Long Achievements Of John Quincy Adams example essay topic

John Quincy Adams was the first son of a President to serve President himself. In many ways his career and viewpoints paralleled his father's. Adams, the sixth President of the United States was born in 1767, from a New England farm family in Braintree, Massachusetts. In this paper, I will discuss the life-long achievements of John Quincy Adams, and how he played a significant role in shaping the course of the United States. John Quincy's father, John Adams was the second President of the United States, and had John Quincy spend much time with him abroad during his reign as U.S. ambassador to England.

Because his father was frequently gone, a lot of the family's responsibilities were on his mother, Abigail Adams. It was Mrs. Abigail Adams who instilled John Quincy's strong Christian values. "So well did his mother commit the Bible to his heart that it became for him both compass and anchor in a long life of service" (Hall 603). There were hardly any public schools while Adams was growing up. Like many colonial children, Adams was educated at home by his mother and under his father's supervision.

Even the public schools that existed from 1700 to 1850 were not controlled by the state but by the people. Adams worked as a secretary to his father in Europe, where he became an accomplished linguist and orator. When New England feared that Christianity was diminishing in their country, Adams prepared a lecture on Truth, which he delivered in many places. "A man to be a Christian must believe in God, in the Bible, in the Divinity of the Savior's mission, and in a future state of rewards and punishments" (Gidding 6). In addition to Adams' home-schooling, he attended a private school in Paris in 1778 and at the University of Leiden, Netherlands in 1780. Thus, at an early age he acquired the knowledge of the French language and Dutch.

Adams began a diary in 1780 that recorded his doings through the next 60 years of American history. He once declared that if his diary had been even richer, it might have become "next to the Holy Scriptures, the most precious and valuable book ever written by human hands". In 1781, at the age of 14, he accompanied Francis Dana, United States envoy to Russia, as his private secretary and interpreter of French. Dana was in St. Petersburg for more than a year and was not well received by the Russian government, so in 1782 Adams joined his father in Paris. There he acted as an additional secretary to the American commissioners in the negotiation of the peace treaty that concluded the American Revolution. Adams entered Harvard College at the age of 18, graduating in 1787.

While he enjoyed an above-average education at Harvard College, it was not out of the ordinary for most colonial American children to attend such a prestigious school. "Modern scholarship informs us that the literacy level of the American colonists at the time of the American Revolution (1776) was the highest ever achieved in the world" (Hall 602). After graduating from college, Adams became a lawyer. At the age of 26 he was appointed Minister to the Netherlands, then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 he was elected to the United States Senate.

Then six years later President Madison appointed him Minister to Russia. Adams also served as Secretary of State under President Monroe in 1817, which later declared him as one of America's greatest Secretaries of State. He was considered the political heir to the Presidency in the early 19th century. As Secretary of State, Adams played the leading part in the acquisition of Florida.

In 1819, after long negotiations, Adams succeeded in getting the Spanish minister to agree to a treaty in which Spain would abandon all claims to territories east of the Mississippi River. The United States would establish all claims to what is now Texas, and a boundary of the United States would be drawn for the first time, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This Transcontinental Treaty was perhaps the greatest victory ever won by a single man in the history of the United States. In 1824, the old ways of choosing a President by popularity was giving way.

Sectionalism and factionalism were developing within the one and only party, the Republican; each section started to make its own candidate for the Presidency. Adams was the candidate of the North, and fell behind in popular and electoral votes against Andrew Jackson. However, Adams received more votes than William Crawford and Henry Clay. Because none of the candidates had the majority of electoral votes, the decision was made by the House of Representatives. Adams became the sixth President of the United States in 1825. He was well aware of the hostility he would face in Congress due to his angry opponents.

However, Adams managed to address his inaugural speech in a spectacular program. His inaugural address closed with these words: Knowing that 'except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wake th but in vain,' with fervent supplications for His favor, to His overruling providence I commit, with humble, but fearless confidence, my own fate, and the future destinies of my country (Gidding 9) Adams proposed that the federal government bring the sections together with a network of highways and canals, and that it develop and conserve the public domain, using funds from the sale of public lands. In 1828, he made history by breaking ground for the 185 mile C & O Canal. Adams also encouraged the United States to take a lead in the development of arts and sciences through the establishment of a national university, the financing of scientific expeditions, and the opening of an observatory. The presidential campaign in 1828, included opponent Jackson charging Adams with corruption and public plunder.

This was an ordeal Adams could not bear, and after his defeat he returned to Massachusetts to spend the rest of his life on his farm and writing books. Adams wrote a series of letter to his son on "The Bible and its Teachings" which were published in the New York Tribune, in which he stated: I hate myself for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. I have always endeavored to read it with the same spirit and temper of mind which I now recommend to you; that is, with the intention and desire that it contribute to my advancement in wisdom and virtue... My custom is, to read four or five chapters every morning, immediately after rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to me the most suitable manner of beginning the day (Gidding 11). Adams was unhappy in retirement.

His wife claimed that he had an insatiable passion for politics and controversy. He did not enjoy the art of politics, but he did enjoy the quality of public office. Although his family disapproved, in 1830 Adams was delighted when he was elected by the Plymouth district to the House of Representatives. Adams became the only President to have ever been elected to serve as a congressman after his presidential term. In being nominated for this position he said, "Not in my opinion would an ex-President of the United States be degraded by serving as a selectman of his town, if elevated thereto by the people" (Gidding 10). During Adams' time as a Representative of Massachusetts he presented petitions for the abolition of slavery to Congress.

He also presented a petition against the annexation of Texas as a slave state, which was signed by several women. In 1836 southern Congressmen passed a "gag rule" providing that the House automatically table petitions against slavery. Adams fought the rule tirelessly for eight years until he finally obtained its repeal. Adams initiated a campaign against southern political influence that continued through the remainder of his life.

He believed that the sectional bargaining between proponents of cheap land for the West and low tariffs for the South doomed the American System. His opposition against the governmental dominance of southern leaders was triggered by a lawful defense of democracy rather than humanitarian reasons. Adams saw himself as a man of reserved, cold and forbidding manners. He found great satisfaction in his congressional career that brought him praises among slavery opponents as a popular hero.

However, his reputation rests more on the policies he pursed as diplomat and President. Strong commitment to public service led him to convince views of public policy. Adams' primary concern was to boost the national stature in the international community; in foreign relations, in commerce and industry. In 1848, Adams collapsed on the floor of the House from a stroke and was carried to the Speaker's Room, where he later died.

His last words were, "This is the last of earth, I am content". He was buried at First Parish Church in Quincy, as were his father, mother, and wife. Adams will always be remembered as "Old Man Eloquent" who fought to the end, for what he believed in and considered right. Gidding, Edward J. "American Christian Rulers". 6-13. New York: Brom field & Company, 1890.

Hall, Verna M. "The Christian History of the Revolution". 602-04. Foundation for American Christian Education, San Francisco, 1976.