John Quincy Adams was born on 11 July 1767 in the colony of Massachusetts.
He was well brought up and educated by his parents John and Abigail Adams.
His father was often involved working for rights and independence.
Johnny began writing letters to his father, and on 17 June 1775 he and his mother Abigail
witnessed the battle of Bunker Hill from a mountain ten miles away.
Abigail and Johnny both detested war.
His father urged him to read various histories and to start keeping a diary.
Johnny was only eight when he began carrying mail on a horse to and from Boston.
When the Continental Congress appointed John Adams a diplomat to France,
he chose to take Johnny with him.
Both his parents urged Johnny to be virtuous.
He began learning French on the boat, and in a school near Paris
his knowledge of French surpassed his father’s.
He also learned Latin and studied classics.
His father took him to see plays in Paris.
In February 1779 John Adams learned that Congress
sent Benjamin Franklin to replace him in Paris.
Adams and his son J. Q. in a French frigate returned home in August.
On the voyage the French ambassador liked what he learned from John Q. Adams.
He had begun writing his journal about his trip from America to Spain.
John Adams in 1780 wrote a constitution for Massachusetts.
JQA was admitted into the University of Leyden in January 1781.
Francis Dana hired him as a secretary, and they traveled from Utrecht
to Leipzig, Berlin, and reached St. Petersburg in August.
JQA wrote to his father and studied histories of Russia,
England, and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.
John Adams advised his son in letters.
John Adams in October signed a commercial treaty with the Dutch Republic,
and he worked on the final treaty with Britain that was completed in September 1783.
JQA in a long letter to Abigail described conditions in Russia and its recent history.
He joined his father at London in October, and they saw four plays by Shakespeare.
Abigail arrived, and they went to Paris in August 1784.
In 1785 John Quincy Adams wrote in what became
his Memoirs about Paris before the revolution.
He knew Ben Franklin and became friends with Thomas Jefferson.
John Adams became the United States minister in England,
and his son JQA was the minister in the Netherlands.
He appreciated the independence and freedom in America.
He came back to Boston and enrolled in Harvard College, and he gave one
of the two speeches at his graduation in July 1786 that described their critical period.
His father wrote a book defending the constitutional governments in the United States in 1787.
JQA began studying law.
In April 1789 John Adams became the First Vice President of the United States
which also made him president of the Senate.
JQA got to know George Washington, the first President,
and he observed James Madison in the Congress.
JQA’s son Charles Francis Adams would later edit and publish his father’s Memoirs
and he described the year 1791.
JQA expressed his ideas in eleven letters using the pseudonym “Publicola”
that debated the latest ideas of Thomas Paine.
John Adams was a Federalist and was re-elected Vice President in 1792.
The next year JQA supported the neutral policy of President Washington
in three Marcellus letters, and on July 4 he presented an oration on freedom.
Young Adams wrote a letter to his father in January 1794,
while he was in Europe, about his political activities.
President Washington in May appointed John Quincy Adams a Minister to the Netherlands.
In June he wrote about his work in his diary.
Secretary of State Edmund Randolph introduced him to President Washington in July.
JQA’s brother Thomas traveled with him as his secretary
and they arrived in London in October.
JQA met with John Jay and U. S. Minister Thomas Pinckney.
Young Adams wrote letters and extensively in his diary.
While at The Hague he wrote to Randolph fourteen times in the fall.
JQA went to Amsterdam in January and wrote about their government,
and he claimed he was educated in France.
He learned from D’Alembert, Diderot and Condorcet,
and he dined with Dutch and French generals.
His Memoirs were especially complete from March 1795 to March 1802,
and he wrote about Barneveldt and the De Witts.
He described the war between France and Portugal,
and he analyzed the politics of the French Revolution.
JQA was neutral during conflicts, and Washington
sent him to help ratify Jay’s treaty in England.
In October he wrote a long letter to his father.
John Adams in November 1795 wrote a letter to advise his son.
British undersecretary George Hammond introduced young Adams
to the Foreign Secretary Lord Grenville.
Adams talked with Grenville for three hours on December 4.
The next day he wrote a long letter to the Acting Secretary of State Timothy Pickering.
On the 9th he even met with King George III.
He described his experiences in his diary, and he attended a Levee in January 1796.
Washington in May nominated young Adams to
top diplomatic positions at The Hague and in Portugal.
JQA went to England in June, and that summer he studied English and Latin literature.
In the fall election John Adams defeated Thomas Jefferson
by three electoral votes to become the second President.
Washington wrote to Adams to advise him to make use of his capable son.
Adams in June 1797 nominated his son to be a top minister in Prussia,
and he directed him not to go to Portugal.
JQA wrote a long letter to his father in September.
Young Adams had married Louisa, and his brother Thomas went with him as his secretary.
Prussia’s Foreign Minister accepted JQA’s credentials.
He advised his father that France’s Foreign Minister Talleyrand
wanted a treaty with the United States.
President Adams chose four men to go to France, and Talleyrand demanded $250,000.
In October the French directory told Pinckney, Marshall, and Gerry to wait.
JQA wrote to U. S. Secretary of State James McHenry
about the French Council and its limits on neutrality.
JQA read works by German authors such as Lessing, Schiller, Wieland, and Kant.
Diplomatic snubs in France caused President Adams to prepare for a “Quasi-War.”
JQA in 1798 advised that European empires in the New World would not be permanent.
The American peace commissioners refused to pay a bribe to France,
and President Adams in June announced that he would not send another diplomat there.
JQA from Berlin in October wrote a letter to George Washington.
The Adams government imposed the Enemies Act and the Sedition Act.
The Republicans Jefferson and Madison responded with the
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions to protect rights.
More Federalists were elected in 1798.
In May 1799 young Adams reported that he had negotiated a treaty with Prussia.
Napoleon Bonaparte took over the French government in November,
and he restored diplomatic relations.
In the November 1800 elections the
Republican Thomas Jefferson defeated President Adams.
That month young Adams wrote a very long letter to his father.
Adams recalled his son from Berlin so that Jefferson could make his own appointments.
JQA wrote to his mother Abigail in November 1801.
In January 1802 John Quincy Adams began practicing law in Boston.
In April the Federalists in Boston helped elect young Adams a Senator
in the Massachusetts Legislature, and he formed a caucus that included Republicans.
In November he lost a close election for the United States House of Representatives.
In February 1803 the Massachusetts legislature elected him
to a six-year term as a United States Senator.
He joined the Senate in October and talked to Secretary of State James Madison.
In November the vote by Senator Adams prevented a war against Morocco.
His bill to support the Louisiana Treaty was defeated.
In January 1804 the three resolutions he proposed were also rejected.
He opposed a tax on the people in the territory of Louisiana.
On January 14 the U. S. Senate approved the Louisiana Revenue bill 29 to 3.
His prediction that Napoleon Bonaparte would become
Emperor of France came true in May 1804.
Senator Adams published his five “Publius Valerius” essays in October and November,
and he noted that States in the South get three votes for every five slaves who have no vote.
Adams wrote to his father about the British Navy in November, and in his Memoirs
he noted that Vice President Aaron Burr killed General Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
He also wrote about current diplomats such as James Monroe and Pinckney.
Adams dined with President Jefferson and wrote about in his Memoirs.
Jefferson and Vice President George Clinton were easily re-elected.
In December 1804 Adams wrote about the rules on impeachment.
His diary reflected on the year on December 31.
In January 1805 Senator Adams wrote about the Quakers
and Dr. Logan and a treaty with the Creek Indians.
The British captured an American merchant ship, and Adams met with
President Jefferson, Secretary of State Madison, and Navy Secretary Robert Smith.
He also wrote in his Memoirs about Senator William Giles of Virginia.
Harvard in June asked Senator Adams to teach rhetoric and oratory,
and they let him work out a schedule.
He wrote about another meeting with President Jefferson in November.
Senator Adams in January 1806 urged other Senators to approve better rules.
He wrote a letter to his father in February and then wrote again
in his Memoirs about dining with President Jefferson.
Adams began lecturing at Harvard in June,
and he would publish two volumes on rhetoric in 1810.
In the spring of 1806 the Congress and the President approved the Non-Importation Act.
In February 1807 he criticized in his Memoirs the Senate’s ways of doing business.
In March the Senate debated new treaty with the British.
Adams wrote in his Diary why President Jefferson opposed that treaty.
In June the British HMS Leopard attacked the USS Chesapeake,
and they killed 3 men and wounded 18.
Adams dined with Jefferson again in November
and described the conversation in his Memoirs.
On November 25 Adams proposed a resolution that
objected to the British impressing American sailors.
Josiah Quincy brought a petition with 800 names from Boston to JQA in December
that urged repeal of the Non-Importation Act.
Senator Adams in January 1808 participated in the Republican caucus that
nominated James Madison for President and George Clinton for Vice President.
Then Adams wrote a long letter to his father.
He agreed with the effort to make James Monroe the Governor of Virginia.
Josiah Quincy in February urged Adams to confer with Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin
to prevent the dissolution of the Union in a Civil War.
Senator Adams in March published a very long letter to Harrison Gray Otis,
a state Senator in Massachusetts on issues of neutral trade, impressment and British taxation.
In April 1808 Senator Adams wrote a letter criticizing what was going on in the Senate.
Adams had become a Republican, and the Federalists opposed him in the upcoming election.
In June he wrote a letter to both houses of Congress stating his resignation from the Senate.
He explained this in his Diary on his birthday, July 11.
J. Q. Adams attended the inauguration of President James Madison on 4 March 1809,
and then he wrote in his Memoirs about that day and March 6 when
Madison nominated him to be Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia.
He could negotiate a peace treaty and a trade treaty.
Adams accepted the nomination on June 26, and after some debate
the next day the Senate confirmed the commission.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs on July 5.
He resigned his teaching position at Harvard and gave a farewell lecture on July 31.
Writing about his mission to Russia for four years would fill nearly 500 pages in his Memoirs.
He left his home in Boston on August 5, and he wrote a letter to William Plumer on August 16.
Adams wrote “Letters to My Children” on August 31.
On his voyage he had incidents with the Danes and
other Scandinavians in September and wrote about them.
His ship arrived at Kronstad in the Gulf of Finland in October.
At St. Petersburg he asked Tsar Alexander to give back
the American ships that were detained at Holstein.
On November 5 Adams described his first meeting with Emperor Alexander.
Ten days later he wrote about his conversation with Count Romanzoff.
Adams wrote in his Diary on 8 January 1810. On May 23 he described St. Petersburg.
In June Mr. Montreal and Mr. Harris offered to give him money,
and Adams declined their offers.
On August 8 Adams sent a letter about France to Count Romanzoff.
He wrote about his meetings with the Russian Emperor in October.
In January 1811 John Quincy Adams wrote a long letter to the
U. S. Secretary of State Robert Smith using ciphers for secrecy.
Not finding a Protestant Church there he studied the Bible instead.
Adams in March sent two letters to his mother Abigail and another to Secretary of Smith.
John Q. Adams wrote four letters in April to the new Secretary of State James Monroe.
He also wrote a cipher letter to Smith about a possible war in Europe.
His letter to Monroe on April 29 was about tariff duties
imposed between Russia and Portugal.
On 3 June 1811 Adams wrote a private letter to President James Madison.
The next day Adams wrote in his Diary about his conversation with Count Romanzoff.
His report to Secretary Monroe on June 22 included
cipher writing about current issues in Europe.
Adams wrote a long letter to Monroe on July 6 that
included a description of a speech by Napoleon.
He also sent a letter to his son George Washington Adams that urged him to study
literature, wisdom, and virtue, and he recommended classical authors.
On 4 February 1812 Adams wrote in his diary
about another conversation with Count Romanzoff.
In March he met Emperor Alexander while walking,
and Alexander said he was trying to prevent a war.
They conversed in French, and the likely war was between France and Russia.
In April 1812 President Madison convinced the Congress
to pass a 90-day embargo on foreign trade.
Adams in June learned that the British had repealed aggressive orders,
though American seamen were still impressed into service.
Napoleon in June invaded Russia with an army of over a half million men.
Alexander was working to turn away all the French.
In the fall John Q. Adams helped Robert Fulton get
a monopoly for his steamboats near St. Petersburg.
The Adams family was influenced by the ethics of Adam Smith
who wrote his Theory of Moral Sentiments.
Adams in his Memoirs wrote in November that
the Russians had defeated the invading French.
Adams wrote to Abigail how the Russians forced the French army to retreat in the snow.
At this time the Americans were invading Canada
after the British had captured 2,200 American soldiers.
The American Navy was having some success at sea.
In April 1813 President Madison and Secretary Monroe
issued the “Commission for Treaty of Commerce.”
They sent instructions to Adams on April 26.
On July 3 Adams learned that Emperor Alexander was offering to
mediate a peace treaty between the British and the Americans.
Gallatin and Bayard arrived on July 21.
Three days later Adams wrote in his Memoirs about the prospects for peace.
On July 31 Adams completed his 497 pages on “The Mission to Russia.”
The next chapter of his Memoirs was to be “The Mediation.”
On December 30 Adams wrote from St. Petersburg to James Monroe
and described the current events in Europe.
On 2 January 1814 J. Q. Adams wrote a letter to
his father John Adams on the revolutions in Europe.
Monroe wrote to Adams and Bayard that the British had agreed to negotiate with
the
Americans who now also had Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell working on the peacemaking.
On January 24 Adams in a letter to his brother Thomas Boyleston Adams
presented a critical evaluation of Napoleon.
Adams wrote to the steamboat inventor Robert Fulton again.
The United States Attorney General Richard Rush supported Adams as the
chief negotiator, and their instructions from Madison and Monroe arrived in March 1814.
The commissioners were to meet at Gottenburg. Adams from St. Petersburg
wrote to his mother Abigail on March 30 a long letter with good news.
On 7 April 1814 Adams in St. Petersburg wrote to Monroe
about the difficulties with the British officers.
Adams then wrote a long letter to Monroe on April 15 and 25.
Adams learned on April 27 that Napoleon was in exile on the island of Elba.
Adams wrote that Russia is the key to peace in Europe,
and he wrote in his Memoirs about peace negotiations.
On May 12 Adams wrote to Abigail about what was going to happen in Europe.
That month the other U. S. peace negotiators joined him.
The American diplomats arrived in Ghent on June 28.
The U. S. Senate replaced Gallatin as the head of the delegation
and approved Adams on a 19 to 7 vote.
Adams wrote a 10-page letter to Secretary Monroe about
the conflicts during the war against the British.
The Americans had invaded Canada, and the British reacted by invading the United States.
J. Q. Adams on 3 July 1814 wrote a letter to Secretary of State James Monroe.
Adams wrote in his Diary about the “Negotiation for Peace” which began in August.
He wrote a report to Monroe for the commissioners Bayard, Clay, Gallatin, and Russell
on August 12, and he described what the British commissioners were doing.
The British had insisted on Ghent in Belgium because they had troops there.
Adams wrote to Monroe again on August 17.
On September 5 Adams wrote a 10-page letter to the British commissioners.
They wrote back to him on September 9, and Adams wrote them another letter.
On 4 October 1814 President Madison and Monroe sent instructions
to their commissioners not to raise the issues of impressment and neutral rights.
Adams advised negotiating based on the situation before the war.
He sent another report to Monroe on October 25, and two days later in a long letter
to his father Adams he noted that the main issues were the borders, fisheries, and the Indians.
Adams wrote to his friend Levett Harris on November 15
and a report to Secretary of State Monroe on November 20.
In his Memoirs on December 14 Adams described how he negotiated.
On December 24 the American and British commissioners signed the Treaty of Ghent.
On that day Adams wrote to his mother Abigail,
and he wrote in his Memoirs on December 25 and 27.
The long Treaty of Ghent had eleven articles,
and he wrote a long letter to his father, John Adams, about it on December 26.
Adams from Ghent wrote to James A. Bayard, Henry Clay
and Jonathan Russell on 2 January 1815.
Adams went to France and wrote about Paris until May.
The Ghent Treaty was proclaimed on February 18,
and Adams wrote to Abigail three days later.
He sent his report to Secretary of State Monroe on February 23.
President Madison and Monroe announced a Commission on February 28.
Monroe proposed sending Adams to Britain, and he wrote instructions for him on March 13.
John Quincy Adams from London wrote to his father
on 24 April 1815 about the situation in Europe.
Also on that day he sent advice on getting loans
to the United States Treasury Secretary Campbell.
On May 7 the United States Senate confirmed
J. Q. Adams as Minister Plenipotentiary in Britain.
On June 23 Adams sent a report to Secretary of State Monroe about
his meeting with the British Foreign Secretary Castlereagh.
Adams and the British signed a commercial convention on July 3.
Adams would write in his Memoirs about his mission there from May 1815 to June 1817.
He wrote on 25 July 1815 to the Minister William Eustis
at The Hague and a letter to Castlereagh on August 9.
Adams also wrote a short letter to Monroe on August 15,
and he wrote much more in his Memoirs.
On August 22 Adams wrote a 10-page letter to Secretary of State Monroe.
One week later he wrote to Monroe again.
Adams sent long reports to Secretary Monroe on September 5 and 19.
Adams noted the efforts of his friend Tsar Alexander of Russia who organized
the Holy Alliance at Paris on September 26,
and he praised its goals of “justice, Christian charity, and peace.”
Several European leaders signed this Grand Alliance, while major exceptions
were Pope Pius VII, Sultan of Turkey Mahmud II, and the British Prince Regent George.
France and Britain would join the Quintuple Alliance
at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1818.
Adams from London sent a quarterly report to Secretary of State Monroe
on September 30, and he wrote to Monroe again on October 7.
That month Adams was showing his sons how to shoot a pistol that exploded
and damaged his hand and his eyes, preventing him from reading and writing for a while.
In London he managed to write to the author William Shaler on November 29.
The French abbé St. Pierre was promoting a permanent peace plan for Europe,
and Adams wrote to him about it on December 6.
Adams wrote a fairly short letter to Monroe on December 14.
John Q. Adams on 5 January 1816 wrote a letter
to his father about religion, war, and peace.
On January 8 he wrote to the British Foreign Secretary Castlereagh,
and the next day he sent his report to Secretary of State James Monroe.
Adams in his letter to Monroe on January 22 discussed foreign policy,
and on January 31 Adams wrote to him about conditions in Britain.
On February 8 he sent his report to Monroe on British progress.
Adams wrote directly to Castlereagh on February 17, and he quoted
a stipulation in the Ghent Treaty on territory and possessions.
Adams wrote again to Monroe on March 6, and another long report followed
on March 30 with information about Castlereagh and the situation in Spain.
On April 9 Adams described in his Memoirs a conversation he had with Castlereagh,
and on that day Adams in his Memoirs on April 15 described
a banquet in England with dukes and the Mayor.
Adams also on April 15 wrote a long letter to Secretary Monroe.
In his next letter on April 30 to Monroe he discussed Spanish issues.
John Adams wrote a letter to his son John Quincy Adams on 20 May 1816,
and JQA wrote back to his father on May 29.
J. Q. Adams in London wrote to Monroe again on June 22
about Lord Exmouth and the Dey of Algiers.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs on July 8 how the British and Castlereagh
had come to an understanding about American ships.
This would lead to the Rush-Bagot Agreement in April 1817
that reduced naval arms in the Great Lakes.
John Quincy Adams wrote to his father on
1 August 1816 about federalists in New England.
J. Q. Adams wrote from London to Secretary of State Monroe on August 24.
Adams also wrote a short letter to Castlereagh on 17 September suggesting negotiations,
and the next day Adams wrote a longer letter to Monroe.
Adams wrote even more to President Madison on September 28.
John Quincy Adams wrote to Jonathan Russell on 14 December 1816,
and that month he wrote a longer letter to Castlereagh.
Adams wrote a long letter from London to his father on 3 January 1817,
and he wrote to William Eustis on January 13.
He wrote a long letter about the political situation to William Plumer on January 17,
and he sent a report to Secretary of State Monroe on January 21.
In a letter on January 25 to his mother Abigail he told her what he was reading.
In a short letter on 6 March 1817 the new President James Monroe
offered the position of Secretary of State to John Quincy Adams.
Before he got that letter, Adams sent his report to Secretary of State Monroe on March 20.
Adams got the news in the mail on April 16, and the next day
he wrote to President James Monroe accepting the office.
Adams had to wait for a ship, and the British reformer Jeremy Bentham
shared his writings and ideas with Adams.
On May 3 he wrote in his Memoirs about a conversation he had
with the Spanish minister about the Floridas.
Adams declined to accept the usual gift that is given to departing diplomats,
and he explained why in his Memoirs on May 14.
He and his family embarked on the USS Washington on June 15,
and they arrived at New York harbor on August 6.
Governor DeWitt Clinton honored Adams with a dinner at Tammany Hall.
President Monroe returned from a tour of the nation,
and Adams mentioned that in his Memoirs on September 20.
Adams also wrote a poem that really was a prayer.
He reported to Monroe in Washington and took the oath
as Secretary of State on September 22.
His annual salary was $6,000, while his expenses would be about $10,000.
Adams became Monroe’s most trusted advisor, and he accepted the President’s decisions.
He rented a place where he could walk back and forth to the State Department.
On September 24 he wrote to the French Minister Hyde de Neuville.
Adams wrote a fairly long letter to President Monroe on September 27,
and on October 11 he wrote to Thomas Jefferson about being Secretary of State.
Adams advised Monroe to recognize the government of Buenos Aires on October 24.
In his Memoirs he wrote about cabinet meetings on October 25, 28, 29 and 30.
On 6 November 1817 Secretary of State Adams sent
17-pages of instructions to Richard Rush in England.
The next day he wrote in his Memoirs about how he worked with the President.
Adams was not afraid to offer the President alternative policies.
He met with the British Minister Bagot and described
their conversation in his Memoirs on November 24.
Adams in December used the pen name “Phocion” to respond to criticism of Henry Clay,
and he supported the current revolutions in South and Central America
that he considered similar to their American Revolution.
In January 1818 Secretary of State Adams wrote
in his Memoirs
about issues related to Florida and the Amelia Island.
That month he also wrote “Suppression of Piratical Establishments.”
In February he wrote in his Memoirs about his diplomatic work, and on March 25
he wrote
a report for Congress on State Department policy on independence in Latin America.
In April he also wrote about their revolutions in a letter to his brother Thomas an
to the United States Minister in Spain, George William Erving.
Adams in May also wrote to Albert Gallatin in France on his diplomacy toward Spain
and independence in South and Central America.
He was also organizing the diplomatic papers in the State Department.
As Secretary of State he had only a chief clerk and ten clerks.
The British had burned government records in Washington during the war in August 1814.
Adams wrote a long letter to Gallatin again on May 22,
and he wrote two letters to Richard Rush about economics and politics.
Adams in June became aware that Spain might try
to regain sovereignty in its American colonies.
Adams on July 6 wrote to William Plumer in Russia, and that day
he also wrote a letter to President James Monroe.
In his Memoirs he discussed his negotiation with Spain’s Minister Luis de Onís
especially regarding Florida, and he also wrote about cabinet meetings
with President Monroe and Secretary of War John C. Calhoun.
Adams also explained the policies of General Andrew Jackson in Florida.
Adams sent instructions to Richard Rush and Albert Gallatin whom he sent to London.
On August 12 Adams sent six letters he received to President Monroe.
Adams learned that the Speaker of the House of Representatives
Henry Clay was criticizing his policies.
The United States and Britain agreed to a convention on October 20,
and it went into effective on 30 January 1819.
Abigail Adams died on 28 October 1818, and he wrote in his Memoirs about his mother.
Adams in November wrote again about the actions of General Jackson in Florida,
and he described his meetings with the French ambassador De Neuville and the Spanish Onís.
Adams wrote a very long letter to George William Erving.
In a letter to Gallatin on November 30 Adams defended the efforts of General Jackson.
Adams in his Memoirs on December 8, 28, 29 and 30 described his own diplomacy.
On 1 January 1819 Secretary of State Adams wrote to
Richard Rush and advised him to observe Lord Castlereagh in London
especially in regard to Spain and Buenos Aires, Chile and Venezuela.
The next day Adams wrote in his Memoirs about
recognizing the independence of Bueno Aires.
On January 5 he wrote about Henry Clay’s attacks
on him and President Monroe’s government.
In his Memoirs on January 7 Adams criticized Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford.
Andrew Jackson called on Adams on February 3, and in his Memoirs Adams described
their conversation about the Seminole War, and Adams criticized Jackson and Crawford.
Adams on February 4 talked with President Monroe about their western boundary with Spain.
He also met with De Neuville and Onís.
Adams in his Memoirs on February 6 wrote about
the Cabinet meeting with President Monroe.
On the 8th he described his conversations with De Neuville and Onís,
and on the 9th his meetings with Jackson and Secretary of War Calhoun.
On 22 February 1819 Adams met with Onís again,
and he discussed acquiring Florida from Spain.
On that day Adams and Onís signed the “Treaty of Amity, Settlement and Limits
between Spain and the United States” with its sixteen articles.
The Treaty would not be ratified and proclaimed until 22 February 1821.
Secretary of State Adams wrote extensively in his Memoirs
on 18 March 1819 about his diplomacy.
On April 14 Adams formed a friendship with the British Minister Charles Bagot,
and on that day he wrote much in his Memoirs about that.
On June 10 Adams learned from Crawford about problems banks were having.
Adams wrote about a Cabinet meeting on August 10.
He visited Boston on October 8. Secretary of State Adams met with President Monroe
and Treasury Secretary Crawford on November 26, and he described it in his Memoirs.
On December 6 he wrote about his meeting
with President Monroe and Attorney-General Wirt.
He also wrote about the Cabinet meeting on December 10 that discussed the slave trade.
On December 27 Representative Mark Langdon Hill of Maine told Adams
about a letter he received from Thomas Jefferson.
Secretary of State Adams wrote about the Missouri Compromise in his Memoirs
on 10 January 1820, and on the 16th he discussed the issue
with a southern politician and wrote about it in his Memoirs.
On January 22 he also wrote about issues regarding the Cherokees.
On February 11 he went to a party at Calhoun’s home
and heard speeches about the Missouri problem.
Adams on February 20, 23 and 24 wrote about the Missouri issue and the efforts of
Henry Clay, Crawford and Calhoun.
Adams on the first three days of March wrote about the Missouri Compromise
that resolved the issue in the Congress.
Adams criticized Missouri’s constitution for legalizing slavery there,
and he supported the Congress banning slavery in the Territories.
Adams wrote extensively on solutions to resolve this crucial problem.
The cabinet meeting on March 13 discussed the two problems
of pirates and the Creeks and Cherokees in Georgia.
The cabinet meeting on March 29 debated whether to sell arms to the republic of Colombia.
Adams argued that it would depart from neutrality by showing hostility to Spain,
and he added that it would be an act of war.
He believed that neutrality had been a just and wise policy for the United States.
For the sake of humanity he opposed the measure.
He concluded that a pure moral principle is the wisest policy.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs on 7 April 1820 about the Spanish General Vivés,
and Adams also noted that President Monroe opposed going to war for Florida.
On May 12 Adams wrote about newspapers and politics,
and on May 28 he wrote to Albert Gallatin about General Vivés.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs on June 4, 5, and 7.
He accepted the presidency of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He noted that the Russian Emperor Alexander had agreed to arbitrate
between the United States and Britain on slavery issues.
He observed that Charles Bagot was rising in diplomacy,
and he recognized the importance of President Monroe’s message on 7 February 1817.
Adams wrote a letter to Monroe on June 15.
Then on July 5 Adams wrote to Representative Henry Middleton about the League of Peace
as a covenant to organize governments by a compact between them.
Adams noted that Emperor Alexander was the founder
of that League and its greatest supporter.
Adams, like Washington, advised the United States
to avoid becoming entangled in European affairs.
In July 1820 Secretary of State Adams wrote instructions for America’s diplomat
in foreign nations, and he wrote to President Monroe on July 29.
Adams wrote a longer letter to Monroe on August 30
about relations between Portugal and Brazil.
On September 8 Adams sent to Monroe Gallatin’s dispatch from July 11,
and he listed six principles for the reciprocity of equal duties.
Adams in October was working on his draft of
a report for Congress on weights and measures.
On October 16 Colombia’s diplomat Manuel Torres as the chargé d’Affaires
called on Adams, and on that day Stratford Canning arrived
from Britain as their top diplomat in America.
He told Adams they could work together on slave-trade issues.
On October 20 Adams wrote about a meeting with Canning.
On 1 November 1820 Secretary of State Adams wrote
about a cabinet meeting on issues related to shipping.
Calhoun talked to Adams on November 12 about admitting Missouri as a state.
Adams wrote about this issue in his Memoirs on November 29.
Adams opposed slavery and warned that it could divide the nation.
On the first two days of January 1821 John Quincy Adams wrote
in his Memoirs describing how he worked with President James Monroe.
Adams met with the Spanish minister General Vivés on January 5 and 6,
and in his Memoirs
he wrote that they set up a false port without a settlement to defraud the Union of revenue.
On January 9 Adams met with George Canning, and they discussed the slave-trade.
Connecticut’s Senator Dana talked with Adams about expenditures in all Departments.
Secretary of State Ames wrote to the U. S. Minister
Richard Rush in England on February 6.
Adams in the 1820 election received one electoral vote from Plumer
and wrote about it in his Memoirs on February 14.
On the 22nd Adams wrote about the ratification of the treaty with Spain.
Also on that day he submitted his Report on Weights and Measures to the Senate.
On February 26 Adams discussed the controversy over Missouri.
On the 28th he wrote about Vivés in his Memoirs and sent him a detailed letter.
President Monroe was inaugurated again on Sunday March 5,
and Adams wrote about a cabinet meeting on the 8th.
The next day Adams discussed his conversation with Henry Clay.
The two men talked about the future of the Administration on March 19.
Adams also wrote about his conversations with John Calhoun.
On March 31 he sent instructions to Gallatin in France.
On April 4 and 6 Adams in his Memoirs described
his communications with President Monroe.
Hyde de Neuville came to his office on April 10, and they were not able to agree.
After a short entry about the Russian Minister Poletica on May 5,
Adams did not write in his diary until October 7.
On July 4 he gave a long speech on the Declaration of Independence.
Adams wrote about politics in his Memoirs on October 15 and 20,
and he wrote about current events on November 8.
Canning gave a note to Adams on November 16.
He asked Attorney-General Wirt about it the next day, and they discussed international law.
President Monroe asked Adams for recent Acts of Congress,
and Adams made suggestions for the President’s next annual message to Congress.
On 22 November 1821 Adams wrote about a slave case,
and he advised how the Treaty of Ghent could help solve boundary issues.
On 2 January 1822 Adams in his Memoirs explained
how General Jackson’s governing affected Florida.
In a letter to Edward Everett on January 31 Adams discussed human sympathy.
In early May he wrote about political problems.
Congress funded diplomacy on May 4, and on the 9th
Adams reviewed prospects of the upcoming election.
He persuaded the government to begin recognizing Latin American republics in June.
In his Memoirs on June 3 he reflected on the conflicts in Georgia
with the Cherokees and Creeks and what could be done.
On June 15 Adams advised President Monroe on the Convention with the French,
and on the 19th he welcomed a diplomat from Colombia.
A commercial treaty with the French was signed on June 24.
Adams in July wrote about his relations with others
in the Administration and with foreign diplomats.
In his Diary in August he wrote about Secretary of War Calhoun
and Treasury Secretary Crawford.
He wrote to Albert Gallatin on September 7.
Adams wrote a letter to President Monroe on October 5 about Latin America.
On 16 November 1822 Adams advised President Monroe
on the foreign policy in his annual message to Congress.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs about cabinet meetings on November 26, 27, and 28.
He advised a member of Congress on November 30, and in his Memoirs he wrote
about Henry Clay and a letter Clay wrote to the National Intelligencer.
Adams then sent his response to the National Intelligencer editors.
On December 28 he wrote a long letter to freeholders in seven counties of Virginia.
Adams also criticized Thomas Paine’s books, Rights of Man and Age of Reason.
On 1 January 1823 John Quincy Adams wrote a spiritual poem in his Memoirs
and on the 9th about diplomats he advised President Monroe to send to
Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Buenos Aires, Chile, and Peru.
The next day he noted that Britain and Russia had made a Convention.
On January 11 he commented on what was being published in the
National Intelligencer and on a conversation he had with Mr. Canning.
The next day he advised on nominations and politics, and he suggested Jackson for Mexico.
On the 23rd he considered becoming a candidate for President.
Secretary of State Adams in March expressed his concerns in cabinet meetings.
On April 28 he wrote a 28-page letter on foreign policy and neutrality,
and he sent a short letter to President Monroe on May 10.
In June he wrote about his meetings with the British ambassador Canning.
He expressed concern about the slave-trade on June 5,
and he wrote about various political concerns on June 10 and 11.
On the 16th he wrote instructions to send to Richard Rush.
The British Minister Canning talked with Adams before he departed to return to England.
On June 18 he wrote to department heads to plan a meeting to discuss the slave-trade,
and the next day he wrote about the President’s Cabinet meeting.
He wrote about the slave trade again on June 20,
and then he discussed the meeting he had with Canning.
On June 24 Adams wrote a fairly long letter to Richard Rush about how
the United States could help abolish the African slave-trade.
A Cabinet meeting debated their policy on Russia’s claim to the coast in the Northwest.
Adams wrote about that and other issues in his Memoirs on July 1, 3 and 6.
He discussed that and European politics on July 11.
On the 17th he wrote, “We should assume distinctly the principle that
the American
continents are no longer subjects for any new European colonial establishments.”
This foreign policy later became known as the Monroe Doctrine.
In late July he was working on a proposal for a peaceful maritime law.
He described the Cabinet meeting that was held on July 29,
and two days later
in his Memoirs he considered current issues including on the Northwest Coast.
Adams visited President Monroe on August 1 and
offered suggested policies related to diplomacy.
Monroe became ill on August 2.
Adams reflected on his diplomatic career since he went to Russia in 1809,
and on August 8 he wrote about a meeting he had with the Russian minister Tuyl.
On November 15 Adams suggested a response to Canning’s proposals.
On November 21 Adams considered using a moderate and conciliatory manner,
and President Monroe approved his plan.
Adams worked on a paper to support what Monroe had in his upcoming message,
and he emphasized the independence of the South American states.
In his Memoirs on November 27 he realized that the most important principles
are Liberty, Independence, and peace.
He hoped that his paper would influence Russia’s Emperor Alexander.
In his Memoirs on 4 January 1824 John Quincy Adams considered the effects
of helping the Greeks, and he wrote about the Cabinet meeting on January 8.
The next day the Cabinet discussed what to do about Cuba and Porto Rico.
On January 20 learned that some politicians wanted him
to be Vice President under President Crawford.
Adams consulted with John W. Taylor, and he made it clear
that he would not serve under Crawford.
Adams wrote about political issues on January 27 and 30.
Adams in February joined the movement against
nominating a candidate based on a party caucus.
Newspapers supported various candidates.
Walsh supported Adams, who told his advisor that he did not solicit that endorsement.
J. W. Taylor called on Adams and advised him.
Adams told him he would not run to be Vice President under a Crawford presidency.
On March 24 Adams wrote in his Memoirs about a meeting
he had with a French diplomat in regard to the Latin American governments.
On March 12 Adams considered what needed to be done to help the Cherokees in Georgia.
President Monroe did not have a plan.
Calhoun and Southard supported the ideas of Adams.
He and his advisors learned that Henry Clay was a more likely candidate than Crawford.
John C. Calhoun wanted to be Vice President,
and he was looking for support from Jackson’s followers.
Plumer was a friend of Adams and gave him a pamphlet.
They walked over to the Capitol to hear Daniel Webster’s speech on the tariff.
Adams did not object to Calhoun becoming Vice President.
Taylor and Plumer urged Adams to consider being Vice President under Andrew Jackson.
Taylor advised Adams to wait and see what occurred.
On April 24 Adams wrote in his Memoirs about the Convention to end the slave-trade.
On May 1 Adams wrote about his conversation with the Federalist John Reed.
Adams confirmed that his being a Republican was understood
that he no longer supported federalists.
Adams explained that he intended to serve the entire Union, not sections or factions.
On June 4 Adams wrote about a pleasant meeting he had with three Quakers.
On June 19 Calhoun told Adams about an investigation.
Adams knew that President Monroe trusted him.
The Cabinet met on June 21 and 22, and Adams wrote an account of the discussion.
On 10 July 1824 Adams met with President Monroe and
worked on a response to the Slave Indemnity Commissioners.
Adams and his friend Everett on July 31 met with
the President and delegates from six Indian tribes.
After the Indians left, they had a Cabinet meeting and discussed the Slave-Trade Convention.
On August 16 Adams wrote about how the New York legislature
was trying to influence the presidential election.
Postmaster-General McLean visited Adams on August 27.
Two days later Adams called on President Monroe,
and they discussed foreign relations and the Northwest Coast Convention.
Adams on August 30 wrote about Dr. Thornton’s visit regarding the election
and the issues involving the Cherokees and the Georgia delegation.
Then Adams went to the President’s house and found Attorney-General Wirt there too.
They discussed Latin America politics. Adams did not believe that Mexico’s Yturbide
would succeed, and Monroe decided to delay any more appointments for missions.
On 1 September 1824 John Quincy Adams decided to take a vacation and visit his father.
He wrote about a Cabinet meeting on November 10 that
debated the Slave-Trade Convention with Great Britain.
The elections took place from October 26 to December 2,
and the four major candidates were all in Democratic-Republican Party.
None of them got a majority of the electoral votes, though John C. Calhoun,
having run with Jackson and Adams, became Vice-President with 182 electoral votes.
The House of Representative voted as states for the top three candidates,
and the fourth candidate Henry Clay helped Adams get a majority of those votes
even though Jackson had the most votes in the Electoral College.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs about the election on December 22,
and he wrote about a Cabinet meeting two days later.
On December 31 Adams presented Mexico’s Minister Obregon to President Monroe.
By January 1825 John Quincy Adams knew seven languages.
On January 18 he wrote in his Memoirs about his conversation
with Navy Secretary Samuel Southard.
On January 24 Henry Clay and Kentucky politicians chose to support Adams
for President instead of Andrew Jackson, and Ohio and Missouri did that also.
The United States House of Representatives voting as states elected
John Quincy Adams President on February 9 on the first ballot.
The next day Adams received his notification of election,
and he accepted with an eloquent response.
Treasury Secretary Crawford resigned on March 6, Adams also agreed to be
president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the American Bible Society.
President Adams delivered a long inaugural address on March 4.
The next day he nominated Henry Clay as Secretary of State, Senator James Barbour
of Virginia to be Secretary of War, Richard Rush of Pennsylvania as Treasury Secretary,
Alexander Everett of Massachusetts to be Secretary of War,
Christopher Hughes of Maryland as the top Minister to Spain,
and five
Chargé d’Affaires for the Netherlands, Portugal, Buenos Aires, Guatemala, and Brazil.
He also named the Adjutant-General of the Army,
Customs Officers, Registrars in Land Offices.
Southard continued as Navy Secretary.
Adams appointed Navy Agents, and the Governor and Legislative Council for Florida.
His friend John C. Calhoun had been elected Vice President of the United States.
Many of those who had been chosen by President James Monroe were renominated.
John W. Taylor of New York became Speaker of the House of Representatives,
though the Congress had many supporters of Jackson, Crawford, and Calhoun.
Taylor’s Anti-Jackson party won 109 seats to 104 for the Jacksonians.
Republicans worried that Adams would revive the federalism and nationalism
of President Washington and his father John Adams.
John Quincy Adams pleased Federalists by appointing
Rufus King to be the Minister to Britain.
Henry Clay was an active Secretary of State especially to Latin America.
Adams wrote about a Cabinet meeting on May 7 that discussed Cuba and fisheries.
On May 10 Secretary of State Clay sent a note to Henry Middleton asking him to urge
Tsar Alexander to persuade Spain to make peace with the new republics in America.
This was soon followed by similar appeals sent to the ministers of Britain and France.
The President on May 15 wrote in his Memoirs about the Creek Indians in Georgia,
and on May 19 he discussed Cuba and Spain. In June 1825
the British prohibited the United States to trade with the West Indies.
The United States made treaties with many Indian tribes in 1825,
and Creeks sold land in Georgia in August.
In October the Tennessee legislature nominated Senator Andrew Jackson for President.
The 363 miles of the Erie Canal was finished on October 25.
President Adams presented his first annual message to Congress on 6 December 1825,
and it laid out in detail his comprehensive agenda in 18 pages to improve agriculture,
commerce, manufactures, and cultivation while encouraging the arts, literature, and sciences.
Adams wrote about his meeting with War Secretary Barbour on December 13.
The next day Adams sent special messages to the
United States Senate on treaties with Indian nations.
On the 15th he sent to the Senate a convention of peace, amity, commerce,
and navigation with the Federation of the Center of America.
The five nations of the Central American Federation
agreed to a commercial treaty on December 25.
Adams sent another message to both houses of Congress on December 26.
In four years his administration would reduce the national debt by $25 million.
In January 1826 President Adams sent special messages to the Congress
on several treaties made with Indian tribes in 1825.
On 19 January 1826 he wrote in his Memoirs about sending
young men to learn Turkish and Arabic languages.
On January 31 he sent the text of a treaty with the Creek nation to the Senate for ratification,
and the next day he sent fourteen messages to Congress.
On February 7 he wrote in his Memoirs about newspapers and Cabinet meetings,
and on February 16 he discussed two resolutions from the Senate.
Vice President Calhoun appointed the committees in the Senate.
Adams asked South Carolina to stop the preventive detention of visiting Negro sailors.
On March 15 President Adams wrote a long letter to the House of Representatives
about a diplomatic convention in Panama with ministers from
Colombia, Buenos Aires, Chile, and Mexico that included an important quote
from President Monroe’s annual message to Congress in December 1823.
On 30 March 1826 President Adams sent a Message to Congress
about a peace convention with Latin Americans.
On April 11 his message to the Senate questioned
their changing the ranks of nominated officers.
On April 26 Clay signed a treaty with Denmark, and he and Adams
worked on good neighbor treaties for the conference in Panama.
On May 2 the United States recognized the republic of Peru.
On July 11 Adams had War Secretary Barbour issue two spiritual messages
in the General Orders, and mourning was organized because of the deaths
of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams on July 4.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs on July 27 about the Cherokees and Georgia’s Governor Troup.
On August 14 President Adams wrote about the boundary issue
between the state of Maine and British Canada.
In September 1826 Albert Gallatin replaced Rufus King in England, and on November 1
Adams wrote about preparing instructions with Clay for Gallatin
who gained a trade agreement on November 13.
After the 1826 elections the Jacksonians had only 16 of 48 seats in the Senate,
but they gained a 113 to 100 majority in the House of Representatives.
President Adams presented his comprehensive
Annual Message for Congress on December 5.
The next day he noted in his Memoirs that 43 people came to see him.
On December 13 he wrote about the dangers of patronage.
Adams on December 21 discussed his meeting with Clay and the upcoming election.
President Adams on 16 January 1827 sent copies of a convention
made with Britain that was signed on 13 November 1826.
He described in his Memoirs the Cabinet meetings on January 27 and 29.
Senator Martin Van Buren of New York and Vice President Calhoun
began working on electing Andrew Jackson President.
Adams at a Cabinet meeting on February 2 worked on a message to Congress
about surveyors who were invading Creek lands in Georgia.
On the 3rd they debated a letter given to Andrew Jackson by General Houston.
On February 5 Adams sent a major message to Congress
on the situation with the Indians in the state of Georgia.
On February 8 he asked the Senate to ratify a treaty with the Mexican Confederation.
Adams sent messages to Congress on Indian affairs on February 19 and 24.
Vice President Calhoun broke a tie in the Senate to defeat a 50% tariff on wool.
On March 17 President Adams issued Proclamation 33 Levying Discriminating Duties
on British Vessels Trading Between the United States and Certain British Colonies
so that commercial trade could be regulated.
On March 20 in his Memoirs Adams noted that directed Clay not to make
any more advances to Britain on navigation acts.
On June 7 Adams issued a proclamation on discriminating duties
that the Pope advised discontinuing.
Another proclamation was to urge citizens to apprehend the criminal Willis Anderson.
When Congress convened on December 3, the Jacksonians
had a majority in both houses of Congress.
President Adams sent his Third Annual Message to Congress
on December 14 which also discussed the government’s financial accounts.
On the 17th he wrote in his Memoirs describing his meeting
with Henry Clay and the possible election of Jackson.
On December 20 Secretary of War Barbour showed Adams a letter from Missouri
on a conspiracy to rob traders between Missouri and Mexico,
and Adams confirmed the appointment of Major Thornton.
On the 22nd Clay introduced to Adams the Russian Minister Baron Krudener.
On December 31 Adams briefly reviewed the year with a prayer to God.
President Adams on 22 January 1828 sent a special message
to the Senate regarding the Creek Agency that was aiding the Creek nation.
The next day in his Memoirs he noted that the Cherokees
in Georgia had agreed on a written constitution.
On January 28 he informed the Senate that two treaties
were made with several Indian tribes in the Michigan Territory.
Adams wrote that on February 6 the Cabinet debated the Cherokee constitution.
On 3 March 1828 Adams sent a message to the Senate on relations
with the British
and another on the 7th regarding Chippewa, Menomonie, and Winnebago tribes.
That day he wrote in his Memoirs that the Quaker Stephen Fitch
had arrived with Chief Red Jacket and Seneca and Oneidas.
Adams had requested papers related to the treaties that Governor Cass
and T. L. McKenney made with the Winnebago and Menomonee Indians.
The next day Secretary of State Clay called on Adams
and delivered a letter from the Chilean Government.
Adams responded to their speech and received them with sensibility.
Mr. Bailey of Massachusetts arrived, and they discussed the upcoming election.
Adams explained that he had no money
to contribute to a campaign in Kentucky or anywhere.
On April 30 Adams sent a message to the Congress that 121 Negroes
were stranded from a Spanish slave-trading ship at Key West.
He asked the Congress to remove them and provide for them by obligations of humanity.
On May 19 Congress passed the “Tariff of Abominations” which put a 40% tax
on 92%
of imported goods including textiles, glass, ironware, wool, hemp, and shipbuilding materials.
An amendment favored New England, and Adams signed the bill.
On May 28 he met with Southard, and they discussed business
involving the Departments of War and the Navy.
Others asked for someone to help the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians
on their move west of the Mississippi.
Adams sent them to see Secretary Southard.
General Harrison thanked him for the appointment
as the Minister to the republic of Colombia.
On June 4 Clay arrived with the Minister from the Hanseatic Cities,
and Adams spoke with him in French.
Both Adams and Jackson did not campaign for President in 1828,
and the two parties organized state conventions.
Supporters of Adams were called National Republicans.
Jacksonians thought of Adams as a Federalist, and they called themselves Democrats.
Jacksonians believed that Adams could write while Jackson could fight.
On June 16 Attorney-General Wirt told Adams there was a controversy
between the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore Railroad companies.
Adams noted that the United States had invested a million dollars in the Canal Company.
On June 23 Adams learned that the republic of Central America was involved in a civil war.
President Adams on 1 July 1828 issued a proclamation
on “discriminating duties of tonnage and impost.”
On that day Treasury Secretary Rush brought Adams a financial report on the public debt.
Pamphlets accused Jackson of various things, and Adams decided
to stop writing in his diary until the election was over.
Adams was for progress and improvements while Jackson was more conservative.
Calhoun supported Jackson who made him his running mate.
Adams chose Richard Rush of Pennsylvania.
Some portrayed Adams and Clay as aristocratic.
The election turnout in 1828 was three times that of 1824.
Jackson won the popular vote with 638,348 votes to 507,440 for Adams,
and he won the election with 178 electoral votes to 89 for Adams.
President Adams gave his long Fourth Annual Message to Congress 2 December 1828.
He returned to his Memoirs and described his conversation
with Henry Clay on 31 December 1828.
On 11 February 1829 Adams sent a message to Congress about
“several acts providing for the settlement and confirmation of private land claims in Florida.”
On February 26 he sent a short message to the Senate about Brazil, and two days later
he sent a message to Congress on treaties with the
Chippewa, Menominie, Winnebago, and Potawatamie Indians.
On February 28 Adams wrote in his Memoirs, “The cause of Union and of improvement
will remain, and I have duties to it and to my country yet to discharge.”
On March 3 he sent to Congress instructions for the assembly at Panama.
In his four-year term as President John Quincy Adams
reduced the national debt by $25,367,019.
The presidency of John Quincy Adams ended with the inauguration
of President Andrew Jackson on 4 March 1829.
Adams did not attend the inauguration, and he lived in retirement for two years.
He read newspapers and many of the writings of Cicero especially the Philippics.
Adams ran for a seat in the United States House of Representatives,
and in November 1830 he was elected in the Plymouth district.
In January 1831 he wrote in his Memoirs about the problems in Georgia involving
the Cherokee Indians and also the dangers facing Europe and the United States.
The Congress did not meet until 5 December 1831.
He was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Manufacturers, and he was not allowed
to trade for a secondary position on the Foreign Affairs Committee.
He obviously was an expert on foreign policy, though he managed to learn more
about manufacturing and worked on improving tariffs to benefit the most people.
In 1832 Adams was reconciled with President Jackson, and their friendship was renewed.
Adams according to his conscience would criticize Jackson.
He became absorbed in the problem of slavery and the slave-trade,
and he worked with the abolitionists collecting petitions to the Congress.
The House rules allowed those petitions to be laid on the table to avoid discussing them,
and Adams advocated freedom of speech.
Adams was a lawyer, and he defended the Africans who were put on trial for a mutiny
on the Amistad, and he worked to gain their freedom.
John Quincy Adams was born on 11 July 1767 in the colony of Massachusetts.
He was blessed with wise parents who taught him to read
and helped educate him with ethical values.
He wrote letters to his father, and his witnessing Bunker Hill battle with his mother Abigail
taught him to despise war and work for peaceful solutions.
At the age of eight he carried mail on horseback during the War for Independence.
His father John Adams took him to Europe on his diplomatic mission in France.
Johnny went to a French school and learned the language.
He returned to Europe and studied at the prestigious University of Leyden in 1781.
He learned diplomacy working as a secretary at St. Petersburg, Russia.
His greatest accomplishment was keeping a diary that became his Memoirs
in twelve large volumes, and his letters filled seven volumes.
He was the Minister to the Netherlands at the age of eighteen.
He completed his college decree at Harvard,
and presented an oration at his graduation in July 1786.
He studied law and began working as a lawyer in Boston.
He met President Washington who persuaded John Adams when he became President
to make use of his son’s diplomatic skills.
Young Adams learned from enlightened men in France,
and he supported Washington’s policy of neutrality.
In 1797 Adams became the major minister to Prussia.
He studied German philosophers and negotiated a treaty with Prussia in 1799.
President Adams recalled his son from Europe
so that President Jefferson could choose his own diplomats.
Young Adams was a Federalist like his father and Washington until
he would be influenced by the Republicans Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe.
John Quincy Adams in 1803 was elected by the Massachusetts Legislature
to be a United States Senator, and in November he helped prevent a war against Morocco.
He supported the Louisiana Treaty and opposed taxing people in the Louisiana Territory.
In December 1804 he devised rules for impeachment.
Adams wrote various essays and suggested that Quakers
could help make a treaty with Creek Indians.
Harvard hired Adams to teach rhetoric and oratory while he was still a Senator.
He supported Jefferson’s opposition to a treaty with the British.
He wrote a resolution that complained about British impressing American sailors.
In 1808 he supported the Republican James Madison for President
and James Monroe for Governor of Virginia.
President John Quincy Adams promised that he would respect human rights
and continue internal improvements.
Andrew Jackson had won the popular vote in the 1824 election
and felt cheated out of the presidency by Henry Clay and Adams.
Jackson’s supporters gained control of Congress.
The 363-mile Erie Canal was completed, helping cities grow, and another national road
connected Washington and New Orleans.
The 4-year J. Q. Adams administration reduced the national debt by about $25 million.
An American Temperance Society was founded and grew quickly.
Secretary of State Clay made U. S. trade agreements with Mexico and European nations.
A murder related to Freemason secrecy led to Anti-Mason newspapers and a new party.
In 1828 the “Tariff of Abominations” taxed imported goods and materials,
and it helped Andrew Jackson get votes.
John Calhoun criticized high tariffs, and in December the South Carolina legislature
declared a state’s right to nullify a federal act.
Although Adams and Jackson did not campaign,
their supporters fought with newspapers and scandalous tracts.
Jackson accepted slavery and promised Indian land to settlers,
and Calhoun became his running mate.
Duff Green was official printer for the U. S. Senate and attacked Adams and Clay.
In the election 1,555,340 men voted,
and the South’s electoral votes helped Jackson win the presidency.
Jackson got the highest percentage of the popular vote
for any U. S. President in the 19th century.
When Federalists in Massachusetts turned against him,
Adams resigned from the Senate in June 1808.
Madison on his third day as President nominated Adams to be Minister Plenipotentiary
to Russia, and he developed a friendship with Emperor Alexander in St. Petersburg.
Adams wrote letters about political conditions in Europe,
and he sent reports often to Secretary of State James Monroe.
Adams helped the inventor Robert Fulton get funding for his steamboats.
In 1812 in a letter to Abigail he explained how the Russians
defeated Napoleon’s army that invaded Russia.
Emperor Alexander offered to mediate a peace treaty between the United States and Britain.
In 1814 Adams wrote to his father about revolutions in Europe,
and he urged peace negotiations.
Adams became the leader of the negotiations at Ghent which wrote the treaty
that ended the War of 1812 between Americans and the British.
In May 1815 the United States Senate sent Adams as the Minister Plenipotentiary in Britain,
and he wrote letters to Secretary of State Monroe.
Adams supported a plan for a perpetual peace in Europe.
Adams also wrote to President Madison.
In March 1817 newly elected President Monroe asked Adams to be Secretary of State,
and he began that in Washington in September.
Adams wrote in his Memoirs about his conversations
with diplomats and the Cabinet meetings in the President’s house.
In 1818 he wrote about how to suppress pirates.
Adams concentrated on developing good relations with the new governments
gaining independence in Latin America from the Spanish Empire, and he personally
negotiated a treaty with Spain’s Minister Luis de Onís regarding Florida in 1819.
He wrote letters to President Monroe and others.
Adams defended the actions of General Andrew Jackson in Florida.
He became friends with the British Minister Charles Bagot
who later agreed to reduce arms in the Great Lakes.
In 1820 Adams became the president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
As Missouri was aiming to become a state with a constitution that approved of slavery,
Adams warned this evil could divide the nation.
He wrote a Report on Weights and Measures for the United States Senate.
Adams also helped President Monroe with his Messages to Congress.
Adams was working on developing diplomatic relations with Mexico, Colombia,
Buenos Aires, Chile, Peru, and the new republics in Central America.
This policy would be called the “Monroe Doctrine,” as they warned European powers
not to interfere with these new democracies in the western hemisphere.
Conflicts in the state of Georgia with the Cherokees and Creeks were difficult to resolve.
He also worked on a convention to end the slave-trade.
John Quincy Adams became a candidate for President
without spending money on a campaign.
Andrew Jackson won the popular vote and 99 electoral votes without getting a majority,
and Adams was second with 84 electoral votes.
Henry Clay was fourth and not in the runoff, though he persuaded many in the House
to vote for Adams, who won a majority of the states on the first ballot.
President John Quincy Adams promised that he would
respect human rights and continue internal improvements.
The 363-mile Erie Canal was completed, helping cities grow,
and another national road connected Washington and New Orleans.
President Adams had to contend with a Congress that
was controlled by Jacksonian Democrats,
and Jackson would defeat Adams in the 1828 election.
Secretary of State Henry Clay made U. S.
trade agreements with Mexico and European nations.
Adams criticized the militarism of Jackson.
In 1828 the “Tariff of Abominations” taxed imported goods and materials,
and it helped Andrew Jackson get votes.
John Calhoun criticized high tariffs, and in December
the South Carolina legislature declared a state’s right to nullify a federal act.
Although Adams and Jackson did not campaign,
their supporters fought with newspapers and scandalous tracts.
Jackson accepted slavery and promised Indian land to settlers,
and Calhoun became his running mate.
Duff Green was official printer for the U. S. Senate and attacked Adams and Clay.
In the election 1,555,340 men voted,
and the South’s electoral votes helped Jackson win the presidency.
Jackson got the highest percentage of the popular vote
for any U. S. President in the 19th century.
After his presidency Adams was elected to the House of Representatives,
and he opposed slavery in the Congress until his death in 1848.
Adams was more respectful of human rights than his father, John Adams,
and they were the only one-term presidents until Van Buren lost in 1840.
As Secretary of State he had greatly aided President Monroe’s foreign policy
which he continued as President.
During his four years the national debt was reduced by about $25 million.
Opposed by many in Congress, Adams had a difficult presidency;
but he improved the country and reduced the debt.
I rank John Quincy Adams #6.
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