ADAMS 



ADAMS 



Clay had always taken an active part in every 

 discussion of foreign affairs. Claj' and Jack- 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 



Sixth President of the United States and son of 

 the second President. 



son, however, were not on good terms, and the 

 friends" of Jackson preferred to see a corrupt 

 bargain, by which Adams gave Clay this office 

 in return for his influence in the election. 

 Though this charge has long since been dis- 

 proved, it pursued Clay to the end of his days. 

 The resulting quarrel between Adams and 

 Jackson had far-reaching results. At first the 

 followers of the two rivals called themselves 

 "Adams men" or "Jackson men," but as time 

 went on, the division into new political parties 

 became clear. The Jackson men became 

 Democrats, the Adams men were first Na- 

 tional Republicans, then Whigs (see DEMO- 

 CRATIC PARTY ; WHIG ; POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 

 UNITED STATES). 



In many respects the four years during which 

 Adams was President are the least interesting 

 of his life. Practically the entire term was 

 taken up with partisan quarrels, and the plans 

 of the administration were always bitterly op- 

 posed, regardless of their merit. The Jackson 

 men were strong enough to kill most of the 

 important legislation proposed. One law, how- 

 ever, must be noticed, the Tariff of Abomina- 

 tions (see TARIFF). This was passed in response 

 to the demand from the North, especially 

 New England, for protection for the manufac- 

 turing industries which had arisen during the 

 War of 1812. The South, predominatingly an 

 agricultural region, wanted free trade, and at- 

 tacked the law as intended to benefit New 

 England and the Middle States at the expense 



of the South. The doctrine of nullification, 

 atrd in the Kentucky and Virginia Reso- 

 lutions of 1798, was again asserted, and a few 

 years later nearly caused bloodshed. 



During the administration of Adams the 

 United States was involved in negotiations 

 with Mexico and Great Britain over boun- 

 daries. Neither of these questions was defi- 

 nitely settled, but the Oregon dispute was 

 temporarily laid aside by "joint occupation" 

 (see OREGON). The United States also had a 

 dispute in 1826 with the state of Georgia, which 

 successfully defied the national authority (see 

 GEORGIA, subhead History). 



Panama Congress. An important interna- 

 tional conference was the Panama Congress, 

 held at Panama in 1826 for the purpose of dis- 

 cussing the slave trade and other questions of 

 interest to the countries of North and South 

 America. Adams, probably prompted by Clay, 

 accepted an invitation to send delegates, but 

 his announcement that, "ministers will be com- 

 missioned to attend" caused one of the most 

 violent debates ever held in Congress. The 

 opposition was specially aroused by fear of 

 entangling alliances, and by the proposals to 

 end the slave trade and to recognize Haiti, a 

 negro republic. Congress finally agreed to send 

 two ministers, but one died on the way and 

 the other reached Panama too late. 



Other Events. In his inaugural address and 

 his first message to Congress, Adams recom- 

 mended many "internal improvements," includ- 

 ing public roads and canals, a national uni- 

 versity and national observatories. Congress 

 did appropriate about $14,000,000 for such 

 work, but this was much less than Adams 

 wanted. One of the most notable improve- 

 ments built by state aid was the Erie Canal, 

 completed in 1825. The first railway in the 

 United States was opened in 1826, to haul 

 stone from Quincy, Mass., Adams' old home, to 

 Charlestown, for the construction of the 

 Bunker Hill Monument. The corner stone of 

 the monument was laid on June 17, 1825, 

 exactly fifty years after the battle. Another 

 striking coincidence occurring on July 4, 1826, 

 exactly fifty years after the signing of the 

 Declaration of Independence, was the death 

 of John Adams, his father, and Thomas Jef- 

 ferson. The two men died within a few hours 

 of each other. 



Election oj 1828. Adams had never been 

 popular with the people at large, and he had, 

 moreover, made no attempt to build up a po- 

 litical machine. There was also a feeling that 



