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.
- Woodcock David
- Bust
- Mallory— Rollin C
- Wing— Austin E
- Lowry Walter
- Newton Thomas
- Anderson Major W.
- Bryan John M
- Manning
- Merrill
- Sergeant John
- Calhoun
- Ruggles. Benjamin
- Stanberry William
- Waldron— Major
- Bell. Samuel
- Burnett. B. jun
r
Mr
Woodcock, a member of the House of Representatives from
New York, came to solicit a Commission in the Army, for the Ex-Cadet Hughes— The same who was
dismissed last Summer, by Sentence of a Court-Martial, and who was then
so long and perseveringly pressed upon me then by himself, and by
others; particularly by Judge
Anderson— Mr Woodcock spoke of
him as a youth poor and friendless, for whom he had obtained admission
at the Academy, and referred to the very creditable manner in which he
had passed through the course of Studies, and the final examination for
the degree—having at the close of his term, ranked as the fifth in his
Class I told him that this was true; but that the Reports upon his
conduct were as unfavourable as those of his ability and proficiency
were otherwise. That on his trial as well as on the occasion which
produced it he had manifested a worse than contumacious Spirit— That the
grant of a Commission to him now would have a pernicious effect, upon
the discipline of the Academy. Events were too recent, and the danger to
the Institution was too great to overlook what had passed— It was
painful to me to refuse the applications in his favour, having a respect
for his talents, and a strong feeling for his distressed situation; but
a sense of duty to the Academy, and to the morals of all the young men
now there, must be a paramount consideration— He asked, if he might
write to him that good 389conduct for a time would
lead to a more favourable result— I said I could in candour authorize no
such expectation in my time— What his prospects might be with others I
could not foresee— I said I had not come to my determination before
without consulting the Superintendant of the Academy, whose impressions were
very decided against any relaxation from the decisions, excluding this
young man from the army— Mr Woodcock spoke
also upon one or two other subjects— Mr Bust was a stranger from the
Western part of New-York— A casual visitor of curiosity— Mr
Mallory, a member of the House from Vermont, and Mr Wing the
Delegate from Michigan came together. Mr
Wing said that the agreement for the exchange of Offices between
Judge Witherell, and
Secretary Woodbridge was
now so far completed that he wished the nominations to be made without
delay. I said I would send them in to the Senate on Monday.— Mr Wing wished that the Commissions might so
be given that Mr Woodbridge should be chief
Justice, but the Law recognizes no such distinction. I thought however
his Commission might be first dated— He said he should hereafter
recommend a person for the Office of Collector now held also by Mr Woodbridge— Mr Lowry the Secretary of
the Senate brought me a Resolution asking information concerning the
troubles on the Northeastern boundary— Mr Newton member of the House
from Virginia came with Major
Anderson of the Marine Corps, who has a claim for Brevet
promotion. Mr
Bryan, Member of the House from North-Carolina, introduced
Mr Manning,
just from the Administration Convention at Raleigh, and a Mr Merrill of
Philadelphia. Mr J. Sergeant came with Mr Calhoun,
a brother of him whom we knew in Russia— Mr Ruggles, a Senator,
and Mr
Stanberry a new Member of the House from Ohio came
together— They spoke of an Act of the last Session of Congress, granting
a Section of Land to the State, for aiding to make a Canal. There is
some question upon the construction of the Act, of which Mr Ruggles stated that a written
representation would be laid before me— Major
Waldron came to take leave being about to return home to
New-Hampshire— Mr
Bell the Senator from that State, mentioned a claim of
Coll.
M’Neill of the Army, to Brevet promotion; for which I
referred him to the Secretary of War— A young man by the name of
Burnett, came to solicit an
appointment as a Cadet at West-Point. Said his
father had been a merchant in New-York, and had failed, in
consequence of which he had himself been residing these three years in
the interior of Pennsylvania— He had no recommendations, but appeared to
be spirited and intelligent— I referred him to the War Department, where
he said he had already entered his name as a Candidate. There was an
Evening party at Governor
Barbour’s, attended by our young
Ladies, and by my Son John—