Biography of john quincy adams presidency war

As a young boy, John Quincy watched the famous Battle of Bunker Hill June from a hilltop near the family farm with his mother. He accompanied his father on a diplomatic mission to France when he was 10, and would later study at European universities, eventually becoming fluent in seven languages. Adams returned to Massachusetts in and entered Harvard College, graduating two years later.

He then studied law and was admitted to the bar inafter which he set up a law practice in Boston. Did you know? In a study conducted ina fitness chain concluded that John Quincy Adams was the fittest president in American history, thanks to his habit of walking more than three miles daily and swimming in the Potomac River during his presidency.

InWashington appointed him as a U. After the elder John Adams was elected president inhe made his son minister to Prussia Germany. Tragically, the couple would suffer the loss of three children—a daughter in infancy and two sons in adulthood—and by some accounts, it was a largely unhappy match. After John Adams lost the presidency to Thomas Jefferson inhe recalled John Quincy from Europe; the younger Adams returned to Boston in and reopened his law practice.

The following year he was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate, and in the state legislature chose him to serve in the U. He played a key role in helping President James Monroe shape the foreign policy of the United States, which is known as the Monroe Doctrine. He was born near Boston in the early days of the American Revolution. When Adams returned to America, he become a lawyer, started a family, and also served as Minister to Prussia when his father was President of the United States.

He became a member of the Federalist Party and was elected to Congress, but eventually changed parties and became a Democrat-Republican. He helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghentwhich ended the War of With Monroe, he helped develop the Monroe Doctrine. InAdams was elected President over Andrew Jackson in a disputed election that was decided by the House of Representatives.

His presidency was troubled by ongoing disputes with supporters of Jackson and Adams was viewed by many as an elitist. When he supported the Tariff ofit ended his chances to be re-elected and he lost the election to Andrew Jackson in a landslide. Two years later, he was elected to the House of Representatives where he fought for nearly a decade against the expansion of slavery.

Although he was retired as a lawyer, he successfully argued on behalf of 53 African slaves in the case of United States v. The Amistad. The Africans were allowed to return to their homeland. Adams died in the Capitol Building while performing his duties as a congressman. Image Source: Wikipedia. He was the second of five children born to John Adams and Abigail Adams.

His mother was an influential voice during the American Revolution. While accompanying his father, who served several diplomatic missions during and after the American Revolution, Adams received a classical education at private academies in Europe. Inhe served as a personal secretary to his father while he was in Europe negotiating the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War.

After being admitted to the Massachusetts bar inAdams practiced law in Boston for three years. The two had met eighteen years earlier in France when he was twelve and she was four years old. A supporter of Henry Clay's proposed American Systemhe proposed major investments in internal improvements involving the construction of roads and canalsand the creation of educational institutions such as a national university, among other initiatives, to bring this vision to life.

Due to meager support from congressional leaders, however, his agenda was largely blocked by Congress. His support of the " Tariff of Abominations ," a protective tariff approved by Congress inhurt his popularity among voters. The foreign affairs initiatives of the Adams administration fared only slightly better, as many of the president's key initiatives were blocked by Congress.

Biography of john quincy adams presidency war: John Quincy Adams was the

The contentious nature of the election brought about the demise of the Democratic-Republican Party and the emergence of a new era in American politics. Calhounspent the ensuing three years constructing the organization that would become the modern Democratic Party. The followers of Adams organized themselves more loosely as the National Republican Partybut were unable to match the efforts of the Democrats under Jackson, who won the election in a landslide.

The Federalist Party had nearly collapsed in the aftermath of the War ofand all of the major presidential candidates in the presidential election were members of outgoing President James Monroe 's Democratic-Republican Party. Calhounand Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford all positioned themselves to succeed Monroe, [ 2 ] and Monroe would remain neutral during the election.

Biography of john quincy adams presidency war: Born in to one of the

Crawford favored state sovereignty and a strict constructionist view of the Constitutionwhile Calhoun, Clay, and Adams all embraced federally-funded internal improvementshigh tariffsand the national bank. Many of Jackson's backers attacked the alleged corruption of the federal government and emphasized that Jackson, unlike the other candidates, had not taken part in that corruption.

The congressional nominating caucus had decided upon previous Democratic-Republican presidential nominees, but it had become largely discredited by Candidates were instead nominated by state legislatures or nominating conventions, and Adams received the endorsement of several New England legislatures. The House would decide among the top three electoral vote winners, with each state's delegation having one vote; thus, unlike his three rivals, Clay was not eligible to be elected by the House.

Adams knew that his own victory in the contingent election would require the support of Clay, who wielded immense influence in the House of Representatives. By contrast, Clay viewed Jackson as a dangerous demagogueand he was unwilling to support Crawford due to the latter's health issues. On February 9,Adams won the contingent election on the first ballot, taking 13 of the 24 state delegations.

He was the second president elected by the House of Representatives, following Thomas Jefferson in the election. He took the presidential oath upon a volume of Constitutional law [ 15 ] instead of the more traditional Bible. He also proposed an elaborate program of internal improvements: roads, ports, and canals. Though some questioned the constitutionality of such federal projects, Adams argued that the General Welfare Clause provided for broad constitutional authority.

While his predecessors had engaged in projects like the building of the National RoadAdams promised that he would ask Congress to authorize many more such projects.

Biography of john quincy adams presidency war: John Quincy Adams, son of John

Like Monroe, Adams sought a geographically balanced cabinet that would represent the various party factions, and he asked the members of the Monroe cabinet to remain in place for his own administration. Adams chose Henry Clay as Secretary of State, angering those who believed that Clay had offered his support in the election for the most prestigious position in the cabinet.

As Jackson was uninterested in serving in the Adams administration, Adams selected James Barbour of Virginia, a prominent supporter of Crawford, to lead the War Department. After Crawford declined to continue his tenure as Secretary of the Treasury, Adams asked Albert Gallatin to take the position, but Gallatin also declined. Leadership of the Treasury Department instead went to Richard Rush of Pennsylvania, who was out of the country and had not taken part in the election.

Rush became a prominent advocate of internal improvements and protective tariffs. He met with the cabinet as a group on a weekly basis to discuss major issues of policy, and he gave individual cabinet members a great deal of discretion in carrying out their duties. Adams appointed one justice to the Supreme Court of the United States and eleven judges to the United States district courts.

After deliberating for a month, the Senate confirmed Trimble in a to-5 vote. Trimble died in at the age of 52, creating another vacancy on the court. Crittenden of Kentucky. Adams made the nomination in Decemberand the Jacksonians of the lame-duck Senate refused to confirm Crittenden, leaving a vacancy for Jackson to fill. In his annual message to Congress, Adams presented a comprehensive and ambitious agenda.

He called for major investments in internal improvements as well as the creation of a national university, a naval academy, and a national astronomical observatory. Noting the healthy status of the treasury and the possibility for more revenue via land sales, Adams argued for the completion of several projects that were in various stages of construction or planning, including a road from Washington to New Orleans.

Adams's programs faced opposition from various quarters. Many disagreed with his broad interpretation of the constitution and preferred that power be concentrated in state governments rather than the federal government. Others disliked interference from any level of government and were opposed to central planning. Clay warned the president that many of his proposals held little chance of passage in the 19th Congressbut Adams noted that his agenda might be adopted at some point in the future.

Adams's ideas for a national university, [ 33 ] national observatory, [ 34 ] and the establishment of a uniform system of weights and measures [ 35 ] never received congressional votes. Unlike other aspects of his domestic agenda, Adams won congressional approval for several ambitious infrastructure projects. Adams presided over major repairs and further construction on the National Roadand shortly after he left office the National Road extended from Cumberland, Maryland to Zanesville, Ohio.

Though many of these projects were undertaken by private actors, the government provided money or land to aid in the completion of many of those projects.

Biography of john quincy adams presidency war: John Quincy Adams was

In the immediate aftermath of the contingent election, Jackson was gracious to Adams. Denmark Vesey 's failed slave rebellion in also contributed to a shift in Calhoun's politics, and he would become an increasingly ardent advocate of the doctrine of states' rights during the s. Adams's ambitious December annual message to Congress galvanized the opposition, with important figures such as Francis Preston Blair of Kentucky and Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri breaking with the Adams administration.

Hayne and George McDuffie had emerged. In the electionsAdams's opponents picked up seats throughout the country, as allies of Adams failed to coordinate among themselves. Drawing on the recent debate over the Missouri CompromiseVan Buren feared that the failure to create a two-party system would leave the country split by sectional, rather than partisan, issues.

Unlike Van Buren, Adams clung to the hope of a non-partisan nation, and he refused to make full use of the power of patronage to build up his own party structure. While Jackson had wide support, and many thought that the election had been unfairly stolen from him, he lacked an ideological platform to unite the opponents of Adams. But at the same time, many Southerners saw Jackson as a beacon of opposition to a powerful federal government, which they feared would eventually be used against slavery.

The Jacksonians also tended to favor the opening of Native American lands to white settlement. Southerners, meanwhile, had largely abandoned attempts to industrialize, preferring instead to focus on growing cotton. Clay's home state of Kentucky and other parts of the South favored tariffs, but most Southerners strongly supported low tariffs and free trade.

After Jacksonians took power inthey devised a tariff bill designed to appeal to Western states while instituting high rates on imported materials important to the economy of New England. Adams sought the gradual assimilation of Native Americans via consensual agreements, a priority shared by few whites in the s. Yet Adams was also deeply committed to the westward expansion of the United States.

Minister to Russia inand Adams served until Adams headed the Commission that negotiated the Treaty of Ghent inwhich ended the War of with Great Britain. His placement as U. Minister to Great Britain from to insured that he would be central to the ongoing efforts to improve Anglo-American relations. He concluded the Commercial Convention ofwhich included a mutual import non-discrimination measure that would serve as a model for future trade agreements.

Adams helped start negotiations to disarm the Great Lakes that culminated in the Rush-Bagot Pact of He also guided the progress of the Convention ofwhich set the boundary between the United States and western British North America later Canada at the Rocky Mountains and stipulated joint occupation of the Oregon Country, among other issues. Adams worked to delay U.