by James Traub
shipping and trade
Continental System, 166, 170–171
English attacks on US shipping, 177
France’s hostile advances, 99–100
Russian negotiations over Alaska and
Canada, 276–277
Russia’s blockades, 166
trade embargo against Britain, xii, 74, 141–142, 151–152, 154–159, 166, 534
US and Russia, 172
Sierra Leone, 481
Silesian Letters, 105
slave revolts: Amistad case, 466–468
slavery and slave trade
Amistad case, 466–471, 471–482
annexation of Texas, 511–512
as moral and political issue, xv
domestic expansion and, 241
gag rule controversy, 506–507
JQA’s concerns with British policy, 203
JQA’s frustration with Congress, 506–507
JQA’s moral and political conflict over, 241–242
Louisa’s maidservant, 524
Missouri Compromise, 241–246
presidential candidates’ views on, 292
See also abolitionism
Slavery Convention, 296
slavocracy, xi, xv, 430–437, 449, 465, 487, 499
Smith, Abigail Adams “Nabby” (sister), 31, 35, 41–42, 55, 110, 116, 142, 178, 185, 251, 531
Smith, Adam, 104–105
Smith, John, 151–152
Smith, John Adams (nephew), 204–205
Smith, Louisa (cousin), 110
Smith, William (grandfather), 4–5, 57
Smith, William Stephens (brother-in-law), 142, 182, 204–205
Smith, William Steuben (nephew), 161
Smithson bequest, 459–460, 518
South America. See Latin America
Southard, Samuel, 317, 402–403
Spain
Amistad case, 467, 469–481
colonial pretensions, 218–219
Cuba and, 275–276, 279–280
declining power, 215–216
JQA’s relationship with the new republics, 342–344
Monroe Doctrine terms, 279–280
republican insurrection, 208
republican movements in Europe, 278
self-government of the colonies, 255–256, 258
South American revolutions, 260
territorial dispute over Florida, 209, 219–225, 228–231, 238–239, 248–249, 499
Stamp Act (1764), 7
State Department, US, 217–218, 225, 230–231, 247. See also secretary of state
steamship, era of, 216–217
Stevenson, Andrew, 399
Stone, William, 411–412
Story, Joseph, 316
student uprising, 419–420
Sub-Treasury bill, 451
Supreme Court, US, 158–159, 172–173, 472–481
Sweden, 30
Talleyrand, Charles-Maurice de, 100–101
Tallmadge, James, 302, 318
Taney, Roger, 416–417
Tappan, Lewis, 449, 465, 472–473, 480, 482
Tariff of Abominations, 368–369, 394–395, 397
tariffs, 261, 291–292, 366–369, 399–402, 405–407, 416
Tazewell, Littleton, 346, 354
territorial claims, 276–277, 296–297, 319–322. See also Florida, territorial battle over; Texas, annexation of
Tertium Quids, 349
Texas, annexation of, 228–229, 231, 435–438, 448–451, 456–459, 497, 500–501, 511–512
Thaxter, John, 12, 25, 30–31, 272
theater, JQA’s love of, 21–22, 32–33, 35–36, 63, 309
Thompson, Waddy, 445, 456–457
three-fifths clause, 507–509
tomahawk laws, 437–438
trade embargo against Britain, xii, 74, 141–142, 151–152, 154–159, 166, 534
trade relations. See shipping and trade
treason, Burr’s accusation of, 135
Treaty of 1795, 475–476
Treaty of Ghent, xiii, 92, 186–197, 202, 267–269
Treaty of Indian Springs, 320
Treaty of Paris, 23–24, 31–32, 35
Triumvirate, 423–425
Turner, Nat, 431–432
Tuyll, Baron de, 280–283, 343
Tyler, John, 361, 483–484, 496–497, 499–500, 506, 511
Union, principle of, 208–209
Unitarian church, 531
United Provinces of La Plata, 216, 236
Van Buren, Martin
Amistad case, 472–473, 477
annexation of Texas, 450–451
antipathy to Calhoun, 388
banking corruption, 416–417
Crawford’s campaign alliance with, 292
disposition of federal lands, 406–407
economic crisis, 448
elections, 310, 353–354
JQA’s opinion of, 449
North-South coalition, 441
Pan-American Congress, 345–346
Smithson bequest, 460–461
tariff legislation, 367
Weed’s mistrust of, 301
Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 309–310
Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 414
Verona, Conference of, 278
Vesey, Denmark, 431–432
Virginia: tariff controversy, 366–367
Voltaire, 37
Walker, David, 431–432
Walsh, Robert, Jr., 265, 291–292, 436
War of 1812, xiii, 176–177, 180–181, 185–195, 225, 235, 373
Warren, Mercy Otis, 8–10
Washington, George
Abigail Adams’s high opinion of, 9
advocating independence from Europe, 99
Jay’s Treaty, 80–81
JQA’s appointment to Portugal, 85
JQA’s foreign policy, 348–349
JQA’s intelligence gathering, xiii
JQA’s prognostication of the French Revolution, 75–76
Masons, 409
Massachusetts convention, 59–60
military academy proposal, 324
neutrality in France’s wars, 63–65
refusal of a third term, 77–78
Waterhouse, Benjamin, 26, 36–37, 144, 150
Watt, James, 203
Webster, Daniel
Amistad case, 473
British ministerial position, 364–365
cabinet appointment, 304
Conscience Whigs, 516
disposition of federal lands, 395
Harrison administration, 484–485
Jackson’s election challenge to JQA, 357
JQA’s death and burial, 529
JQA’s presidential candidacy, 308–309
nullification doctrine, 407
resignation of Tyler’s cabinet, 496–497
runoff election, 310
tariff legislation, 368
Texas annexation, 500
Weed, Thurlow, 301–302, 318, 449–450
weights and measures, JQA’s fascination with, 169–170, 253–255, 324–325
Weld, Theodore D., 449, 486–488, 492
westward expansion. See expansionism, American
Whig Party
activist government, xiv
Anti-Masonry Party and, 413
congressional censure, 488–489, 494–495
congressional minority, 483–484
Conscience Whigs, 516
gag rule controversy, 506–507
John Tyler’s confrontational style, 496–497
JQA’s war on, 425, 439–440
opposition to Jackson, 422
origins of, 422–423
Tyler’s divisive presidency, 506
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 446–447, 449
Willard, Joseph, 40, 42–43, 523
Wilson, Woodrow, 358–359
Winthrop, John, 43, 390, 524
Wirt, William, 243, 285, 410, 412
Wise, Henry, 475, 488–489, 491, 498, 507
women’s right
to petition, 444–445, 449–450, 457–458
writings
John Adams’s letters to Abigail, 6–9, 13
Louisa Adams’s diaries, 249–250
Louisa Adams’s memoirs, 91
Louisa Adams’s satires, 332–335
Louisa Adams’s verses for her sons, 372
of Abigail Adams, 12, 14
writings and journals, JQA’s, xvi–xvii
Abigail’s encouragement of, 12–13
American support for the French Revolution, 64
appointment to the Hague, 67–68
attacks on Paine, 61
Batavian Republic’s leadership, 70–72
biography of Lord Byron, 392
encounters with prostitutes, 58
episodes of depression, 52, 54
final years, 519–521
horticulture, 389
inability to express himself, 144–146
increasing study of religion, 183–184
journey to Russia, 29
letters to Louisa, 85–87, 130–131
life in Paris, 23, 25, 32
marriage to Louisa Johnson, 89
on Thomas Jefferson, 36
poetry, 33, 56, 130, 145–147, 161, 196–197, 206–207, 391–392, 516–517
private life, 82
prognostication of the French Revolution, 73–75
return to America, 37–38
Silesian culture, 105–106
to Charles Francis, 516–517
Treaty of Ghent, 186–187
XYZ affair, 100–101
CREDIT: GREG MARTIN
James Traub is a columnist and a regular contributor at Foreignpolicy.com, and he teaches foreign policy at New York University. He is the author of, most recently, The Freedom Agenda. Traub lives in New York City.