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John Quincy Adams Born: July 11, 1767 Death: February 23, 1848 Party: Democratic-Republican Term(s): 1825-1829 Vice President: John C. Calhoun

Even though John Quincy Adams had great ideas for when he became president, he did not follow through with any of them. He was the first president to endorse federally sponsored internal improvments for the country and he also wanted the construction of many things but Congress found it too ambitious. He was also greatly disliked by the American people because of his tariff and the Panama Congress. Overal, I give John Quincy Adams a C for his efforts as president. He was not greatly liked and he did not follow through with all of his ideas but he did start westward-bound roads and canals which gave him some positive votes among the people.

When Adams took the oath for presidency, he had plenty of ideas for the young country. His first problem though was getting into office. The election of 1824 was very controversial between him and Andrew Jackson. Jackson won the votes handily, popular and electoral, but there was not a majority winner so the presidential election was chosen by the House of Representatives. Clay, being the Speaker of the House and in the same party as Adams, chose Adams as president. The currupt bargain, which is what this event was called, cause the American people to already start disliking Adams when he just got into office. As stated earlier, Adams was the first president to endorse federally sponsored internal improvement. He wanted to construct a network of railroads and canals to the west, a national university, and an astronomical observatory. All of these are good ideas for the country and all had good motives but Congress thought that it was too ambitious and the people of America found it a waste of money. The only ideas that got constructed by the federal government are the extension of the Cumberland Road westward and the construction of the Cheaspeake and Ohio Canal which did help the westward travelers. These roads and canals also helped increase economy throughout America. The ideas were good for America but it was a wrong time period for the construction. America, being a young country, should be more focused on building up a stronger interior so that states are connected.

Adams and Congress did not have a great relationship during his term. The majority of Congressmen were followers of Jefferson so they did not believe in the ideals of Adams. Even though he knew Congress would not like it, Adams propossed the idea of construction within America. They denied his request like he thought but he did get roads and canals built. Adams might have been voted into the presidential position by Congress but it was all by the vote of Clay who was removed from his position when Adams took the job. The "currupt bargain" did not help his votes in Congress what so ever.

Adams is usually known as a bad president because of his poor ideas for the country but there are some positive things that Adams accomplished were the creation of roads and canals. These helped expand the economy because trade could prosper more. These connected states together better and trade could increase. Another positive thing that Adams did was that he wanted to go to the Panama Congress. The Congress wanted to come together to show unity between the new American countries. The South thought that this would increase the Anti-slave movement so they delayed the U.S. delegates long enough that so that they could not visit the Congress. Even though he never got to Panama, the thought that he waned to visit was important.

Adams had many negative instances during his presidency but there was one above all. The British was coming over and selling there products in America for a cheaper price than what the Americans were selling it. This was causing money not to be recirculated into the American economy. Adams then signed off the Tariff of Abomination. This tariff blocked all imported goods so that the American industry can flourish. Little did Adams now that the New England boaters thrived on these imports. When the tariff was signed, all boaters in the New England lost their jobs. Also, the South lost money through this too because the factories opened up in the North again so they were still making money, The South was losing money because the European countries were not buying their products now. This tariff started the nullifying of federal laws within the states. South Carolina was the first state to nullify a state law because of the money they were losing off of the tariff.

Adams was an ok president because of his goals. He did not set good goals as a president so he was stuck with what he wanted to do. He also had a very big negative which brought his grade down greatly. His accomplishments were small but needed within the small, new country. They needed some connections between states and Adams gave them roads and canals. This is why I give Adams a C grade. He deserves this from all of the points that are presented above.

DeGregorio, William A. // Complete book of U.S. presidents //. Fort Lee, N.J: Barricade, 2005. Print. "John Qunicy Adams." http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnquincyadams "John Quincy Adams." http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/jqadams