by James Traub
380He had begun an affair with Eliza Dolph: The sad affair is detailed in Report of a Trial: Miles Farmer Versus Dr. David Humphreys Storer (Boston, 1831), http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951002327754e;view=1up;seq=1.
381At three in the morning he approached: Adams learned these details from a visitor on May 3 and recorded them in his journal.
382“Stay thy hand: Diaries, May 2, 1829.
382“my beloved husband’s sufferings: Undated document in Louisa’s diary.
382“You and all my children know: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to CFA, March 22, 1829.
382Up in Boston, Charles went through: Diary of Charles Francis Adams [microfilm], May 13, 1829, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.
383he dutifully catalogued: Diaries, June 13, 1829.
383“my most beloved friend.”: JQA to LCA, June 13, 1829.
384a quality of “quiet sadness”: Diary of CFA, June 18, 1829.
384“as usual imagined myself: LCA to JQA, July 29, 1829.
384Adams devoted most of his attention: Diaries, August 1–20, 1829.
384He was summarily replaced as president: Ibid., November 7, 1830, in reference to summer 1829.
385He told her that on a stagecoach ride: JQA to Abigail Brooks Adams, December 23, 1829.
385had been “unusually kind”: Diary of CFA, December 3, 1829.
385A few days later, Charles wrote his father: CFA to JQA, December 9, 1829.
385His father, utterly delighted, wrote back: JQA to CFA, December 16, 1829.
386he feared his son’s “calculations: JQA to JA2 October 4, 1829.
386“He is a singular man: Diary of CFA, September 4, 1829.
387In that first message, Jackson: Andrew Jackson, “First Annual Message,” December 8, 1829, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29471.
388“We agreed,” Adams recorded: Diaries, May 22, 1830.
389“It is now pregnant,” he wrote: Ibid., October 25, 1830.
389“My leisure is now imposed: Ibid., June 26, 1830.
390Richardson himself came to Adams: Ibid., September 18, 1830.
390“To say that I would accept: Ibid., September 25, 1830.
390Louisa was so upset: LCA to John Adams II, October 31, 1830.
390“has drifted me back: Diaries, November 7, 1830.
391“Of the two systems,” he wrote: Ibid., January 13, 1831.
391“a memory so pandering: Ibid., January 12, 1831.
391“Of my two orbs of vision: JQA to CFA, February 11, 1831.
392“All my attempts at humor: Diaries, March 8, 1831.
393“could not unite the people: John Quincy Adams, Dermot MacMorrogh, or the Conquest of Ireland: An Historical Tale of the Twelfth Century, in Four Cantos (Boston: Carter, Hendee, 1832).
393“moral decay presaged: Charles N. Edel, Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014), 257.
CHAPTER 29: OUR UNION: IT MUST BE PRESERVED (1831–1833)
394“a discovery has been made: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to General Peter Porter, April 4, 1830, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise indicated.
394“as an essential attribute: Exposition and Protest, Reported by the Special Committee of the House of Representatives, on the Tariff (Columbia, SC: D. W. Sims, 1829).
394“Liberty and union: Daniel Webster, “Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable,” January 26, 1830, http://www.usa-patriotism.com/speeches/dwebster1.htm.
395“it is the most important: Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Union (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956), 227–228.
395“The union: Ibid., 228.
395“Shall I speak: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), June 7, 1831, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
396he spoke his mind: John Quincy Adams, “An Oration Addressed to the Town of Quincy, on the Fourth of July, 1831, the Fifty-Fifth Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America,” http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=159424.
397Marshall stated he had been: John Marshall to JQA, October 1, 1831.
397“with the single assurance: JQA to John C. Calhoun, September 9, 1831.
397Calhoun described the doctrine: Ross M. Lence, ed., Union and Liberty: The Political Philosophy of John C. Calhoun (Indianapolis: The Liberty Fund, 1992), 367–400.
398Seward recorded his impressions: Frederick William Seward, ed., Autobiography of William H. Seward, with a Memoir of His Life and Selections from His Letters from 1831 to 1846 (New York: D. Appleton, 1877), 88–89.
398The ritual of the calling: Diaries, February 20, 1832.
399his maiden speech: December 12, 1831, in Thomas Hart Benton, ed., Abridgement of the Debates in Congress, 1789 to 1856 (New York: D. Appleton, 1857–1861).
399Adams explained that he felt: Diaries, January 10, 1832.
400Adams observed with his usual: Ibid., December 28, 1831.
400The tariff sought to appease: Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–48 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 401.
401He reflected that the Federalist: Diaries, March 2 and 3, 1832.
402He wrote to Charles: JQA to Charles Francis Adams (hereafter CFA), March 17, 1832.
402the legislature voted to raise a force: Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 404.
402In his annual message: Andrew Jackson, “Fourth Annual Message to Congress,” December 4, 1832, http://millercenter.org/president/jackson/speeches/speech-3637.
403Adams told a New York congressman: Diaries, December 24, 1832.
403On December 10, Jackson issued: “President Jackson’s Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832,” http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jack01.asp.
403“contained much sound: JQA to CFA, December 11, 1832.
404Adams responded with the first long speech: February 5, 1833, in Benton, ed., Abridgement of the Debates.
404“thrown a firebrand: Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Union (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956), 267.
405“I mourn over it: JQA to CFA, March 26, 1833.
406Report of the Minority: Report of the Minority of the Committee of Manufactures Submitted to the House of Representatives February 28, 1833 (Boston: J. H. Eastburn, 1833).
407The minority report was widely read: Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Union, 271.
407“Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun: JQA to CFA, March 26, 1833.
CHAPTER 30: THE ARK OF OUR GOD IS FALLING INTO THE HANDS OF THE PHILISTINES (1831–1835)
409Masonry had long enjoyed a reputation: For background on Masonry, see Steven Bullock, Revolutionary Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social Order, 1730–1840 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996).
409Thanks to a conspiracy of silence: See William L. Stone, Letters on Masonry and Antimasonry Addressed to the Hon. John Quincy Adams (New York: O. Halstead, 1832).
409By 1830, about one-eighth: Bullock, Revolutionary Brotherhood, 284.
410“a distinct, and independent: Address to the People: Anti-Masonic State Convention, Holden at Boston, December 30, 1829 (Boston, circa 1829).
410“The dissolution of the Masonic: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), June 10, 1831, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
410“Are you familiar with: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to Levi Lincoln, December 6, 1831, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise indicated.
410“Many agree with you: Edward Ingersoll to JQA, October 17, 1831.
411“political Anti-Masonry: John Quincy Adams, Letters on the Masonic
Institution (Boston: Press of T. R. Marvin, 1847).
411a series of public letters with William Stone: Stone, Letters on Masonry and Antimasonry.
412Adams did not at first send: The letters were collected in Letters on the Masonic Institution.
412“enthralled to see Mr. Adams: Richard Rush to JQA, September 15, 1832.
412“The strength, the glory, the happiness: Letters on the Masonic Institution, 203.
413“I can not suffer: JQA to the Massachusetts Antimasonic Convention, September 12, 1833.
413Since none took a majority: Leonard L. Richards, The Life and Times of Congressman John Quincy Adams (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986), 49.
413“and my public life: Diaries, December 14, 1833.
413Several New England states: Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–48 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 383–384.
413Adams had every reason: Diaries, March 27, 1834.
414He was saved: Ibid., November 8, 1833, and JQA to Charles Francis Adams (hereafter CFA), November 9.
415“I have never worn: JQA to Benjamin Hallet, December 16, 1833.
416“If democracy is founded: JQA to George Bancroft, October 25, 1835.
416In his veto message: “President Jackson’s Veto Message Regarding the Bank of the United States; July 10, 1832,” http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/ajveto01.asp.
416he would suffocate it: Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 386–389.
417“Every one of the 40 banks: JQA to John Bailey, December 17, 1833.
417“assumed upon himself authority: Robert Remini, Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (New York: Norton, 1991), 456.
417Adams believed in: Diaries, March 29, 1834.
418“My hopes are blasted: Ibid., July 22, 1834.
419Adams received a visit from President Josiah Quincy: Robert McCaughey, Josiah Quincy, 1772–1864: The Last Federalist (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974), 152–156.
419“thought it much too severe: Diaries, August 8, 1834.
419In the meanwhile the student uprising: Ibid., August 25 and 28, 1834, and JQA to Levi Lincoln, August 8 and 16, 1834.
420“You have met with severe: JQA to John Adams II, July 26, 1834.
420In the early fall of 1834: Diaries, October 19–23, 1834.
421“join with your disconsolate husband: JQA to Louisa Catherine Adams, October 23, 1834.
421Adams spent his first week: Diaries, October 28 to November 4, 1834.
421Adams could count on: Ibid., May 2 to 16, 1835.
422“I shall not,” he confessed: JQA to Benjamin Waterhouse, January 8, 1835.
422Andrew Jackson’s unprecedented assertion: Remini, Henry Clay, 458–459.
422“stripping the Executive: JQA to John Bailey, March 30, 1835.
423In a speech in early February: Congressional Globe Debates and Proceedings, 23rd Congress, 2nd Session, February 7, 1835.
423He reportedly gleefully: JQA to CFA, April 3, 1835.
424Adams delivered a long, impassioned speech: Congressional Globe Debates and Proceedings, 23rd Congress, 2nd Session, March 2, 1835.
424“I will not attempt: JQA to CFA, April 6, 1835.
425Adams began drawing up a speech: Reprinted in chronological list of JQA’s letters, March 12, 1835.
425“a residuary legatee: JQA to CFA, March 31, 1835.
425“manifests the slightest attachment: JQA to Bailey, March 30, 1835.
426Hallet congratulated him: Hallet to JQA, December 7, 1833.
426a eulogy on General Lafayette: John Quincy Adams, Oration on the Life and Character of Gilbert Motier de Lafayette (New York: Craighead and Allen, 1835).
426“a triumph unparalleled: JQA to CFA, April 8, 1835.
426“I am aware,” he wrote: CFA to JQA, April 18, 1835.
427“If I have misused: JQA to CFA, April 29, 1835.
CHAPTER 31: AM I GAGGED? (1835–1836)
428Postmasters refused to deliver: See Gilbert Barnes, The Antislavery Impulse, 1830–44 (Gloucester, MA: Smith, 1957).
429Three days later, John Quincy Adams: Register of Debates, House of Representatives, 24th Congress, 1st Session, December 21, 1835.
430“My duty for the present: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), December 4, 1835, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
431The most fiery of the polemicists: Barnes, The Antislavery Impulse, 48–49.
431“On this subject,” he wrote: Reprinted in James Basker, American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation (New York: Library of America, 2012).
431At first, they were less successful: William Lee Miller, Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), 132–134.
432In a speech in the House: Diaries, February 15, 1836.
432“As the abolition of slavery: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to Alexander Hayward, October 2, 1835, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise indicated.
433“believed it to be the true course: Miller, Arguing About Slavery, 203.
433By the time the Pinckney committee: Ibid., 140ff.
434The debate between pragmatic slaveholders: Register of Debates, House of Representatives, 24th Congress, 1st Session, May 25, 1836.
436“every facility is to be given: Benjamin Lundy to JQA, May 9, 1836.
436Lundy was the kind of man: Lundy’s life story is recounted in Merton Lynn Dillon, Benjamin Lundy and the Struggle for Negro Freedom (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1966).
437“I gave them all to understand: Benjamin Lundy, The Life, Travels and Opinions of Benjamin Lundy (Philadelphia: W. D. Parrish, 1847).
437At first he spoke directly: Register of Debates, May 25, 1836.
438This was Lundy: Lundy had sent Adams his pamphlet, The Origin and True Causes of the Texas Insurrection, Commenced in the Year 1835 (Philadelphia, 1836).
439The first session of the Twenty-Fourth: Miller, Arguing About Slavery, 210–212.
439Charles wrote to his mother: CFA to Louisa Catherine Adams (hereafter LCA), June 27, 1836.
440“completely cut us off: LCA to CFA, March 28, 1836.
440“Every friend is turned: Judith S. Graham, Beth Luey, Margaret Hogan, and James C. Taylor, eds., Diary and Autobiographical Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams (Boston: Belknap, 2013), vol. 2, 694.
440Adams left Washington: Diaries, July 9 and 11, 1836.
440“Let this Texas schism: Lundy to JQA, June 11, 1836.
CHAPTER 32: I AM NOT TO BE INTIMIDATED BY ALL THE GRAND JURIES IN THE UNIVERSE (1837)
441“your father stands the wear: Louisa Catherine Adams to Charles Francis Adams, February 20, 1837, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise indicated.
442“The old gentleman,”: Gilbert Barnes, The Antislavery Impulse, 1830–44 (Gloucester, MA: Smith, 1957), 123.
442“Let these petitions: William Lloyd Garrison to John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA), February 1, 1837.
442“if slavery be a sin: Lewis Tappan to JQA, February 15, 1837.
443The petition was plainly a fraud: It was included, like all petitions Adams received, in the chronological list of letters (February 1, 1837).
443“We must meet the enemy: Register of Debates, House of Representatives, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, February 6, 1837.
443First he presented a petition: Ibid.
445“the effect of the speech: William Lee Miller, Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), 255.
446“This defiance of the slave power: Joshua Giddings, History of the Rebellion: Its Authors and Causes (New York: Follet, Foster, 1864), 111.
446
Now, in his letters: “Letters from John Quincy Adams to His Constituents of the Twelfth Congressional District of Massachusetts; To Which Is Added His Speech in Congress, Delivered Feb 9, 1837,” Quincy Patriot, March 6–20, 1837.
446the House voted on a resolution: Register of Debates, House of Representatives, 24th Congress, 2nd Session, February 11, 1837.
447“more circumspect in my conduct: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams, April 19, 1837, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php, and JQA to John Greenleaf Whittier, April 19, 1837.
447“taking untenable ground,”: JQA to Tappan, April 28, 1837.
447“slowly and peacefully pass: JQA to Charles Hammond, March 31, 1837.
CHAPTER 33: AMONG THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THE WORLD’S BENEFACTORS (1837–1838)
448Only after Charles: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to Charles Francis Adams, April 4 and May 5, 1837, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise indicated.
448He implored Adams to stop: Benjamin Lundy to JQA, May 22, 1837.
449“though without his genius.”: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), September 9, 1837, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.
449“If there was one man: Ibid., October 23, 1837. Adams kept a record of each petition he received.
449In May the American Anti-Slavery Society: Gilbert Barnes, The Anti-slavery Impulse, 1830–44 (Gloucester, MA: Smith, 1957), 133–134.
449“The undersigned women of”: September 1, 1837, petition sent to Adams from citizens in Wayland, MA.
450One abolitionist estimated: William Lee Miller, Arguing About Slavery: John Quincy Adams and the Great Battle in the United States Congress (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), 306. Samuel Flagg Bemis, in John Quincy Adams and the Union (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956), 340, offers a different set of figures.
450Adams rose to demand: Register of Debates, House of Representatives, 25th Congress, 1st Session, September 13, 1837.
451“It is a case of conscience: Diaries, October 23, 1837.