"Two Pieces of Homespun"

John Adams to Thomas Jefferson,
January 1, 1812
Manuscript letter
Manuscript Division
State Department transfer, 1904 (9.9)

After nearly twelve years of enmity stemming from their spirited presidential election of 1800, won by Jefferson, both men were induced to resume a correspondence and ultimately a friendship by Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) of Philadelphia. This letter of January 1, 1812, was the first in the resumed exchange that would last until their deaths on July 4, 1826. Adams enclosed John Quincy Adams's (1767-1848) Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory, which he described as "two Pieces of Homespun."