John Quincy Adams

Served as president from 1825-1829
Era: The Jacksonian Era

American Identity and Culture
The Americans during the time of John Quincy Adams have gained a lot of insight and caused a lot of change from the recent Revolutionary and War-like thinking from the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary war. People began to be more educational and made many reforms. For example, Thomas Cole had established a newly made school called the Hudson River School for Landscape painting. By establishing this school, Americans can go there and become more cultural and artistic. People can also further develop their artistic skills for those who want to paint landscapes. Art was a major part of this time. Literature was also an important part of this time. In the year 1827, an American artist named, Audubon, publishes one of his most famous books, The Birds of America. Both literature and art were major developments in the time of John Quincy Adams’ Presidency.
Economic Transformations and Globalization
The Steam Powered Printing Press was invented on December 7th, 1826. It made newspapers more available to a mass audience, which also in turn increased the literacy rate in the United States. Internal improvements were also made during John Quincy Adam’s presidency. John Quincy Adam’s also decreased the national debt from $16 million to $5 million. During his presidency, there was also the start of industrialization, such as the beginnings of the Lowell system and the Lowell girls. Agriculture was also improved, when inventions like the power loom and other textile industry inventions were created. Another one of his proposals was the extension of the Cumberland Road, into Ohio and going through St. Louis. He also began construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Environment
The time during John Quincy Adams involves the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution. The introduction to the factory system in America made a large difference in the environment in his time. With the raw materials that people created, it spewed fumes and waste everywhere into the streets and into the air. Cities like New York were crawling with poor people. These poor people came as immigrants and even as people form America. The living conditions were horrible. People also began the use of Cotton during this time. People in the south would produce lots of cotton. They produced cotton because of the high demand made by the north and also from European countries. With the high demand from industrialization, it was necessary to produce more raw materials and that’s what people in the south did.
Politics and Citizenship
John Quincy Adams presidency had many political issues passed. In 1828 he passed the Tariff of 1828. This tariff was also labeled as the Tariff of Abominations by southern people. They gave it this name because it had a strong effect on their economy. The tariff greatly reduced the market in goods that came from Britain and was strongly pressured by the British abolitionists who made a living from their cotton, which they imported to the United States. By reducing the prices for the imports of Cotton, it greatly made the difference in price for the southern cotton and British cotton larger. This greatly angered the southern plantations who gained profit from selling Cotton. His election into office was also thought to be corrupted. The election at which he was elected was known as the corrupt bargain. When Jackson and John Quincy Adams and others all had the amount of electoral votes, it fell to the House to settle this. Through Henry Clay’s negotiation skills, the house settled on John Quincy Adams being the next president, thus creating a “corrupt bargain.”
Slavery and its legacies in North America
John Quincy Adams was a strong opponent against slavery. He believed that the president would be able to abolish slavery if a civil war were to break out. He also believed that Slaves would always revolt against the Southerners if the South became its own independent country. Over time, John Quincy Adams also grew a stronger resentment towards the practices of slavery. The Tariff of 1828 that he signed was also strongly hated by the slave holders in the south because they didn’t like how it could destroy their rights as slave-holders. He strongly spoke against the growing “Slave Power” and attacked it as if it were a conspiracy.
War and Diplomacy
John Quincy Adams was a one of the greatest diplomats in all of American history. He had created the treaties of reciprocity with many nations. Some of the nations that he had worked with include: Mexico, the Hanseatic League, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Prussia, and many of the Scandinavian countries. Although he was a great diplomat, he was also severely limited to his options because of these rivalries in Congress not allowing him to succeed in his diplomatic affairs. Although his fellow congressman held him back, he still would have done well in the diplomacy of foreign policies because his past experiences in foreign policies and all of the things that he issued in his years before would have saved him and he would not have to face dangers from them.