John Quincy
Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman
who served as the sixth President of the United States from
1825 to 1829. He also served as a diplomat, a Senator and member of the House
of Representatives. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National-Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties.
In his biography, Samuel Flagg Bemis argues that Adams was able to: "gather together, formulate, and
practice the fundamentals of American foreign-policy – self-determination,
independence, noncolonization, nonintervention, nonentanglement in European
politics, Freedom of the Seas, [and] freedom of commerce.
Adams was the son of former President John Adams and Abigail Adams. As a diplomat, Adams
played an important role in negotiating key treaties, most notably the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. As Secretary of State, he negotiated with Britain over the United States' northern border with Canada, negotiated with Spain
the annexation of Florida, and drafted the Monroe Doctrine. Historians agree he
was one of the greatest diplomats and secretaries of state in American history.
As president, he sought to modernize the American economy and promote education. Adams enacted a part of his agenda and paid off much
of the national debt. He was stymied by a Congress controlled by his enemies, and his lack of
patronage networks helped politicians eager to undercut him. He lost his 1828
bid for re-election to Andrew Jackson.
Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped America's foreign policy in
line with his ardently nationalist commitment to America's republican values. More recently, he has been portrayed as the exemplar and moral leader in
an era of modernization. During Adams' lifetime, technological innovations and
new means of communication spread messages of religious revival, social reform,
and party politics. Goods, money, and people traveled more rapidly and
efficiently than ever before.
Adams was elected a U.S.
Representative from Massachusetts after leaving office,
serving for the last 17 years of his life with far greater acclaim than he had
achieved as president. Animated by his growing revulsion against
slavery, Adams became a leading
opponent of the Slave Power. He predicted that if
a civil war were to break out, the president could abolish slavery by using his war powers. Adams also predicted the Union's dissolution over the slavery issue, but
said that if the South became independent there would be a series of bloody
slave revolts.
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