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John Quincy Adams Born: July 11, 1767 Died: February 23, 1848 Party: Republican Served: March 4, 1825, to March 4, 1829 Vice President: John C. Calhoun

Thesis: Although John Quincy Adams proved to be one of the most well-known diplomats of his time, he did not show as much skill throughout his presidency. Adams was a self admitting "man of reserved, cold, austere and forbidding manners," which unfortunately carried over into his politics. Adams was not a good choice for the people as president because he was not mindful to the needs of the the country or the people of the country at the time and his cold personality earned him little respect from other politicians and the people of America. For these reasons, I would give John Quincy Adams a "C" for his time in office.

Goals: John Quincy Adams differed from the rapidly changing sectionalist country in the fact that he was still a strong nationalist. Because of his strong nationalist views, perhaps one of his biggest goals during his presidency was to promote vast internal improvements. Adams started trying to push theses ideas through Congress early on. In his first annual message, he tried to put the notion of building canals and roads through Congress. Congress accepted these ideas and both the Erie Canal and the Ohio and Chesapeake Canal were constructed during his presidency. Both of the canals, increased transportation greatly in the country which further bolstered the economy. Adding to internal improvements, Adams was a strong proponent of education and the sciences. He went as far as to renew George Washington's proposal to build and fund a national university and he asked for monetary support from the federal government to build an astronomical observatory. Both ideas were immediately disliked by the public because it seemed like a waste of public funds. His land policies were disliked mostly in the South and the West. The South feared that Adams would continue the tariffs that they hated so much and meddle in local concerns such as roads, education and even slavery. The West wanted to continue to expand but could not do so with Adams cutting down on land speculation.

Relationship with Congress: John Quincy Adams did not have the best of relationships with Congress during his presidency. Many who were already seated in Congress, were Jackson supporters, therefore were enraged that Adams was put into office by the assumed craftiness of Henry Clay and the "Corrupt Bargain". Congress was relatively split between the Jacksonites and the Adams supporters. The Jacksonites of course did everything in their power to stifle the nationalostic views of Adams. After some time, Adams' supporters held him in lesser esteem for his lack of aggression in striking more bargains in office. He refused to retire his present officeholders to make room for his own supporters which greatly frustrated and lessened his support in Congress.

Positive Action: Although Adams didn't have many positive, memorable events during his presidency, he helped fund the building of the Erie Canal which helped to bridge the transportation gap across the growing country. The Erie Canal was completed in 1825 and was a way to connect Lake Erie of the West to the Hudson River in the East. The engineering was so great on it that some regarded it as the "Eighth Wonder of the World". The building of the canal opened up the land to the west of the Appalachian Mountains and offered settlers a cheap and safe way to transport their products to market. The Erie Canal was also the first transportation system between New York City and the Great Lakes that didn't require portage (the carrying of cargo between two bodies of water). The building of the canal also helped a great deal economically because it cut costs caused by transporting by 95%. Adams also is noted for the bulding of the Ohio and Chesapeake Canal which stretched from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington D.C. Having similar effects as the completion of the Erie Canal, but on a smaller scale, the construction of the Ohio and Chesapeake Canal made advances in transportation which only further bolstered the growing economy of America at the time.

Negative Action: Although Adams is oftened viewed in a negative light, one of his actions in particular stood out. Even though the intent was good, the passing of the Tariff of 1828 or the "Tariff of Abominations" as it was known to some was passed and widely disliked in the South. The Tariff of 1828 was originally a protective tariff put in place to protect New England factories and other industrial hubs from Britain dumping their inexpensive, excess goods on the Americans. The tariff was very lopsided in that it only was beneficial to the North and its manufacturing businesses. The South grew the raw materials and consumed the manufactured products from the North. The South felt that the tariff was made as a direct blow to them. The South had neither a steady nor large enough income at this point to support such high taxes. Yes, they made a very large profit off of the cotton but they produced few to no manufactured goods in the South so they could not afford these tariffs. The passing of this tariff not only created conflict later for Jackson during his presidency with the Nullification Crisis but it also contributed to the divide between the North and the South.

Conclusion: John Quincy Adams may have had political success in his career at one point but this did not occur during his presidency. Being a man with a cold and aloof personality, he did not take nearly enough initiative to make improvements that bettered the country. Adams did not fail as a president because he made bad decisions, he failed because he simply didn't do much at all. The only big decisions that he really made were the building/completion of the canals and the Tariff of 1828. One of these two ended badly and there aren't many other actions that Adams took in his presidency and for this is would give him a "C".

BIbliography

1. []. John Quincy Adams | The White House. The White House. 2 Mar 2010. 2.  []. Tariff of 1828. United States History. 3 Mar 2010. 3. []. Erie Canal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2 Mar 2010. 4. []. The Erie Canal. 2 Mar 2010. 5. DeGregorio, William A.. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents//. Fort Lee: Barricade Books Inc., 2009. 6. Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. //The American Pageant//. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.