Journal of William Maclay

The Journal of William Maclay, a diary written by Maclay as a daily private record of Senate proceedings, was intended for personal reference. It was quite common for senators at that time to take notes of the various debates occurring in the Senate Chamber, especially given the importance of the First Congress and its role in selecting the location of the capital, the creation of the federal judicial system, and many other matters crucial in the early years of the federal government. Maclay wrote in his diary every evening, while the events of the day were still fresh in his memory. Most likely, Maclay never thought it would be published, since many entries expressed strong opinions about colleagues and events of the time. In fact, the impetus for starting the diary may have come from Maclay’s tenuous relationship with the first vice president of the United States, and thus the first president of the Senate, John Adams. They took an immediate dislike to each other. Adams considered Maclay a dullard of sorts, Maclay was disturbed by Adams’s fondness for ceremony, and they held fundamentally different views about the role of the new federal government.

Maclay entered the Senate as a Federalist, or Pro-Administration, legislator, but he soon began to disagree with his Federalist colleagues in the Senate. He disliked the abundance of ceremony in interactions between President George Washington and the Senate. He objected to Washington’s presence in the Senate while business was being transacted. He opposed the chartering of the United States Bank, even at the sacrifice of personal popularity. The strong Antifederalist positions he developed, and the stubbornness with which he maintained them, even in the face of overwhelming pressure, cost Maclay the opportunity to be reelected to a full six-year term by the Pennsylvania legislature.-Senate.gov.