John Quincy Adams’s (JQA) diary, which was inspired by his father John Adams (JA) and started as a travel journal, initiated a lifelong writing obsession. In 1779, twelve-year-old JQA made his second trip abroad to accompany his father’s diplomatic mission. While in Europe, he attended various schools and traveled to St. Petersburg as an interpreter during Francis Dana’s mission to Russia. He subsequently served as JA’s secretary at Paris during the final months before the Anglo-American Definitive Peace Treaty was signed in September 1783. Two years later, JQA returned to the US. After graduating from Harvard College in 1787, he moved to Newburyport to read law under Theophilus Parsons and in 1790 he established a legal practice in Boston. JQA’s skill as a writer brought him public acclaim, and in 1794 President George Washington nominated him as US minister resident to the Netherlands.
John Quincy Adams (JQA) entered diplomatic service in September 1794 as US minister resident to the Netherlands. He married Louisa Catherine Johnson (LCA) in July 1797 after a fourteen-month engagement, and their three sons were born in this period. During his father John Adams’s (JA) presidency they moved to Berlin where, as US minister plenipotentiary, JQA signed a new Prussian-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce. JQA returned to the US in 1801 and entered politics, elected first to the Massachusetts senate in 1802 and then to the US Senate in 1803. His contentious relationship with fellow Federalist members over his support of some Democratic-Republican policies led to his removal from office. In May 1808 the Federalist-controlled Massachusetts legislature voted to replace him at the end of his term, prompting JQA’s resignation in June. Between 1806 and 1809 he also served as the first Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard.
John Quincy Adams (JQA) returned to diplomatic service in August 1809 as the US’s first minister plenipotentiary to Russia. In St. Petersburg JQA was well-liked by Emperor Alexander I and closely followed the battles of the Napoleonic Wars then raging across Europe. When the US declared war on Great Britain in 1812, Adams watched from afar as the conflict dragged on for two years. In April 1814, he traveled to Ghent, Belgium, as part of the US delegation to negotiate an end to the war with England; the Treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas Eve. Subsequently appointed US minister to the Court of St. James’s in May 1815, JQA served in London for the next two years.
John Quincy Adams (JQA) served as the US secretary of state during James Monroe’s presidency. Adams’s duties included organizing and responding to all State Department correspondence and negotiating agreements beneficial to the US. His achievements as secretary of state include the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, which established the US border with Canada along the 49th parallel, and the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 (Transcontinental Treaty), which resulted in the US acquisition of Florida. JQA also formulated the policy that became known as the Monroe Doctrine, in which the US called for European non-intervention in the western hemisphere, specifically in the affairs of newly independent Latin American nations. As Monroe’s presidency came to an end, JQA was among the top candidates in the 1824 presidential election. When no candidate earned the necessary majority, the House of Representatives decided the election in JQA’s favor in February 1825.
John Quincy Adams (JQA) was inaugurated as the sixth president of the US on 4 March 1825 and began his administration with an ambitious agenda of improvements for American society. His presidency was embattled. Supporters of Andrew Jackson, who believed their candidate had unfairly lost the 1824 election, worked ceaselessly to foil JQA’s plans. Domestically, JQA refused to replace civil servants with partisan supporters, and his administration became involved in disputes between the Creek Nation and the state of Georgia. JQA’s foreign policy also suffered, as partisan bickering in Congress failed to provide timely funding for US delegates to attend the 1826 Congress of Panama. Political mudslinging in advance of the 1828 presidential election was particularly fierce, and by mid-1827 JQA knew he would not be reelected.
In 1831 John Quincy Adams (JQA) became the only former president to subsequently serve in the US House of Representatives. As the chairman of the House Committee on Manufactures, he helped compose the compromise tariff bill of 1832. He traveled to Philadelphia as part of a committee that investigated the Bank of the United States, drafting a minority report in support of rechartering the bank after disagreeing with the committee’s majority report. JQA regularly presented the antislavery petitions he received from across the country, and he vehemently opposed the passage of the Gag Rule in 1836 that prevented House discussion of petitions related to slavery. He opposed the annexation of Texas, and in 1838 he delivered a marathon speech condemning the evils of slavery. JQA also chaired the committee that oversaw the bequest of James Smithson, which was used to establish the Smithsonian Institution.
During his final years of service in the US House of Representatives, John Quincy Adams (JQA) continued to oppose the Gag Rule that prevented House discussion of petitions related to slavery. In 1839 he joined the defense team for the Africans who revolted aboard the Spanish slave ship Amistad. The Supreme Court declared the Amistad Africans free on 9 March 1841 after JQA delivered oral arguments in their favor. In 1842 JQA faced a censure hearing and ably defended himself against charges from southern congressmen. He introduced a successful resolution that finally led to the repeal of the Gag Rule in 1844. JQA voted against both the annexation of Texas in 1845 and the US declaration of war with Mexico in 1846. He collapsed on the floor of the House on 21 February 1848 and died two days later.
- Lowry.
- Vance
- Coffee
- Rush. S.T
- Clay. S.S.
- Hunter.
- Johnson— James
I sent a Message to the Senate with the new Creek Treaty N. 22. and one
to the House of Representatives, with a Report from the Secretary of State, and the
Correspondence with Great Britain relating to territorial boundary on
the Northwest Coast of America— Mr Lowry brought me a
Resolution of the Senate requesting information whether the Spanish
Government have been apprized of our application to the Emperor of Russia for his interposition
to prevail on Spain to recognize the Southern American Republics, and
for any correspondence which has passed on that subject. Mr Vance
Member of the House from Ohio came and introduced Mr Coffee of that State—
Mr
Rush the Secretary of the Treasury was here twice—
Mentioned the Resignation of Captain
Richards a Clerk in the Department, and the urgency with
which Genl.
Cocke, had pressed the appointment of a young man named
Queen, in his place. Cook had told him two days ago that Richards would
resign, if Queen could be appointed— Rush declined giving any promise.
Nevertheless Richards has resigned—for which I told Mr Rush, I was confident, there was some very
special reason— Mr Rush requested me to name
some person to him for the place. I mentioned to him Mr Van
Wyck the late member of Congress from Duchess County
New-York, and Mr Ebenezer French, from whom I had received
several very earnest solicitations. Mr Rush
informed me that Mr S. H. Smith had returned from his mission to
Philadelphia to investigate the recent extraordinary transactions at the
Custom-house at that place. Mr Clay came and
spoke of the call from the Senate, and said he had directed copies of
the papers to be made out— He spoke also of the appointment of the
Legislative Council for the Territory of Michigan— There are two acts of
Congress, and one territorial act under which the election is made, and
there is a question whether the Territorial Act is not contrary to the
Laws of Congress. Out of 26 persons, having the highest numbers of the
qualified votes of the inhabitant, the President is to nominate to the
Senate 13. But the territorial Act, divided the Territory into
Districts, and allowed the inhabitants of each District to vote only for
a proportional number of the 26. The act of Congress authorised the
Territorial Legislature to prescribe the manner
of the Election— Under which authority they made the Districts— I told
Mr Clay I doubted the legality of the
territorial act, and must reflect further upon it. While with me Mr Clay received a Note from Mr
Webster— A debate commenced this day in the House of
Representatives, on two Resolutions, calling for papers relating to the
proposed Mission to Panama— This is the first subject upon which a great
effort had been made in both Houses to combine the discordant elements,
of the Crawford and
Jackson and Calhoun men into a united opposition,
against the Administration— It is at an early stage of its progress; but
has already become complicated, and admonishes me to proceed, with
extreme circumspection. Mr Hunter came to solicit the
vacant Clerkship in the Treasury Department— I told him he was late—
James Johnson dined and spent part of the Evening with us— He is
applying to be appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court U.S.