[USA] - 6th President of the USA John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams	Birth: 11 July 1767
	Died: 23 February 1848
	Party: Democratic-Republican
	Presidency: 1825 ~ 1829
	Vice President: John C. Calhoun
	Nickname: Old Man Eloquent

 

● Attempt to expand the American System

Despite the Democratic-Republican party’s political stance, John Quincy Adams had supported the American System proposed by Henry Clay since he was in congress.

John Quincy Adams didn’t think the federal government support on the public infrastructure and putting tariff was an abuse of the constitution.

He believed that tariff would protect the growing manufacturing industry while transport infrastructure would help the transfer of agricultural goods which would overall help the economy of both the south and north of the United States.

Henry Clay

 

However, as he was elected against the publicly popular Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams’s perspective didn’t concur with his own party the Democratic-Republican, John Quincy Adams couldn’t receive the political support

He could only approve two more projects including the construction of a canal between the Chesapeake Bay and the Ohio River and the extension of the Cumberland Road to Ohio.

 

 

● Panama Congress  

Former Spanish colonies in Central and South America have established their own nations around the early 1800’s. Colombia and Mexico was one of the states that have formed their own republic independent from Spain.

In 1826, Simón Bolívar of Colombia offered Mexico and the United States to hold a congress in Panama to discuss peace and diplomatic matters such as a unified agreement for foreign affairs with Spain.

 

 

 

 

Despite the peaceful intentions of the Latin American republics, John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay who was secretary of State for Adams faced strong oppositions in the congress.

Apparently, the Latin American republics also legally banned slavery and the congress men from the South feared that talks with the Latin American Republics would end up putting pressure on the ban of slavery in the South.

Eventually, along John Quincy Adams’s presidency, he couldn’t achieve much as he intended to do due to political oppositions.

 

 

● The first steam-powered railroad Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

 

 

In 4th of  July 1828, the Baltimore state started to construct the first steam-powered railroad. This railroad was to start from Baltimore and Ellicott’s Mill located in Maryland which would be 13 miles long.

The last survivor of those who’ve signed the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll attended the opening ceremony as he declared the beginning of the construction.

Eventually, this was intended to link Baltimore and Ohio which gave it its name the B&O line.

 

 

● First president to take a photograph 

Louis Daguerre invented the first camera ever that could preserve the image that the camera has taken. This camera type and photographic methods were named the Daguerreotype after his name.

This photo wasn’t taken during his presidency as the Daguerreotype was invented around 1840. John Quincy Adams became the first president ever to leave a photograph of himself.

 

 

● Tariff of Abominations & The birth of the Democrat and Republican Party

In support of the American System, John Quincy Adams proposed tariffs for manufactured products that were imported.

However, the congress both his party and the opposing federalists was unsupportive of John Quincy’s policies.

The ‘Jacksonians’ who were members of the Democratic-Republican party that supported Andrew Jackson revised the bill to raise the tariff on ‘imported raw material’ as well so the New England congressmen and Federalists would never agree to the bill.

 

 

The ‘Jacksonians’ were confident that Federalists including the New England congressman would never ever allow such a bill to be passed.

However, the ‘Tariff of Abominations’ was passed in 1828 and John Quincy Adams approved the bill. This tariff would cause in inflation that the United States would suffer form.

 

 

Thus, the public called this bill the ‘Tariff of Abomination’. The dispute between Jacksonians and supporters of John Quincy Adams intensified.

Later on, for the 1828 presidential elections, those who supported John Quincy Adams became the ‘National Republicans’ and those who supported Andrew Jackson(the so called Jacksonians) became the Democrats.

*Do note that theis republican and democratic trend doesn't fully extend to present day