As the 1800 campaign approached and Adams prepared to seek a second term, tensions within the Federalist Party were exacerbated by the publication of the 1792 Tench Coxe letter, in which Adams insinuated that the Pinckney family were British sympathizers, and the death of President Washington. At this point, Adams dismissed Pinckney as Secretary of State; Cabot understood this as "the complete abandonment by Mr. Adams of all the best principles of the Federalist Party." Cabot was also distressed by the use of "British sympathies" as a bludgeon against critics of Adams.