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.
- Smith Rev
d. - Osburn Rev
d.
The Revd. Mr. Matthew Hale Smith who is
now settled as Pastor, of the 2nd.
Presbyterian Church, in the place of Mr. Knox, called on me
yesterday at the request, of the members of that Church, inviting me to
attend, as their Delegate at a Convention, for promoting the observance
of the Sabbath, to be held on Tuesday the 24 of this month, at seven
o’clock in the evening—at the Presbyterian Church in 4 1/2 street, in
this City— With some reluctance, I promised if the state of my health,
should permit to attend— This morning I went out to the House of
Mr. W. J.
Stone, near the Columbian College and Meridian Hill, and
sat, for him to take, an outline of my head, by an instrument, of
measurement, of his invention, for him, to mould a Bust of me, at his
own request— I met there Miss Maria
Bache, of whom he had taken a Bust, and a very good
likeness— He introduced me also, to Mrs. Elizabeth Stone, his wife—
He is an English man, by Birth, and came to this Country; nearly thirty
years ago— He is an Engraver by profession, and I employed him, among
many other things, to engrave a perfect fac-simile, of the original
Declaration of Independence, engrossed on parchment, and signed by
members of the Revolutionary Congress, on the 2nd. of August, 1776. The Declaration of the 4. July of that
year exists only on paper, and signed only by John Hancock President and Charles Thompson Secretary See the
Secret Journals, of that Congress— From Mr.
Stone’s House I went to the Capitol—and attended a Meeting of the House
of Representatives— It was the day, devoted 431to
the reception of Resolutions, of Motions of Notice for the introduction
of Bills, and of the introduction of Bills, of which previous notice,
had been given.— Moses Norris of
New-Hampshire, moved an instruction, to the Committee on Post Offices,
and Post Roads, to inquire into the expediency, of restoring to Deputy
Postmasters, the franking privilege, heretofore allowed them— Daniel. P. King offered a Resolution
referring to the Committee, on Foreign Affairs, the Message, and
accompanying papers of President
Tyler, of 21st. December 1842,
concerning our claims in Hayti, with instructions to consider the
expediency of obtaining, payment, of them— Henry Y. Cranston of Rhode Island, presented resolutions
of the Legislature of that state, in favor of the Tariff of 1842, and
against, increasing the rates, of Postage— W. W. Campbell of New York, moved
an instruction, to the Committee on Post Offices and Post roads, to
inquire, whether deputy postmasters, should not be elected, by the
people of their respective Towns, and not removable, except for cause—
George Rathbun, of New York,
moved a Resolution, for extending, the Revolutionary Pension Act, to the
widows of all Revolutionary Officers and Soldiers— Cornelius Darragh, of
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, moved a similar Resolution, in favor of the
Widows, of the Officers and Soldiers, of the War of 1812. A multitude of
other Resolutions, upon all sorts of subjects— The usual budget of
crudities, not worthy of Notice, were presented, and adopted, or
referred over for Debate— But one of them, offered by James. A. Black of South Carolina, was
for the appointment, of a Select Committee of nine, to reduce the
expenses of the War Department, and the pay of the Army, with power to
send for persons and papers, and to report by Bill or otherwise; and one
by Isaac. E. Holmes, also of South
Carolina, that the Committee on Naval Affairs inquire into the
expediency of restoring the Navy Pension Fund— Garrett Davis of Kentucky, moved a
resolution to print for the use of the House, the project of a Bill, for
a new Tariff, submitted, by the Secretary
of the Treasury, to the Committee Ways and Means, and that
said Committee, be instructed to furnish the Clerk of the House, with a copy of
the same, to be printed— Davis moved, the previous Question and George
Rathbun moved to lay the Resolution, on the Table, which was carried by
yeas and nays 103. to 69— John W.
Tibbatts, of Kentucky, moved to make the river and Harbour
Bill, the special order, for next Monday— George. S. Houston of Alabama, moved, 432call of the House— Moses Norris, of New Hampshire, moved
to lay the Resolution, on the Table; rejected by yeas and nays 63 to
100— The Resolution itself, was lost 108. to 64., not two-thirds—
George. W. Jones, of
Tennessee, offered a resolution, instructing the Committee, in the
District of Columbia, to inquire into the expediency of ceding to the
State of Virginia, the County of Alexandria, and to the State of
Maryland the County of Washington— Isaac
Parish of Ohio, moved a call of the President, for information, relating to
the interference, of Great Britain, and France, in the Argentine
confederacy, which was laid over for Debate— Schenck and Vantz moved Resolutions, for printing,
the Tariff Bill of the Secretary of the Treasury, now before the
Committee of Ways and means, and both their resolutions, were laid over
for Debate— Numerous Bills were introduced, upon notice given, and
numerous notices, of future Bills— Jacob
Thompson of Mississippi, moved a resolution, that the
Reporters, should be supplied with copies of the Documents, upon which
some Debate arose, and without taking the Question, the House adjourned—
Revd. Mr.
Smith, of the Presbyterian Church in ninth street, and the Revd. Mr. Osburn of Philadelphia,
were here this morning, and again this evening— Mr Osburn’s application was for a contribution of money; and
for me to deliver a Lecture, upon a project, for raising Funds, for
promoting a larger attendance of the People of Philadelphia, to places
of Religious worship—which I declined, and informed Mr. Osburn, that I had already done so in
answer to former applications, which I had received in the last Autumn,
before I left home, to come on to Congress—