hamilton’s cultivation and ingratiation, and
young, not content with indiscreetly repeating Hamilton’s observations
made in company, rushed into the papers with an attack on Adams and a
glorification of Hamilton. What a disgrace to the clergy, wrote ‘No
Politician,’ for this flattered youth ‘to vindicate the character of a confessed
adulterer, and artfully to sap the well-earned reputation of President
Adams.’[1774] Even King heard from a Bostonian that Hamilton ‘in his
mode of handling [political themes] did not appear to be the great General
which his great talents designate him.’[1775] But Hamilton made his
observations and reached his conclusions—that the leaders of the first order
were in a mood to repudiate Adams, but that those of the second order,
more numerous, were almost solidly for him. He merely changed his
tactics.
CHAPTER XX

HAMILTON’S RAMPAGE

F INDING that persuasion had failed to shake the fidelity of the second-
class leaders, Hamilton bethought himself of coercion. The moment he
returned to New York, he wrote Charles Carroll of Carrollton proposing
to ‘oppose their fears to their prejudices,’ by having the Middle States
declare that they would not support Adams at all. Thus they might be
‘driven to support Pinckney.’ Both New Jersey and Connecticut, he thought,
might agree to the plan, since in both places Adams’s popularity was on the
wane. In any event, it was not ‘advisable that Maryland should be too
deeply pledged to the support of Mr. Adams.’[1776] The effect on Carroll
was all that could have been desired. Two months later, an emissary of
McHenry’s, sent to interview the venerable patriot, found that he considered
Adams ‘totally unfit for the office of President, and would support ... the
election of General Pinckney.’[1777] Throughout the summer the leaders in
the inner circle of the Hamiltonian conspirators were busy with their pens.
Richard Stockton urged on Wolcott the wisdom of making a secret fight.
‘Prudent silence ... get in our tickets of electors ... they will be men who
will do right in the vote ... and Mr. Pinckney will be the man of their
choice.’[1778]
No one was deeper in the business than Wolcott, who, holding on to his
position, and presenting a suave, unblushing front to his chief, was writing
feverishly to the leaders of the conspiracy. While Hamilton was receiving
the homage of his New England idolaters in June, Wolcott was writing
Cabot that ‘if General Pinckney is not elected all good men will have cause
to regret the inactivity of the Federal party.’[1779] In July he was writing
McHenry that if ‘you will but do your part, we shall probably secure Mr.
Pinckney’s election,’[1780] and to Chauncey Goodrich that good men
thought Mr. ‘Adams ought not to be supported.’[1781] He was receiving
letters from Benjamin Goodhue, presumably Adams’s friend, concerning
‘Mr. Adams’ insufferable madness and vanity,’[1782] and from McHenry
that ‘Mr. Harper is now clearly of opinion that General Pinckney ought to
be preferred.’[1783] In August he was assuring Ames that ‘Adams ought not
to be supported,’[1784] and in September ‘The Aurora’ was charging that
during that month he had declared in Washington ‘that Mr. Adams did not
deserve a vote for President.’[1785] Clasping Adams’s hand with one of his,
this consummate master of intrigue was using the other to wig-wag
messages to Hamilton from the window of the fortress.
But Hamilton found much to disconcert him. Albeit Cabot rather boasted
that in July he had not yet paid a visit of courtesy to Braintree, and probably
would not,[1786] he was writing Hamilton that to discard Adams at that
juncture would mean defeat in Massachusetts.[1787] He was opposed,
however, only to an open rupture. Noah Webster, having made a New
England tour of his own, and lingered a moment under the trees at
Braintree, went over to Adams bag and baggage.[1788] All but two of the
Federalist papers were supporting Adams with spirit. To prod him more, the
Jeffersonian press was pouncing upon Hamilton ferociously. ‘Dictator of
the aristocratical party!’ ‘Father of the funding system!’ Working
desperately for Pinckney, ‘continually flying through the continent rousing
his partisans by the presence of their chief, prescribing and regulating every
plan,’ was Hamilton, charged a Jeffersonian editor. Author of ‘a little book’
in which he ‘endeavors to give an elegant and pleasant history of his
adulteries,’ he added.[1789] Hamilton began to meditate a sensational stroke.

II

Meanwhile, the Jeffersonians, united, enthusiastic, thoroughly organized,


confident, were waging war along the whole line. The mechanics who could
vote, the small farmers, the liberals and Democrats, the private soldiers of
the Revolution who felt they had been tricked, the small merchants, the
Germans because of taxes and the proscription of Muhlenberg, the Irish
because the Federalists abused them and passed the Alien Law, were almost
a unit behind their chief. All the cost of the army and navy, and the frequent
outrages of soldiers with nothing to do, brought support. In North Carolina,
Gales, in ‘The Register,’ was using the camp near Raleigh as a veritable
recruiting point for Democrats. The eight per cent loan of that day and the
Excise Law of the day before were bringing great accessions to the ranks.
The growing indebtedness of the Nation, and Wolcott’s admission that
another eight per cent loan would be necessary, was making converts. The
scandals in administration were creating havoc in Administration circles
and driving Wolcott to distraction. The scandal of Jonathan Dayton,
Federalist leader of New Jersey, broke, and the hailstones beat upon the
head of Wolcott, who was the victim of his credulity alone. While Speaker,
Dayton had made written application at the end of the session of 1798 for
thirty-three thousand dollars as compensation for the House. That amount
was not needed. Wolcott’s plea that he did not know he had given Dayton
more than necessary was greeted with jeers. His assertion that he had the
right to expect the unexpended balance to be immediately refunded only
met derisive laughter. Not until the winter of 1799 was the discovery made
that Dayton had retained more than eighteen thousand dollars since July,
1798. Wolcott, discovering this fraud, summoned Dayton, wrote him a
sharp letter, and recovered the money—but not the interest.[1790]
Meanwhile, Duane, in ‘The Aurora,’ was devoting pages to affidavits
concerning Dayton’s notorious land frauds.[1791] Defalcations were
numerous, due, according to the apologists of the Administration, to ‘the
difficulty of procuring men of standing and character ... to execute their
duties.’[1792]
Then, to darken the picture for the Federalists, stories were afloat
corroborative of the Jeffersonian charge that they favored aristocracy and
monarchy. Again Adams appeared as the champion of kingly government.
Senator John Langdon, a reputable man, personally vouched in a signed
letter to the truth of the charge that, in the presence of himself and John
Taylor of Caroline, Adams had said that ‘he expected to see the day when
Mr. Taylor and his friend, Mr. Giles, would be convinced that the people of
America would not be happy without an hereditary chief and Senate—or at
least for life.’[1793] This was greatly strengthened from Federalist sources.
‘The observations of the President when he went through town [New
Haven] last, made more Democrats than any other thing beside,’ wrote
Timothy Phelps to Wolcott. ‘He told Dr. Dana he did not believe the United
States could exist as a nation unless the Executive was hereditary.’[1794]
The lesser lights among the Federalists were likewise contributing to the
Jeffersonian cause. Noah Webster was being vigorously assailed in the
‘American Mercury’ for saying that reading and observation had convinced
him that republicanism was impossible unless the poorer classes were
excluded from the vote.[1795] But the climax came with the publication of
the stupid pamphlet of John Ward Fenno, who, with his father, had been
editor of the Federalist organ for years. In ‘Desultory Reflections on the
New Political Aspect of Public Affairs,’ he clearly reflected the views of
Hamilton, to whom he referred as having been pitched ‘down the Tarpeian
rock of oblivion, not for subsequent apostacy, but for the very deed of
greatness itself.’ It was a slashing assault on Adams for making peace with
France. Glorious prospects had been opening ‘the doors of the temple of
Janus,’ but Adams had acted in a ‘puerile’ fashion. The masses were
denounced as ‘the stupid populace, too abject in ignorance to think rightly,
and too depraved to draw honest deductions.’ The patriotic Federalists
were, by Adams’s action, ‘by one sudden stroke in one short hour, beaten
off their ground, overwhelmed with confusion, and left abandoned to all the
ridicule and all the rage of their antagonists ... and nauseating nonsense,
meanness, abject servility, and the effeminacy of Sybaris now reign with a
pomposity undisturbed even by any casual exertions of genius or common
sense.’ Pickering had been dismissed because he ‘approached too near to
holding a divided empire with [Adams] in the hearts of the people.’ The
time had come to ‘repudiate the author of our evils.’
More: the form of government should be changed. ‘The continent
[should be] divided into ten, fifteen, or twenty counties, to be governed by a
Lieutenant or Prefect appointed by the Executive; certain subaltern
appointments should be in his gift. These Prefects would constitute as
proper an upper House for one branch of the Legislature as could be
devised.’ The franchise should be ‘cut off from all paupers, vagabonds, and
outlaws’—the poor, the democrats—and ‘placed in those hands to which it
belongs, the proprietors of the country.’[1796] This from the man who had
edited the Hamilton Federalist organ in Philadelphia. Copies were carried
about in the pockets of the Jeffersonians and worn out by readings in the
taverns.
On top of this, Federalist leaders, writers, and papers began to hint at
secession in the event of Jefferson’s election. It had become a habit. There
had been talk of secession among them if the State debts were not assumed:
talk again if the Jay Treaty was not ratified. Wolcott’s father had written his
son, long before, of its desirability if Jefferson should be elected. Four years
previously the ‘Hartford Courant,’ the strongest Federalist paper in New
England, began to publish letters by ‘Pelham,’ paving the way for the
secession of the North. The South was bitterly assailed. There were more
interesting objects than the Union, thought ‘Pelham.’ The time had come to
secede. A year later, ‘Gustavus’ began writing in the same paper on the
same theme. Jefferson was denounced as an atheist and traitor.[1797] In
1800, ‘Burleigh’ took up his pen to advocate secession in the event of
Jefferson’s election. In this case the author was known—it was the fanatic
John Allen, who, as a member of Congress, had charged Livingston with
sedition because of his attack in the House on the Alien Law. In his initial
letter he urged all Federalist papers to copy, and some did. The election of
Jefferson would destroy the Constitution, result in anarchy, expel
Federalists from office, wreck the financial system, and lead to Revolution,
for ‘there is scarcely a possibility that we shall escape a civil war.’ This
would be bad, but ‘less, far less, than anarchy or slavery.’ Secession would
be almost certain. Where would the boundary be? At the Potomac?—the
Delaware?—the Hudson? New England might have trouble if New York
and Pennsylvania were included in the Northern Confederacy. ‘They are
large, wealthy, powerful. They have many men of intrigue and talent among
them, desperate in their fortunes, ambitious and unprincipled.’ It would be
hard to get them to join a peaceful body and keep them quiet.
These were the leading political articles in the leading Federalist paper in
the most uncompromising Federalist State through the campaign of 1800.
[1798] In the ‘American Mercury,’ ‘Rodolphus’ replied with a stinging
rebuke. ‘He tells us,’ wrote ‘Rodolphus,’ ‘that if Mr. Jefferson is elected our
towns will be pillaged, our inhabitants rendered miserable and our soil dyed
in blood; that we shall have a Jacobin government, that the Constitution ...
will fall a sacrifice, and finally if the man of his choice is not elected, the
Federal Union must be destroyed and that the Northern States must form a
separate Government. The writer is a Federalist indeed.’[1799]
The Jeffersonians made the most of ‘Burleigh’s’ secession articles.

III

Nowhere were the Jeffersonian activities more annoying to the


Federalists than in New England where Federalism thought itself
permanently entrenched. It had reached its peak in 1798 during the war
hysteria, and the next two years were marked by a notable decline. The
activities of the defiant Democrats were intensified. Denunciations of the
‘aristocracy’ that governed, of the political meddling of the clergy, brought
the fight personally home to the leaders. In Vermont, where Lyon had been
persecuted and his followers aroused, the stamp tax and the extravagance in
government made a deep impression on the small farmers. It was a scandal
in the best regulated households that ‘Matthew Lyon and his cubs’ were
prowling about the highways.[1800] In Massachusetts, where Gerry had
made a remarkable race for Governor in the spring, the fight was being
made in every quarter, and Ames was wailing that ‘on the whole the rabies
canina of Jacobinism has gradually passed of late years from the cities,
where it was confined to the docks and the mob, to the country.’[1801] In
New Hampshire, the Jeffersonians had made an astonishing showing in the
gubernatorial contest in the spring, carrying a number of the towns,
including Concord and Portsmouth. There, under the leadership of John
Langdon, they had capitalized the refusal of the Federalist Legislature to
grant a charter to a bank which proposed to loan money in small sums, and
place credit within the reach of the farmers and the poor.[1802] Their defeat,
notwithstanding their heavy vote, encouraged them to persevere in their
attacks on corporations and the ‘privileged few.’
But it was in Connecticut that the Jeffersonians gave the Federalists their
greatest shock by the audacity of their attacks. There the Democrats, though
few, made up in zeal and ability for what they lacked in numbers. In the
home of Pierrepont Edwards, a Federal Judge and a foremost citizen, they
perfected their plans for the campaign. Aaron Burr spent some time in the
State assisting in the creation of a militant organization. A Federalist
complained in a letter to Wolcott that ‘the Democrats spent all their time
and talents for eight weeks endeavoring to persuade the ignorant part of the
community that the Administration was endeavoring to establish a
monarchy; and even good Mr. Edwards told them he had held an important
office under government, but that he had found them so vile and corrupt, he
was determined to resign the office.’[1803] Nothing could have been more
distressing to the aristocratic and clerical oligarchy which had long lorded it
over the people. The ‘Courant’ piously prayed that Connecticut would not
‘exhibit the distressing spectacle of two parties rending the State with their
reproaches and whetting their swords for civic combat,’ and held up ‘the
awful condition in Pennsylvania and Virginia’ as a warning.[1804] The ‘New
York Commercial Advertiser,’ founded by a son of Connecticut, was
disheartened at the effrontery of the Democrats. ‘Jacobinism in
Connecticut,’ it said, ‘has heretofore been confined to back streets and dark
recesses; but in consequence of the successes in other States it begins to
creep forth and show its hideous front in good company.’[1805] In
September the ‘American Mercury’ of Hartford was boasting through
‘Gracchus’ that ‘in many towns where there was not a man who a few
months ago avowed the cause of republicanism, the friends of liberty and
the Constitution have now a majority,’ although ‘in most towns there was a
fight.’[1806]
To Abraham Bishop, the fighting leader of the Jeffersonians, was left the
congenial task of whipping the Federalists to a frenzy. A graduate of Yale,
of which Dwight, popularly known as ‘the Pope of Federalism,’ and a man
of scholarly attainments, was President, he was invited to deliver the Phi
Beta Kappa oration at the commencement. It was assumed that he would
speak on some literary or scientific subject, but nothing was more remote
from his intentions. Very carefully, and with malice aforethought, he
prepared a scathing arraignment of Federalist principles and policies. At the
last moment the clergy discovered the nature of the discourse and
recommended its rejection. One indignant partisan wrote Wolcott that ‘the
Society discovered the cheat before it was delivered and destroyed its effect
so far as was within their power.’[1807] The ‘Courant’ explained that when
the invitation was extended, the members of the fraternity were ‘ignorant of
his sentiments,’ and of the fact that ‘he had been once desired by a
committee of the society to resign the presidency because of profanity.’ The
moment it was found that the wicked man had written ‘a seditious and
inflammatory libel on the religion and government of the country,’ it was
decided to dispense with the oration.[1808] But the seditious and irreligious
Bishop had no notion of being robbed of an audience. The ‘Courant’
reported that ‘with an impudence and effrontery known only to weak or
wicked men,’ Bishop ‘proceeded at seven o’clock to palm off on the public
the production.’[1809] More than fifteen hundred men, women, and children,
including some members of the clergy, heard him,[1810] but the ‘Courant,’
looking over the assemblage, solemnly declared it as ‘a singular fact that
every open reviler of religion was there and highly gratified,’ but that the
young ladies of New Haven ‘refused to grace an audience thus collected
and consisting of such characters.’[1811]
No more slashing attack was heard during the campaign. The audience
was sympathetic, jubilant. The orator in fine fettle, the subject to his taste.
He attacked the extravagance in government, sneered at the ceremonious
launching of war vessels, ridiculed the military pretensions of Hamilton.
The army had not fought, but had ‘stood their ground bravely in their
cantonments.’ The funding system had ‘ruined thousands, but ... has also
led up to an aristocracy more numerous than the farmers-general in France,
more powerful than all others because it combined the men of wealth.’
But it was for the political preachers of Connecticut that Bishop reserved
his heaviest fire. ‘How much, think you, has religion been benefited by
sermons intended to show that Satan and Cain were Jacobins?’ Then a
contemptuous fling at ‘Pope’ Dwight—‘Would Paul of Tarsus have
preached to an anxious, listening audience on the propriety of sending
envoys?’ After all, ‘the Captain of Salvation is not so weak as to require an
army and navy and a majority in Congress to support His cause.’ Then,
falling into satire: ‘Let no one imagine that I would represent the clergy as
acting out of their sphere ... for is it not said unto them, “Go ye into all the
world and preach politics to every creature. When men oppose ye, call them
enemies of God and trample them under your feet.” ... When the people are
assembled, say to them that the Lord reigneth on the earth in the midst of
men of power and wealth; that he delighteth in the proud, even in those who
are lofty; that he will exalt the vain, and lay in the dust they who are humble
in his sight; that the great are gods; but that the little men are like the chaff
which he driveth before the wind; that in the day of his power he will shine
mightily on those who are in power, and that he will make the people under
them like the hay and the stubble and the sweepings of the threshing floor.’
Immediately the speech was published in pamphlet form and sent
broadcast over the country. Editions were printed in numerous towns and
States.[1812] Within a week an answer had been published in a pamphlet, ‘A
Rod for a Fool’s Back,’[1813] but it failed to affect the popularity of
Bishop’s ‘Oration on the Extent and Power of Political Delusions,’ and two
months later, when he was at Lancaster during a session of the Legislature,
he repeated the speech on invitation of Governor M’Kean.[1814] It was a
palpable hit.
IV

And it was a hit, primarily because it was an assault on the part the
clergy was playing in the campaign. All over New England, and in New
York and Philadelphia, ministers were preaching politics with an
intemperance of denunciation and a recklessness of truth that seems
incredible to-day. The game of the politicians to picture Jefferson as an
atheist, a scoffer at religion who despised the Church and laughed at the
Bible, was entrusted to the Ministerial Corps, which did the best it could. It
was a line of slander that had followed Jefferson from the moment he
forced religious liberty and toleration into the laws of Virginia. The only
campaign canard of which Jefferson took cognizance was set afloat by the
Reverend Cotton Smith, who proclaimed that the man of Monticello had
accumulated his property by robbing a widow and fatherless children of
their estate while acting as their executor. ‘If Mr. Smith thinks that the
precepts of the Gospel are intended for those who preach them as well as
for others,’ wrote Jefferson, ‘he will some day feel the duties of repentance
and acknowledgment in such forms as to correct the wrong he has done. All
this is left to his own conscience.’[1815] But if Jefferson was content to
leave to their consciences clergymen bearing false witness, his followers
were not. When the Reverend Dr. Abercrombie of Philadelphia gravely
warned his congregation against voting for an atheist, Duane made a biting
reply. ‘He is the man who opposed reading the Declaration of Independence
on 4th of July last,’ he wrote. ‘Need we wonder at his hatred of Mr.
Jefferson?’[1816] When the clergyman, stung by the attack, made a weak
reply, Duane asked: ‘During the prevalence of yellow fever ... in 1798 on a
day in the house of Mr. Richard Potter in Germantown did you not provoke
an argument in which you supported monarchical doctrines and assert that
the country would never be happy until it had a king?’[1817] To another
minister, fortunately ‘the late Rev. Dr. J. B. Smith of Virginia,’ was ascribed
one of the most amazing stories of the campaign, that Jefferson on passing a
dilapidated church had sneeringly said that ‘it was good enough for Him
Who was born in a manger.’[1818]
When the Reverend John M. Mason published a political pamphlet under
the cover of religion,[1819] accusing Jefferson of being a Deist, and the
Reverend Dr. Lynn of New York, actively electioneering for Pinckney
against both Adams and Jefferson at the instance of Hamilton, printed

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