Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

The letters of chapter five range from January to October 1787. In 1787, great events were looming on the horizon. France's old regime was near collapse. Vergennes, defender of the Bourbon Monarchy and lender of aid to the United States, died in February. A strategic link with France had been cut as a result.

At the same time, the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention was active, though would be meeting in secret in the future. The results would not reach Jefferson and Adams until November. Shay's Rebellion had also come and gone. The letters of this period covered these great events along with a number of family incidents. For instance, that summer, Jefferson fell in love with Mrs. Maria Cosway, meeting her through a friend, but she was married to artist Richard Cosway.

Cosway is not mentioned in the letters between Jefferson and Abigail and...