The History Book Club discussion

*POTENTIAL SPOILERS*

This is the glossary for John Quincy Adams. This is not a non spoiler thread so any urls and/or expansive discussion can take place here regarding this book. Additionally, this is the spot to add that additional information that may contain spoilers or any helpful urls, links, etc.

This thread is not to be used for self promotion.

by Paul C. Nagel

Here are JQA's diaries online:

http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/

JQA Papers online:

http://www.masshist.org/publications/...

Thanks Jimcook. Don't forget to add citation:

Lynn Hudson Parsons

I read and liked his book:

Lynn Hudson Parsons

Joseph Wheelan

Mr. Parsons is used to such compliments and takes them in the spirit in which they are intended.

Jim, I am sure that you mean well. But we do have rules regarding self promotion and I am not sure if this was a back ended way of circumventing our rules or just an FYI or just an attempt at humor.

If you have not already, please become familiar with our rules regarding citations and all we ask is that you attempt to follow these rules until you get it right - and ask for any assistance that you might need. The success of our group which is run by volunteers depends upon everybody cooperating with each other. And Bryan was kind enough to do the citations correctly to help you out; but I did not notice any attempt on your part to correct your post.

There is a thread called Mechanics of the Board in the Help Desk folder which will give you some extra details on the citations if you need any extra help and you need only ask to gain some assistance from any one of the moderators. We are happy to help everyone who needs it and we are patient with all newcomers because we know that sometimes it takes time to get acclimated to new rules or guidelines.

Bentley

Some information on Francis Dana:

was graduated from Harvard College in 1762; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Boston in 1767; delegate to the Provincial Congress in 1774; spent two years in England endeavoring to adjust differences between Great Britain and the American Colonies; State councilor 1776-1780; Member of the Continental Congress 1777-1778, and was one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation July 9, 1778; elected September 28, 1779, secretary to accompany John Adams, who was appointed a commissioner to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain and a treaty of commerce with Holland; appointed December 19, 1780, Minister Resident to Russia, but was never received as such; again a Member of the Continental Congress in 1784; judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts 1785-1791; appointed chief justice November 29, 1791, and served for fifteen years; member of the State convention which adopted the Federal Constitution in 1788; a founder of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; died in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Mass., April 25, 1811; interment in Old Cambridge Cemetery.
(Source: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/...)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_...

Catherine the Great:



More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherin...

I should link the Adams Historic Park:

Adams National Historical Park tells the story of four generations of the Adams family (from 1720 to 1927). The park has two main sites: the Birthplaces of 2nd U.S. President John Adams and 6th U.S. President John Quincy Adams, and Peacefield including the "Old House," home to four generations of the Adams family, and the Stone Library which contains more than 12,000 historic volumes.

http://www.nps.gov/adam/index.htm

Has anyone visited the site?

Nabby Adams:

ABIGAIL ADAMS SMITH, the oldest child of John and Abigail (Smith) Adams, was born 14 July 1765. At the age of 18, Abigail traveled abroad with her mother, where she met and married (12 June 1786) Col. William Stephens Smith of New York, secretary to the U.S. Legation in London. Smith had served in the Continental Army during the Revolution and had been an aide to George Washington. The colonel's poor judgment in business matters, especially land speculation, placed their household under severe financial restraints following the couple's return to New York in 1788. Although she survived a mastectomy in October 1811, Abigail died of cancer in August 1813 at her parents' home in Quincy.
(Source: http://www.masshist.org/adams/biograp...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_...

Our author also wrote this:

Paul C. Nagel

Abigail Adams:

Abigail Adams is probably best remembered for urging her husband, John Adams, to "Remember the Ladies." At a time when John was working on the Declaration of Independence, Abigail specifically lobbied her husband to,

"be more generous and favorable to [the Ladies] than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation . . ."

Although John disagreed with Abigail on such matters, he nevertheless saw her as a lifetime partner and confidante. Abigail's enduring support, advice, and insightful political observations prompted John to call her his "dearest Partner" and "best, dearest, worthiest, wisest friend in this World." On top of that, he noted, Abigail shone "as a Stateswoman."

Shining as a "Stateswoman" was one thing, but Abigail Adams did not look forward to becoming the First Lady. While the presidency would be a "flattering and Glorious Reward" for her ambitious husband, she confessed that her "ambition leads me not to Rome." She would have preferred to remain at Peacefield, the family's small farm in Quincy, near Boston, managing its affairs. Her hesitancy did not come from inexperience in the limelight. Raised the daughter of the Congregational minister in a small town just outside of Boston, she was accustomed to visits to the family home by important local figures as well as by dignitaries from throughout the colony. Moreover, her husband had been the leading lawyer in Boston prior to the War of Independence and after 1774 had served in the Continental Congress. As a result, she had met the elite of Boston and numerous revolutionary activists, congressmen, and officers in the Continental army, including Samuel Adams and George Washington. In addition, she was experienced with protocol as an ambassador's wife, as her husband was the United States minister to the Court of St. James in London between 1785 and 1788; had assisted Martha Washington with official social functions; and had performed her own responsibilities as the vice president's wife.

Despite this background, Abigail preferred to remain at home. She had friends and family, including a sister, in or near Quincy, and she worried about the health of the farm at Peacefield -- the Adamses' nest egg for their retirement years -- should she not be present to manage it. Nevertheless, she accepted her role as First Lady, all the while fretting over whether she was up to the demands of the job. She steeled herself for a role she believed "require[d] courage and firmness, wisdom and temperance, patience and forbearance." She prepared herself for the visibility associated with such "an elevated position," the expected "vilification" and "abuse" of her family, and the need for some degree of self-censorship. Mrs. Adams of Quincy, Massachusetts, might speak as she chose, but she believed that "Lady Adams" needed to be more careful.

These self-imposed limits notwithstanding, Abigail continued to lobby for improvements in female education and battled the assumed inferiority of women. Writing that she would never consent to having those of "her sex" considered inferior, she advocated letting "each planet shine in their own orbit." But her earlier strident calls for husband John to "Remember the Ladies" abated somewhat over time. Abigail noted that the "Government of States and Kingdoms, tho' God knows badly enough managed . . . should be solely administered by the Lords."

She was vigorously supportive of one "Lord" in particular. Although Abigail suffered from painful and debilitating rheumatoid arthritis by 1797, she traveled each year from Massachusetts to Philadelphia -- and in 1800 to Washington -- to be with her husband in the capital. There she faced an arduous schedule. She arose at dawn and tended her family until late morning. From 11:00 until mid-afternoon, she received the public, presiding at public ceremonies, entertaining visitors, and often repaying those visits. On some days, she met with as many as sixty callers. From time to time, she presided at public ceremonies, and on approximately one evening each week, she hosted a large dinner whose guests typically included congressmen, diplomats, and important citizens. Each day she managed a large household of servants whom she imported from Quincy.

Even before her husband took office, she dreaded the partisan criticism that would become his lot. She had predicted that from "envy, pride and malevolence," the President's foes would "shoot their envenomed arrows" at him. She did not have long to wait. Within ninety days of taking office, the Republican Party press opened up on him with attacks that she believed were motivated by the "true spirit of Satan." She encouraged friends and relatives to answer the assaults and defend the President, and on occasion, she planted stories in Boston's newspapers, discreetly sending home letters and articles she hoped to have published. She was especially embittered that opponents charged nepotism in the appointment of her son, John Quincy, to a diplomatic post in Europe. The First Lady also chafed when the Federalist Party, her husband's faction, celebrated Washington's birthday every February but ignored President Adams's birthday in October.

Many within the administration, as well as without, believed that the First Lady influenced the President. Critics even referred to her as "Mrs. President." The President regularly consulted his wife, and she appears to have influenced his choice of some appointees. She also functioned as a literary critic, reading and critiquing some of his important speeches. However, while Adams valued his wife's political judgment and views, he was far too independent to accept her suggestions unthinkingly. For instance, although she strongly endorsed the Alien and Sedition Acts, welcoming jail terms and fines for those who printed "base and unfounded calumny" about her husband, no evidence exists that her views led President Adams to sign the bills into law. Furthermore, following the notorious XYZ Affair, Abigail favored war with France, but her husband demurred and sought a peaceful settlement.

At the same time, Abigail Adams did not neglect her social responsibilities. Like her predecessor, she assisted the needy, handled requests for patronage, and held receptions that, by 1800, took place in the new presidential mansion in Washington, D.C. According to Abigail, the President's House, as it was called then, left a great deal to be desired. It was too large -- far larger, she complained, than her church in Quincy -- and impossible to heat. She made the most of it by hanging her laundry in the cavernous East Room. Another source of discontent was the presence in the mansion of slaves as servants. Unlike Martha Washington, Abigail Adams opposed slavery and had favored its abolition in the early 1770s. While sympathetic to the slaves and the hardships they endured, "Lady Adams" was less compassionate toward the young nation's immigrant population. She feared the effects of a pervasive French influence on fashion as well as on politics. Her suspicion of foreigners extended even to her British-born daughter-in-law, Louisa Catherine Adams.

These were difficult years for the First Lady. In July 1798, she fell desperately ill with what her daughter described as a "bilious fever," but what some scholars think may have been a physical collapse brought on by stress. Her physicians despaired for her life for weeks. Two years later, in the autumn of 1800, her son Charles, only thirty years old, died of the ravages of alcoholism.

Despite her initial reluctance to see her husband assume the presidency, the First Lady made no apparent attempt to persuade him to retire at the end of his term. She followed the campaign closely during the election of 1800, and in private, repeatedly assailed Alexander Hamilton who, although a Federalist, worked to defeat Adams. Early on, she said she had "read his heart in his wicked eyes" and the "very devil is in there." She labeled him both a "Caesar" and "a second Bonaparte." Abigail also embraced the Federalists' campaign rhetoric that branded Jefferson an atheist and fervently hoped that he would not win the election. However, when the results of the electoral college vote revealed that her husband had been denied a second term, she was not distraught. The outcome was "best both for your father and me," she told a son. She looked forward to returning with her husband to Quincy and to retirement and fervently believed that the "short remainder of my days will be the happiest of my life. I consider my retirement as a favor."

Regrets, however, mingled with her happiness. The First Lady not only feared for the country's future, she lamented her own loss of power: "I can truly and from my heart say," she recorded, "that the most mortifying circumstance attendant upon my retirement from public Life is, that my power of doing good to my fellow creatures is curtailed and diminished, but tho' the means is wanting, the will and the wish remain."

Abigail Adams would become a role model for all subsequent First Ladies. When future presidential spouses described themselves as their husbands' political partners, freely advising them on matters of state, they were taking cues from the second woman to occupy that position. Although politically active, Abigail Adams fulfilled her duties as hostess, reinforcing the notion that such responsibilities were intrinsic to the role of presidential spouse. And like her, there would be other First Ladies who mourned their husbands' election losses, knowing, as Abigail Adams did, that it was their loss as well.
(Source: http://millercenter.org/president/ada...)

More on Abigail:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first...
http://www.firstladies.org/biographie...

Ezra Stiles, Yale President:

an eminent American theologian, lawyer, scientist, and philosopher, who served as the seventh President of Yale from 1778 to 1795. Ezra Stiles The distinguished historian Edmund Morgan characterized Ezra Stiles as follows: "Although he became the most learned man of his generation in America, he remained more interested in what he did not know than in what he did. New ideas swept him from infidelity to faith, from loyalty for Great Britain to pride in the United States, from conservative constitutionalism to radical democracy. He never stopped reaching for the next thought."
(Source: http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/colle...)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Stiles

John Trumbull, the poet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tru...
http://www.jstor.org/stable/360645

A good read regarding the journey from St. Petersburg to Paris.
Michael O'Brien

Very nice addition, Carol, thanks so much! I'm going to have to add that to my TBR list :-)

Bryan wrote: "I should link the Adams Historic Park:

Adams National Historical Park tells the story of four generations of the Adams family (from 1720 to 1927). The park has two main sites: the Birthplaces of 2..."

I have not, but I have plans to go there once it reopens again in the spring. I only live about an hour from the park.

I didn't know it closed for repairs.

Bryan, on another thread somewhere I had indicated that I had visited the site in Quincy, Massachusetts. Very worthwhile and in a lovely section of town - the very best street in that town. Quincy obviously does not have the same ambience it had at the time of the Adams.

Here is what the Park's website has to say. It is closed I guess for winter.

The Park's open season is April 19 through November 10. During this time the park is open seven days a week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. To see the historic homes you must be on a guided tour. Tours last approximately two hours and depart regularly from the Visitor Center located at 1250 Hancock Street. Please be aware that the last tour leaves at 3:15 pm daily. We do not accept reservations for tours, tickets are sold on a first come first served basis. Please be aware, due to the popularity of the HBO Miniseries there may be a 1-2 hour wait and tours fill up quickly. Expect heavier park visitation on weekends and holidays.

For handicapped or disabled access, please call the park ahead on the day of your visit: (617)770-1175.

Thanks, Bentley. Interesting...budget issue, weather issue, visitation not enough to keep it open....I'm intrigued why they close.

I will have to visit the park one day. I hear good things. I'd like to see the library.

I visited after I read the book and saw the HBO presentation of John Adams; wondered why I had not visited it before. It must have been absolutely an idyllic setting at the time.

Worthwhile; and while you are in Massachusetts, there is Salem to visit, Plymouth Plantation, Lexington and absolutely wonderful Concord for starters including all of the homes of Emerson, Alcott, Thoreau and so many others - and I can't forget a wonderful walk at Walden Pond. Then on to Boston's Freedom Trail. (smile)

Some material on Charles Adams, JQA's brother who died of alcoholism:

CHARLES ADAMS was born 29 May 1770, the second son of John and Abigail (Smith) Adams. At the age of nine he traveled with his father and older brother to Europe, studied briefly in Passy, Amsterdam, and Leyden, and in December 1781 returned to America unaccompanied by family members. After graduating from Harvard in 1789, Adams studied law and established his practice in New York. On 29 August 1795, he married Sarah Smith, the sister of his brother-in-law, William Stephens Smith. He died in New York 1 December 1800.
(Source: http://www.masshist.org/adams/biograp...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_...

Tom Adams:

THOMAS BOYLSTON ADAMS, third son and youngest child of John and Abigail (Smith) Adams, was born 15 September 1772. He graduated from Harvard in 1790 and studied law in Philadelphia. He accompanied his brother John Quincy on his first diplomatic mission to Europe as secretary in 1794, returned in 1798, and practiced law and contributed to Joseph Dennie's Port Folio in Philadelphia for some years thereafter. In 1805 he married Ann Harrod of Haverhill and settled in Quincy, which he represented in the Massachusetts legislature, 1805-1806. In 1811 he was appointed chief justice of the circuit court of common pleas for the southern circuit of Massachusetts. Thomas Boylston Adams died on 13 March 1832, in Quincy.
(Source: http://www.masshist.org/adams/biograp...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_B...

Charles Pinckney:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_...

http://www.history.army.mil/books/Rev...

John Jay:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jay

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digit...

Alexander Hamilton:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexande...

http://www.alexanderhamiltonexhibitio...

Henry Knox:

Henry Knox was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 25, 1750. The first official U.S. secretary of war, Knox spent his entire professional life engaged in military affairs. From 1768 to 1776, he involved himself with military organizations based near his home in Boston, including three years of service with the Boston Grenadier Corps (1773-1776). A volunteer with the rebels at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Knox initially commanded the troops near Boston.

Following the colonists' successful defeat of their British foe in that area, he earned a formal promotion to captain in the Continental Army from General George Washington. By 1781, Knox was a brigadier general and was in charge of overseeing the production and supply of materiel for the colonial army.

Between 1782 and 1785, Knox took on additional responsibilities for the Army, becoming commander of the military post at West Point and performing the task of disbanding the American troops following the conclusion of the war.

In 1785, Knox became secretary at war under the Articles of Confederation, serving until 1789. After the approval of the federal constitution and the inauguration of George Washington as the nation's first president, Knox entered Washington's cabinet as secretary of war, served from 1789 to 1794. Upon his retirement, he moved to an estate near Thomaston, Maine, and died there on October 21, 1806.
(Source: http://millercenter.org/president/was...)

French Revolutionary Wars:

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states. Marked by French revolutionary fervour and military innovations, the campaigns saw the French Revolutionary Armies defeat a number of opposing coalitions and expand French control to the Low Countries, Italy, and the Rhineland. The wars involved enormous numbers of soldiers, mainly owing to the application of modern mass conscription.

The French Revolutionary Wars are usually divided between those of the First Coalition (1792–1797) and the Second Coalition (1798–1801), although France was at war with Great Britain continuously from 1793 to 1802. Hostilities ceased with the Treaty of Amiens 1802, but conflict soon started up again with the Napoleonic Wars. The Treaty of Amiens is usually reckoned to mark the end of the French Revolutionary Wars, however other events before and after 1802 have been proposed to be the starting point of the Napoleonic Wars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_R...

Quasi-War between U.S. and France during John Adams' term:

The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the United States and the French Republic from 1798 to 1800. In the United States, the conflict was sometimes also referred to as the Franco-American War, the Pirate Wars, or the Half-War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-War

XYZ Affair:
http://history.state.gov/milestones/1...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XYZ_Affair

Read more about it:
http://www.history.army.mil/reference...

Some information on Col. William Smith, Nabby's husband:

a Representative from New York; born on Long Island, N.Y., November 8, 1755; was graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1774; studied law for a short time; served in the Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General Sullivan in 1776; was on the staff of General Lafayette in 1780 and 1781, and then transferred to the staff of General Washington; secretary of the Legation at London in 1784; returned to America in 1788; appointed by President Washington to be United States marshal for the district of New York in 1789, and later supervisor of revenue; one of the originators of the Society of the Cincinnati, and served as its president 1795-1797; appointed by President John Adams surveyor of the port of New York in 1800; moved to Lebanon, N.Y., in 1807; elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth Congress (March 4, 1813-March 3, 1815); presented credentials of his election to the Fourteenth Congress, but he did not qualify, and on December 13, 1815, Westel Willoughby, Jr., successfully contested his election; died in Smith Valley, town of Lebanon, Madison County, N.Y., on June 10, 1816; interment in the Lines Hill Cemetery, between Smyrna and Sherburne, N.Y.
(Source: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/...)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_...

Biography on William Eustis, JQA's opponent for U.S. House:

a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Cambridge, Mass., June 10, 1753; attended the Boston public schools and was graduated from Harvard College in 1772; studied medicine and served in the Revolutionary Army as surgeon; resumed practice in Boston; was a surgeon in the expedition sent to suppress Shays’ Rebellion in 1786 and 1787; member of the State house of representatives 1788-1794; elected as a Republican to the Seventh and Eighth Congresses (March 4, 1801-March 3, 1805); one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1804 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against John Pickering, judge of the United States District Court for New Hampshire; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1804 to the Ninth Congress; appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Madison and served from 1807 to 1812; appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands and served from December 19, 1814, to May 5, 1818; elected to the Sixteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Edward Dowse; reelected to the Seventeenth Congress and served from August 21, 1820, to March 3, 1823; chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Seventeenth Congress); did not seek renomination but was elected Governor of Massachusetts and served from May 31, 1823, until his death in Boston, Mass., February 6, 1825; interment in the Old Burying Ground, Lexington, Mass.
(Source: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/...)

James Madison makes our first appearance when JQA dined with him.

Like his close friend Thomas Jefferson, James Madison came from a prosperous family of Virginia planters, received an excellent education, and quickly found himself drawn into the debates over independence. In 1776, he became a delegate to the revolutionary Virginia Convention, where he worked closely with Thomas Jefferson to push through religious freedom statutes, among other liberal measures. The youngest member of the Continental Congress, Madison was small in stature. His soft spoken, shy demeanor was a foil for his brilliant persistence in advocating his political agenda. Madison emerged as a respected leader of the congress, known for his hard work and careful preparation.

Leader of Political Battles

Believing that the Articles of Confederation rendered the new republic subject to foreign attack and domestic turmoil, James Madison helped set the wheels in motion for a national convention to draft the young nation's Constitution. Madison led the Virginia delegation to the Philadelphia meeting, which began on May 14, 1787, and supported the cry for General Washington to chair the meeting. Madison's "Virginia Plan" became the blueprint for the constitution that finally emerged, eventually earning him the revered title, "Father of the Constitution." Having fathered the document, Madison worked hard to ensure its ratification. Along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, he published the Federalist Papers, a series of articles arguing for a strong central government subject to an extensive system of checks and balances.

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1789, Madison served as Washington's chief supporter. In this capacity, he fulfilled a promise to Thomas Jefferson, introducing the Bill of Rights, a constitutional guarantee of civil liberties. As Washington continued to move closer to Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton's Federalist vision of a strong central government that promoted commercial and financial interests over agrarian interests, Madison broke with Washington, joining Jefferson to form the opposition party of Democratic-Republicans. During John Adams's presidency, Madison led the Republican fight against the Alien and Sedition Acts, which attempted to quell Republican opposition to Federalist foreign policy toward France. Madison authored the Virginia Resolutions, which declared the laws unconstitutional. Under Thomas Jefferson, Madison served as secretary of state, supporting the Louisiana Purchase and the embargo against Britain and France. Indeed, Madison shaped foreign policy during Jefferson's administration, emerging from behind the scenes in 1808 to succeed him as the fourth President of the United States.

It was not at all clear that Madison would carry the day. Jefferson's embargo of all trade with Britain and France had devastated the nation. New England states spoke of open secession from the Union. The Federalists, convinced they would ride national outrage to victory, re-nominated their 1804 contender, Charles C. Pinckney of South Carolina. Meanwhile, George Clinton, who had agreed to run as Madison's vice president, also consented to run for President! Madison swamped the opposition, winning 122 votes to Pinckney's 44. His reelection was also dramatic. Madison's nomination for a second term came just fifteen days prior to his war message to Congress, listing American grievances against Britain. Congress voted the United States into the War of 1812, largely guaranteeing Madison's reelection.

Second War of Independence

The War of 1812 amounted to a second war of independence for the new republic, and quickly helped Madison's popularity. Much of the War of 1812 centered on bloody battles against the Native American tribes that were aided by the British, such as the Creek tribe led by the notorious Tecumseh, who was finally defeated by General William Henry Harrison. In 1814 the British took the nation's new capital, torching the White House and other federal buildings. They were finally defeated at the epic battle of New Orleans by General Andrew Jackson's ragtag army, many of whom were volunteers, including free blacks and slaves, and nearly 1,000 French pirates! The victories against Tecumseh and at New Orleans revitalized the nation and earned him the esteem of his constituents. Madison's critics, who organized the Hartford Convention to protest his policies, looked like traitors to the victorious nation; their anti-war criticism further weakened the Federalist Party.

Life of Surprises

Everyone was shocked when the shy and reticent James Madison announced his marriage to the vivacious Dolley Payne Todd, who became one of the most popular and vibrant First Ladies to ever grace the White House. Dolley Madison was already familiar with her role in Washington, since she had occassionally served as Jefferson's hostess during his administration. A beautiful woman who enjoyed a party, Dolley Madison quickly earned a reputation among conservatives and political enemies, who criticized her for gambling, wearing make-up, and using tobacco. Dolley was hurt by her critics, but was gratified to keep her popularity and public acclaim long after her husband had left office.

Despite Madison's popularity and his outstanding achievements, he has traditionally been misjudged in the past as a less-than-spectacular President. Recently, however, historians have begun to pay more attention to Madison, seeing his handling of the war as similar to Lincoln's war-time management. Madison's government marshaled resources, faced down secessionist threats from New England and proved to the British the folly of fighting wars with the Americans. He established respect for American rights on the high seas, and emerged from the war with more popular support than when he was first inaugurated in 1808. Additionally, when considering the fact that he ended up on the winning side of every important issue that faced the young nation from 1776 to 1816, Madison was the most successful—and possibly the most influential—of all the founding fathers.
(Source: http://millercenter.org/president/mad...)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ma...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presi...
http://montpelier.org/explore/james_m...

War of 1812:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812
http://www.pbs.org/wned/war-of-1812/
http://www.history.army.mil/books/AMH...

Albert Gallatin:



Born to an aristocratic Swiss family, Albert Gallatin (1761 - 1849) emigrated from Switzerland to America in 1780. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1795 and serving until 1801, Gallatin fought constantly with the independent minded first Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. He was responsible for the law of 1801 requiring an annual report by the Secretary of the Treasury, and he submitted the first one later that year as Secretary. He also helped create the powerful House Ways and Means Committee to assure Treasury's accountability to Congress by reviewing the Department's annual report concerning revenues, debts, loans, and expenditures. Appointed Secretary of the Treasury in 1801 by President Jefferson and continuing under President James Madison until 1814, Gallatin was in office nearly thirteen years, the longest term of any Secretary in the Department's history.

As Secretary, he followed a Hamiltonian course, establishing the independence of the Secretary of the Treasury and institutionalizing the Department structures. Gallatin considerably reduced the federal debt by setting aside revenue for that purpose, and he revived internal taxes to pay for the War of 1812 but they were not sufficient. Having failed to convince Congress to recharter the First Bank of the United States in 1811, and foreseeing financial disaster, he resigned in 1814. That year Gallatin went to Russia to represent the United States in the peace conference with England and France settling hostilities. The outcome of the conference was the Treaty of Ghent signed in 1814.
(Source: http://www.treasury.gov/about/history...)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_G...
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/...
http://www.nps.gov/frhi/index.htm

James Bayard:



a Representative and a Senator from Delaware; born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 28, 1767; graduated from Princeton College in 1784; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1787 and commenced practice in Wilmington, Del.; declined the appointment as Minister to France tendered by President John Adams in 1801; elected as a Federalist to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Congresses (March 4, 1797-March 3, 1803); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1802; one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1798 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against William Blount, a Senator from Tennessee; elected as a Federalist to the United States Senate in 1804 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Hill Wells; reelected in 1805 and 1811 and served from November 13, 1804, to March 3, 1813, when he resigned; appointed a member of the commission to negotiate peace with Great Britain in 1813; aided in negotiating the Treaty of Ghent, signed in December 1814; declined the appointment as Minister to Russia tendered by President James Madison in 1815; died in Wilmington, Del., August 6, 1815; interment at Bohemia Manor, Cecil County, Md.; reinterment about 1842 in Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery, Wilmington, Del.
(Source: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/...)

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A....

Henry Clay:



a Senator and a Representative from Kentucky; born in the district known as “the Slashes,” Hanover County, Va., April 12, 1777; attended the public schools; studied law in Richmond, Va.; admitted to the bar in 1797 and commenced practice in Lexington, Ky.; member, State house of representatives 1803; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Adair and served from November 19, 1806, to March 3, 1807, despite being younger than the constitutional age limit of thirty years; member, State house of representatives 1808-1809, and served as speaker in 1809; again elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Buckner Thruston and served from January 4, 1810, to March 3, 1811; elected as a Democratic Republican to the Twelfth and Thirteenth Congresses and served from March 4, 1811, to January 19, 1814, when he resigned; Speaker of the House of Representatives (Twelfth and Thirteenth Congresses); appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate the treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1814; elected as a Democratic Republican to the Fourteenth Congress (March 4, 1815-March 3, 1817); seat declared vacant by the governor of Kentucky, “caused by the acceptance of Henry Clay to sign a commercial convention as minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain”; elected in a special election as a Democratic Republican to the Fourteenth Congress to fill his own vacancy on October 30, 1815; re-elected as a Democratic Republican to the Fifteenth and succeeding Congress (March 4, 1817-March 3, 1821); Speaker of the House of Representatives (Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Congresses); elected to the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Congresses and served from March 3, 1823, to March 6, 1825, when he resigned; again served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (Eighteenth Congress); appointed Secretary of State by President John Quincy Adams 1825-1829; elected as a National Republican to the United States Senate on November 10, 1831, to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1831; reelected as a Whig in 1836 and served from November 10, 1831, until March 31, 1842, when he resigned; chairman, Committee on Foreign Relations (Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses), Committee on Finance (Twenty-seventh Congress); unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Democratic Republican Party in 1824, of the National Republican Party in 1832, and of the Whig Party in 1844; again elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1849, until his death in Washington, D.C., June 29, 1852; lay in state in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol, July 1, 1852; funeral services held in the Senate Chamber; interment in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, KY.
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Robert V. Remini

Jonathan Russell:

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Napoleon:



he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars. He established hegemony over most of continental Europe and sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution, while consolidating an imperial monarchy which restored aspects of the deposed ancien régime. Due to his success in these wars, often against numerically superior enemies, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time.
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George III:



George III was born on 4 June 1738 in London, the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.

He became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first language.

George III is widely remembered for two things: losing the American colonies and going mad. This is far from the whole truth.

George's direct responsibility for the loss of the colonies is not great. He opposed their bid for independence to the end, but he did not develop the policies (such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties of 1767 on tea, paper and other products) which led to war in 1775-76 and which had the support of Parliament.

These policies were largely due to the financial burdens of garrisoning and administering the vast expansion of territory brought under the British Crown in America, the costs of a series of wars with France and Spain in North America, and the loans given to the East India Company (then responsible for administering India).

By the 1770s, and at a time when there was no income tax, the national debt required an annual revenue of £4 million to service it.

The declaration of American independence on 4 July 1776, the end of the war with the surrender by British forces in 1782, and the defeat which the loss of the American colonies represented, could have threatened the Hanoverian throne.

However, George's strong defence of what he saw as the national interest and the prospect of long war with revolutionary France made him, if anything, more popular than before.

The American war, its political aftermath and family anxieties placed great strain on George in the 1780s. After serious bouts of illness in 1788-89 and again in 1801, George became permanently deranged in 1810.

He was mentally unfit to rule in the last decade of his reign; his eldest son - the later George IV - acted as Prince Regent from 1811. Some medical historians have said that George III's mental instability was caused by a hereditary physical disorder called porphyria.

George's accession in 1760 marked a significant change in royal finances. Since 1697, the monarch had received an annual grant of £700,000 from Parliament as a contribution to the Civil List, i.e. civil government costs (such as judges' and ambassadors' salaries) and the expenses of the Royal Household.

In 1760, it was decided that the whole cost of the Civil List should be provided by Parliament in return for the surrender of the hereditary revenues by the King for the duration of his reign. (This arrangement still applies today, although civil government costs are now paid by Parliament, rather than financed directly by the monarch from the Civil List.)

The first 25 years of George's reign were politically controversial for reasons other than the conflict with America. The King was accused by some critics, particularly Whigs (a leading political grouping), of attempting to reassert royal authority in an unconstitutional manner.

In fact, George took a conventional view of the constitution and the powers left to the Crown after the conflicts between Crown and Parliament in the 17th century.

Although he was careful not to exceed his powers, George's limited ability and lack of subtlety in dealing with the shifting alliances within the Tory and Whig political groupings in Parliament meant that he found it difficult to bring together ministries which could enjoy the support of the House of Commons.

His problem was solved first by the long-lasting ministry of Lord North (1770-82) and then, from 1783, by Pitt the Younger, whose ministry lasted until 1801.

George III was the most attractive of the Hanoverian monarchs. He was a good family man (there were 15 children) and devoted to his wife, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom he bought the Queen's House (later enlarged to become Buckingham Palace).

However, his sons disappointed him and, after his brothers made unsuitable secret marriages, the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 was passed at George's insistence. (Under this Act, the Sovereign must give consent to the marriage of any lineal descendant of George II, with certain exceptions.)

Being extremely conscientious, George read all government papers and sometimes annoyed his ministers by taking such a prominent interest in government and policy.

His political influence could be decisive. In 1801, he forced Pitt the Younger to resign when the two men disagreed about whether Roman Catholics should have full civil rights. George III, because of his coronation oath to maintain the rights and privileges of the Church of England, was against the proposed measure.

One of the most cultured of monarchs, George started a new royal collection of books (65,000 of his books were later given to the British Museum, as the nucleus of a national library) and opened his library to scholars.

In 1768, George founded and paid the initial costs of the Royal Academy of Arts (now famous for its exhibitions).

He was the first king to study science as part of his education (he had his own astronomical observatory), and examples of his collection of scientific instruments can now be seen in the Science Museum.

George III also took a keen interest in agriculture, particularly on the crown estates at Richmond and Windsor, being known as 'Farmer George'.

In his last years, physical as well as mental powers deserted him and he became blind.

He died at Windsor Castle on 29 January 1820, after a reign of almost 60 years - the second longest in British history.
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Duke of Wellington:



was a British soldier and statesman, a native of Ireland, from the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy,[3] and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century. He is often referred to as "the Duke of Wellington", even after his death, when there have been subsequent Dukes of Wellington.

Wellesley was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787. Serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland he was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. A colonel by 1796, Wellesley saw action in the Netherlands and later in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799, and as a newly appointed major-general won a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy at the Battle of Assaye in 1803.

Wellesley rose to prominence as a general during the Peninsular campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the allied army which, together with a Prussian army under Blücher, defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Wellesley's battle record is exemplary, ultimately participating in some 60 battles throughout his military career.[4]

He was twice prime minister under the Tory party and oversaw the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1829. He was prime minister from 1828–30 and served briefly in 1834. He was unable to prevent the passage of the Reform Act 1832 and continued as one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement. He remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death.
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Jeremy Bentham:



was an English author, jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism. He is best known for his advocacy of utilitarianism and animal rights, and the idea of the panopticon.

His position included arguments in favour of individual and economic freedom, usury, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the right to divorce, and the decriminalising of homosexual acts. He argued for the abolition of slavery and the death penalty and for the abolition of physical punishment, including that of children. Although strongly in favour of the extension of individual legal rights, he opposed the idea of natural law and natural rights, calling them "nonsense upon stilts."

He has come to be considered the founding figure of modern utilitarianism, through his own work and that of his students. These included his secretary and collaborator on the utilitarian school of philosophy, James Mill; James Mill's son John Stuart Mill; John Austin, legal philosopher; and several political leaders, including Robert Owen, a founder of modern socialism. He has been described as the "spiritual founder" of University College London (UCL), though he played little direct part in its foundation.
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DeWitt Clinton:



was an early American politician and naturalist who served as United States Senator and the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton was the leader of New York's People’s Party, and was a major rival of Martin van Buren, who was attorney general of New York during Clinton's governorship. According to Daniel Walker Howe (2007) Clinton is an authentic but largely forgotten hero of American democracy. Howe explains, "The infrastructure he worked to create would transform American life, enhancing economic opportunity, political participation, and intellectual awareness."
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Boston Latin School:



is a public exam school located in Boston, Massachusetts that was founded in 1635. It is the first public school and the oldest existing school in the United States.

The school's first class included nine students; the school now has 2,400 pupils drawn from all parts of Boston. Its graduates have included four Harvard presidents, four Massachusetts governors, and five signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, as well as several preeminent architects, a leading art historian, a notable naturalist and the conductors of the New York Philharmonic and Boston Pops orchestras. There are also several notable non-graduate alumni, including Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. Boston Latin admitted only male students at its founding in 1635. The school's first female student was admitted in the nineteenth century. In 1972, Boston Latin admitted its first co-educational class.
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William Crawford:



William Crawford entered public service with the Georgia State House of Representatives, serving from 1803 to 1807. He moved on to the U.S. Senate in 1807 and remained in Washington until 1813, spending the end of his second term as the senate's president "pro tempore" following the death of Vice-president George Clinton (1812-1813).

After leaving Congress, Crawford left for Europe to serve as the U.S. minister to France (1813-1815). Upon his return to the United States in 1815, President James Madison offered Crawford a position as U.S. secretary of war. Crawford accepted, only to leave that post in 1816 to become secretary of the treasury, serving in the cabinets of Presidents Madison and James Monroe until 1825.

Crawford returned to Georgia in 1825, and in 1827 accepted an appointment as judge of Georgia's Northern Circuit Court. He served as a state judge until his death near Elberton, Georgia, in 1834. William Crawford was born in Amherst (Nelson) County, Virginia in 1772.
(Source: http://millercenter.org/president/mon...)

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(no image)William H. Crawford, 1772-1834 by Chase Curran Mooney

Daniel Tompkins:



Daniel D. Tompkins was born in Westchester County, New York, in 1774, and entered Columbia College (now Columbia University) in 1792. He graduated three years later and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1797. Tompkins was a member of the New York state constitutional convention in 1801 and joined the state assembly in 1803. In 1804, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but resigned before he took his seat to accept an appointment as an associate justice of the New York Supreme Court.

Tompkins was first elected governor of New York in 1807 and was subsequently reelected in 1810, 1813, and 1816, serving until he became vice president in 1817. As governor, he was part of the Democratic-Republican Party. He stressed education and more humane treatment of prisoners. He also strongly supported President James Madison and his decision to fight in the War of 1812. Tompkins organized defenses for his state and used his own money to help fund state militias. Although he was widely praised for his dedication and leadership during the war, his commitment caused him problems in later life.

Initially Tompkins had aspirations to be President but soon realized that he was not widely enough known outside of New York. Still the Democratic-Republicans chose him to serve as vice president to add geographic balance to James Monroe of Virginia. Once in office, Tompkins lacked interest in overseeing the Senate as that body’s president. He missed many sessions, and many people noted his excessive drinking.

During his tenure as vice president, Tompkins exerted much of his time and energy to fight allegations that he had mishandled federal and state funds during the War of 1812. Although Tompkins kept incomplete records and commingled his personal funds with government money, he fought the charges that he had willfully misused public money. He was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, and the government, in fact, paid him a small amount of money. Still saddled with debt and maligned for his drinking, Tompkins left the vice presidency without a political future. He died in 1825, shortly after leaving office.
(Source: http://millercenter.org/president/mon...)

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John C. Calhoun:



John Caldwell Calhoun was born March 18, 1782, near Abbeville, South Carolina. He graduated from Yale College in 1804 and was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1807 but only practiced law briefly. Calhoun was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1808 and then served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democratic-Republican from 1811 to 1817. In the House, Calhoun distinguished himself as one of the "War Hawks" who supported President James Madison's efforts to declare war on Britain in 1812.

President James Monroe appointed Calhoun secretary of war, and he served for the entirety of Monroe's two administrations from 1817 to 1825. As secretary of war, he was considered an able administrator, overseeing a review of the department's operations and accounts. In the 1824 election, Calhoun initially hoped to be considered for the presidency, but recognizing his inability to compete with John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, or William Crawford, he ultimately accepted the vice presidency. When no presidential candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams as President despite Jackson's winning the popular votes. Adams in turn selected Clay as his secretary of state. Calhoun was deeply offended by this perceived "corrupt bargain," in which people alleged that Clay had engineered Adams' election in the House in exchange for the appointment. Calhoun and Adams also agreed politically on few issues and had a tense relationship, which only deteriorated during the administration.

In the election of 1828, Calhoun was reelected as vice president on a ticket with Andrew Jackson. At first Jackson and Calhoun seemed to work together more smoothly than Calhoun had with Adams, but that situation was short lived. They disagreed over policy, especially the policy of nullification. In response to a tariff that negatively impacted the rural South, Calhoun advocated the idea that the United States was a compact between states, and if a state disagreed with federal policy, it could veto any federal act that intruded on state sovereignty. President Jackson vehemently disagreed.

Calhoun also had a personal falling out with Jackson over Secretary of War John Eaton and his wife Peggy. Scandalous stories had circulated about Peggy Eaton, whose first husband had died under mysterious circumstances—allegedly committing suicide due to Peggy's infidelity with Eaton. Cabinet wives, including Calhoun's wife, Floride, regarded Peggy Eaton with abhorrence and conspicuously shunned her. In that snubbing, President Jackson saw the kind of vicious persecution that he believed had hounded his own wife Rachel to her death. Jackson came to blame Calhoun for the situation, accusing him of treachery and initiating an angry correspondence that severed social relations between the two men. This situation allowed Martin Van Buren to win favor with Jackson and ultimately replace Calhoun as vice president in the 1832 election.

Calhoun became the first vice president to resign his position in December 1832; he then served in the U.S. Senate from 1832 to 1843. During his years in the Senate, he ceased to be a nationalist and became a staunch sectionalist and outspoken defender of slavery and the South. In 1844, President John Tyler appointed Calhoun secretary of state, and Calhoun served in that position for one year. He was reelected to the Senate in 1845 and served until his death on March 31, 1850.
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Irving, H. Bartlett

Adams Crypt at United First Parish Church:



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Nullification Crisis:

The relationship between North and the South was tenuous when Andrew Jackson came to office in 1828. Ever since the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Northerners and Southerners had fought over slavery and tariffs. Each region wanted to make sure their economies were protected in the new Union. Several times states threatened to leave the Convention and abandon the writing of the Constitution. By the end of the Convention, both sides had made significant compromises to the Constitution such as the “three-fifths clause,” the fugitive slave clause, and Article 1, Section 8 which allowed Congress to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises. These compromises were shaky. Neither side was truly pleased with the results.

Forty-one years later, in 1828, the issue of tariffs surfaced again. Congress passed a high protective tariff on imported, primarily manufactured goods. The South, being predominately agricultural and reliant on the North and foreign countries for manufactured goods, saw this tariff as an affront to their economy. Vice President John C. Calhoun called this a “tariff of abominations” meant to favor the North. South Carolina declared that Congress was overstepping its power by offering such support of the North’s manufacturing industries. The confrontation quickly spun into a debate over the power of the federal government to decide the rights of states.

In 1832, after the passing of another tariff, South Carolina declared the tariffs null and void and threatened to leave the Union in the Ordinance of Nullification. Jackson responded swiftly, calling the action treasonous. He asked Congress for the power to use military force to ensure that states adhered to federal law. While Congress debated the resulting Force Bill—which would grant the President his wish—Kentucky’s Henry Clay introduced a compromise tariff. Both bills passed in 1832. In the end, the North and South compromised, but not without revealing how fragile the relationship was. The Nullification Crisis foreshadowed the eventual secession of the South in 1860.
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John Walker:



a Delegate and a Senator from Virginia; born at “Castle Hill,” near Cobham, Albemarle County, Va., February 13, 1744; received private schooling and graduated from the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., in 1764; moved to “Belvoir,” Albemarle County, and engaged in planting; commissioned with his father to make special terms with the Indians at Fort Pitt, Pa., so as to retain their friendship during the Revolutionary War; served as an aide to General George Washington in 1777 with the rank of colonel; Delegate to the Continental Congress 1780; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law; appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William Grayson and served from March 31 to November 9, 1790, when a successor was elected; was not a candidate for reelection; resumed his agricultural pursuits; died near Madison Mills, Orange County, Va., December 2, 1809; interment in the family cemetery on the Belvoir estate near Cismont, Va
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