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Benjamin Franklin

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{{Founding Fathers
|image=Benjamin.jpg
|State:=Pennsylvania
|Religion:=Christian- Episcopalian (Deist) <ref>http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html</ref>
|Founding Documents:=[[Declaration of Independence]], [[United States Constitution]]
}}
'''Benjamin Franklin''' (January 17, 1706, [[Boston]] - April 17, 1790 [[Philadelphia]]), was an American [[polymath]], printer, inventor, statesman, and one of the most prominent scientists in the world of the [[Enlightenment]], famed for his discoveries in electricity.

He was known as "the First American" because his efforts were critical to the formation of a new nation, the success of the [[American Revolution]] and the unification of the 13 colonies into the United States of America. Serving as the American minister to France, he secured decisive military and financial support for the Revolution, while asserting the values of democracy and [[republicanism]]. He assisted [[Thomas Jefferson]] in writing the [[Declaration of Independence]] in 1776 and helped legitimize the [[U.S. Constitution]] in 1787. His effective diplomacy, creative nationalism, promotion of civic virtue and devotion to [[republicanism]] earned him the top tier as a [[Founding Father]].

==Early life==
Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]] into a Puritan family. His father was Josiah Franklin, a soap and candle maker, who was married twice and had 17 children. Benjamin briefly attended the very good South Grammar School (affiliated with the Boston Latin School), then at age 10 was pulled out by his father. He was apprenticed at age 12 to his brother James Franklin (1697-1735), one of the first American printers. James published ''[[New England Courant]]'' and it became Ben's first public forum for his essays, written under the pseudonym "Silence Dogood." Ben, pretending to be a widow, wrote 14 essays in 1722. The essays drew the anger of the local authorities, who prohibited James from publishing it, citing that it mocked religion. Ben, now aged 17, was under legal obligation to his brother but broke with him, and ran away to Philadelphia on his own. Franklin visited his many relatives in Boston in 1733 and reconciled with his brother, and when James died at the age of 38, Ben helped his widow and took charge of James' oldest son.

==Philadelphia Printer ==
Franklin found work as a printer in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania governor William Keith was one of his patrons, and he persuaded Franklin to go into business for himself and offered him letters of credit in London to purchase equipment. When he arrived in London in December 1724, he learned that Keith's letters of credit were useless. Franklin stayed in London, working in the local print shops. In 1726, he returned to Philadelphia and again worked in print shops. In 1728, Franklin partnered with Hugh Meredith to opened their own print shop. Franklin soon bought out Meredith and in 1730 began publishing ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' newspaper, which he bought from his former employer, Samuel Keimer. Besides the newspaper and almanac, he was a job printer and churned out pamphlets, religious tracts, playbills, tickets, advertisements, legal forms, soap wrappers, election notices, currency, carrier addresses, government documents, book labels, school books such as [[The New England Primer]], and other ephemeral items. In his leisure moments he taught himself to read French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin.

===Almanack===
{{main|Poor Richard's Almanack}}

In late 1732, he began writing and publishing ''Poor Richard's Almanack'', under the guise of "Poor Richard Saunders" and his wife, Bridget, both fictional characters. The almanack provided useful information on the seasons while enlightening the reader with witty short sayings. Franklin had a knack for rewording and improving old proverbs in a wittier manner. The almanac appeared annually from 1732 to 1758, selling over 250,000 copies.<ref>William Pencak, "Politics and Ideololgy in Poor Richard's Almanack". ''Pennsylvania Magazine Ideologyof History and Biography'' 1992 116(2): 183-211</ref>

==National communications network==
One long-term project was creating a network of printers, especially using his own apprentices who would move to other cities to establish themselves. The network of allied printer-publishers extended from New England to the West Indies and lasted from 1729 to the 1790s. It composed his relatives and business associates. It financed printers, played a vital role in developing American journalism, and influenced American morals and ethics by widely disseminating Franklin's ideology of virtue.

Upon finding apprentices whose diligence, skill, and character impressed him, Franklin would make them partners, often setting them up in printing businesses of their own. Subsequently, he would use them to expand his business associations, and as deputy postmaster-general for North America he would set up his associates as postmasters in their local areas. Postmasters were the first to receive news and could communicate it quickly to Franklin through their free use of the postal system. By building and using his communications network Franklin was able to both keep abreast of important developments in the colonies and build a network of supporters and admirers who influenced public opinion in their own cities. As the revolutionary era began, Franklin opposed colonial independence from Britain. Network infighting ensued, pitting Loyalist printers Thomas Wharton and Joseph Galloway against pro-independence publisher William Goddard, who created a private system to deliver his papers that became a model for the US Postal Service. The Continental Congress later appointed Franklin postmaster general, and he, not Goddard, received credit for America's postal system. In 1768, reacting to the Stamp and Townshend acts, Franklin became an activist in the Patriot cause. Many network printers, such as David Hall and James Holt, followed suit, as the colonists polarized between Patriots and Loyalists. As revolt approached, network newspapers became influential foes of Britain. War, turmoil, and Franklin's diplomatic absence while in France caused the network eventually to dissolve, and be replaced by networks of party newspapers.<ref>Ralph Frasca, "'The Glorious Publick Virtue so Predominant in Our Rising Country': Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network During the Revolutionary Era." ''American Journalism'' 1996 13(1): 21-37. 0882-1127; Frasca, ''Benjamin Franklin's Printing Network: Disseminating Virtue in Early America'' (2006) [http://www.questia.com/read/111742668?title=Benjamin%20Franklin's%20Printing%20Network%3a%20Disseminating%20Virtue%20in%20Early%20America online edition]</ref>

==Marriage==
In September 1730, Franklin entered a common law marriage with Deborah Read. No legal ceremony was possible because Deborah was still legally married; her husband had deserted to avoid paying a debt. Around this time, Franklin fathered an illegitimate son by an unknown woman; [[William Franklin]] was raised in his new household. In 1732, his first son with Deborah, Francis died of smallpox at the age of 4, leading Franklin to become an advocate of vaccinations. Sarah Franklin, who went by Sally, was born 11 years later in 1743.

==Civic leader==
Franklin became Philadelphia's leading citizen, founding and leading many civic organizations. He was the founder of the American tradition of boosterism, as well as a systematic thinker who analyzed urban problems in the context of rapid population growth. Franklin's understanding of and solution for the urban problems of a growing Philadelphia shaped his later ideas about city-country relationships and his pessimism regarding the future of the United States. Beginning in the 1730s, Franklin actively and publicly addressed such issues as the link between the environment and disease, fire prevention, pollution from tanneries, and restoring the water system in the center of the city (called the Dock) through various engineering projects. Franklin helped improve fire safety and waste handling by mid-century, but manufacturing interests could not be controlled. Franklin believed America would eventually exhaust its vast supply of open, unpopulated land and become increasingly urbanized and demographically imbalanced, thereby making Philadelphia's problems the nation's.<ref>A. Michal McMahon, "'Small Matters': Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, and the 'Progress of Cities.'" ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 1992 116(2): 157-182. 0031-4587</ref>

After 1727 Franklin typically operated through "the Junto", an informal club comprising friends, civil leaders and fellow tradesmen. He established America's first subscription library, the Library Company of Philadelphia, in 1731. In 1736, he organized the first volunteer fire department, the Union Fire Company. In 1743, he expanded the idea of the Junto to all of the colonies by organizing the [[American Philosophical Society]]. He helped fund the first hospital and planned a professional police force.

===Moral reform===
During the 1730s Franklin made a determined effort to use the emerging power of his press to clean up both private character and public space by writing against the excesses of drink, alehouses, fairs, gambling, and other idle pursuits. Franklin's focus on the body and its potential excess is reflective of a transformation in body image and self-image that was part of a broader range of religious, economic, and political transformations that emerged in the 18th century. All were part of a challenge to the traditional authority of church and state; the growth of commerce, the market, and the print public sphere; and the proliferation of a political ideology that presaged the Declaration of Independence. In his ''Autobiography'' (1771) Franklin utilized the body and its "inclinations" to drive his narrative. In contrast to [[Thomas Jefferson]], who appealed to abstract human rights, and [[John Adams]], who invoked historical precedent and English canon law, Franklin portrayed the Revolution as an ongoing struggle between inclination and reason.<ref>Betsy Erkkila, "Franklin and the Revolutionary Body." ''ELH'' (English Literary History) 2000 67(3): 717-741. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/30031934 in JSTOR]</ref>

Franklin did not derive his ideas on ethics and virtue from Puritan thought. The orthodox Puritans stressed the concept of a "double calling," one which distinguishes between an outward calling and an inward one. For the Puritan, the inward calling - through which man is justified by God's grace - took precedence over the outward calling - man's commitment to the world. [[Cotton Mather]]'s "Bonifacius," which Franklin cites as an influence in the development of his own philosophy, maintains this distinction. Franklin's commitment is to the outward calling. He rejects the central doctrines of Puritanism: Providence, Election, and Original Sin. Franklin actually retained few Puritan ideals.<ref>Campbell Tatham, "Benjamin Franklin, Cotton Mather and the Outward State." ''Early American Literature'' 1972 6(3): 223-233. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/25070534 in JSTOR]</ref>

Franklin's moral theories stemmed from a commonly held concept among 18th century [[Enlightenment]] philosophers: that the development of habit can be used for achieving behavioral change. Franklin's approach to the gaining of moral progress was neopagan rather than Christian in its orientation. It stressed the gradual modification of the person's observable actions instead of an emphasis on internal spiritual change. In essence, Franklin's attitude toward habit and moral improvement was almost identical to that later espoused by [[John Stuart Mill]] and the utilitarian and associationist schools of philosophy.<ref>Norman S. Fiering, "Benjamin Franklin and the Way to Virtue". ''American Quarterly'' 1978 30(2): 199-223. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2712323 in JSTOR]</ref>

===Library===
Franklin was the main organizer of the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by middle class "artificers," (craftsmen, like printers, and owners of small businesses). They sought to improve their condition and status through self-education. The library reflected Franklin's belief that reading could change expectations and positions in society. The books at the library were extremely important in Franklin's intellectual development, and his experience there strengthened his beliefs about education. Through the library, members pursued many interests and became involved in natural science through Peter Collinson of London, who acted as its book agent. Nonmembers of both sexes also used the library.<ref>George Boudreau, "'Highly Valuable And Extensively Useful': Community and Readership among the Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia Middling Sort." ''Pennsylvania History'' 1996 63(3): 302-329.</ref>

===Education===
Franklin's 1749 "Proposals for the Education of Youth in Pensilvania," in which he proposes the formation of an academy and discusses its basically secular curriculum. Religion is to be taught under the rubric of history:
:"History ''will also afford frequent Opportunities of showing the Necessity of a ''Publick Religion,'' from its Usefulness to the Publick; the advantage of a Religious Character among private Persons; the Mischiefs of Superstition, &c. and the Excellency of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION above all others, ancient and modern."''

Not a college man, Franklin proposed educational changes that broke decisively with many traditional educational practices of his day. His proposals reflect his own view of the Enlightenment and its perception of the human mind. He helped establish of the "College of Philadelphia" (now the [[University of Pennsylvania]]). Unlike Harvard and Yale it was nonsectarian and did not primarily train clergy. Instead it educated students for careers in the professions and business and for public service. It established America's first modern liberal arts curriculum."<ref>George W. Boudreau, "'Done by a Tradesman': Franklin's Educational Proposals and the Culture Of Eighteenth-Century Pennsylvania." ''Pennsylvania History'' 2002 69(4): 524-557. 0031-4528; see [http://www.upenn.edu/about/heritage.php online]</ref>

===Militia===
Franklin helped create the Pennsylvania Militia, independent of the colonial government. The repeated [[French and Indian Wars]] were a threat to the frontier, as the French based in Canada organized and armed Indians who raided the frontier settlements. The government was controlled by the Penn family and the [[Quakers]], who refused to organize any military defense. In November 1747, Franklin wrote ''Plain Truth'' advocating the creation of a defense force, since the government would not do so. The pamphlet was enthusiastically received and Franklin organized the "Association" in 1747 to defend against attacks on settlements along the Delaware River. It was the first volunteer militia in Pennsylvania. By the end of 1747 ten volunteer regiments, composed of 124 volunteer companies (designed to have 50-100 men each), had been raised. But the militia was organized only after long debate, much of which involved biblical comparisons and religious justifications from both supporters (including Franklin) and opponents of military preparedness. The debate foreshadowed the ultimate demise of Quaker rule in Pennsylvania, since the Quaker legislators realized their refusal to defend the colony meant they had to resign office.<ref>Barbara A. Gannon, "The Lord is a Man of War, The God of Love and Peace: The Association Debate, Philadelphia 1747-1748." ''Pennsylvania History 1998'' 65(1): 46-61.</ref>

===Opposes multiculturalism===
Franklin had a vision of an ethnically homogeneous America, and so he had negative views on the large and expanding German community in Pennsylvania (usually called the "Pennsylvania Dutch.") Franklin's first contacts with the Pennsylvania Germans concerned business. In 1731 he printed two books in German for German Baptists; he also printed into pamphlet form a letter from Conrad Weiser, an Indian negotiator, to Christopher Sauer, a German-language publisher. However, in from the late 1740s into the 1750s, Franklin believed that the Germans could not be assimilated into Englishmen and thus would always be aliens. He disliked the failure of the Germans to assimilate—they had their own language, religion and customs, and showed no interest in becoming like Englishmen or in joining the militia. In "Observations on the Increase of Mankind" (1751), Franklin expressed his opposition toward German immigrants, whom he ridiculed:
:"why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our Settlements and, by herding together, establish their Language and Manners, to the Exclusion of ours? Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Angli-fying them .. .?"

Despite Franklin's fears, German settlers helped secure the colony's borders against France's Indian supporters during the French and Indian War. Franklin's 1751 remarks came back to haunt him during the 1764 election to determine whether Pennsylvania would remain a proprietary colony or become a royal one (as Franklin advocated) when Franklin's opponents used his comments about the German colonists to defeat his position. Franklin kept silent about the Germans. He was pleased that the Reformed and Lutheran Germans supported the French and Indian War (1757–63) and, even more important, the American Revolution (1775-1783), even as the numerous German pacifist sects like the Dunkers, Amish and Mennonites remained neutral. Franklin and the Germans finally were reconciled in 1787 when Franklin College (now Franklin and Marshall College), was established to promote an better knowledge of the German and English languages, and was named in his honor by the Germans.<ref>John B. Frantz, "Franklin and the Pennsylvania Germans" ''Pennsylvania History'' 1998 65(1): 21-34. 0031-4528; Glenn Weaver, "Benjamin Franklin and the Pennsylvania Germans," ''William and Mary Quarterly'' Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1957), pp. 536-559 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1918520 in JSTOR]</ref>

In response to British conquest of French-speaking Quebec in 1759, he wrote "The Canada Pamphlet." It stands as one of the most complex and sophisticated pieces of pre-Revolutionary American thought. In it, Franklin entertained ideas of a homogeneous American population in manners, language, and religion as a reaction against ethnic and political warfare within Europe. Drawing on the ideas of [[Thomas Hobbes]], [[David Hume]], and [[Baruch Spinoza]], Franklin believed that political and ethnic relations were exclusively dominated by power, leaving no room for multiculturalism in America, preferring instead the implementation of the British Crown model to foster internal peace in the colonies. Having a reputation as anti-German hurt Franklin politically, and he dropped the nativism after 1765.<ref>Alberto Lena, "Benjamin Franklin's 'Canada Pamphlet' or 'The Ravings of a Mad Prophet': Nationalism, Ethnicity and Imperialism." ''European Journal of American Culture'' 2001 20(1): 36-49. 1466-0407</ref>

===Demography===
In 1751 Franklin wrote "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, Etc." in which he both anticipated the [[Robert Malthus|Malthusian]] theory of population growth and quite accurately predicted the rate of American population increase for the following century and a half. He showed that the American population doubled every 25 years, while Europe and Asia were static or grew very slowly. England's population supposedly took 360 years to double. There is a paradox in Franklin's treatment of population. He maintained that the tendency of populations to expand until checked by the lack of subsistence was a cause of European miseries, yet he advocated rapid population growth for the American colonies. When his population theory is highlighted, he appears as a Malthusian pessimist; when his population values are highlighted, he appears as an ardent pro-natalist.<ref>Dennis Hodgson, "Benjamin Franklin on Population: From Policy to Theory," ''Population and Development Review,'' Vol. 17, No. 4 (Dec., 1991), pp. 639-661 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/1973600 in JSTOR]; Alfred Owen Aldridge, "Franklin as Demographer," ''Journal of Economic History,'' Vol. 9, No. 1 (May, 1949), pp. 25-44 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2113719 in JSTOR]</ref>

==Science and invention ==
By age 42, Franklin was wealthy enough to retire from publishing and devote most of his time to his scientific pursuits, keeping in touch with the leading scientists in Britain and the Continent. Franklin combined commonsense empiricism, always paying very close attention to details and carefully recording his measurements. At the same time he was insatiably speculative, theoretical, and conjectural.

Franklin's numerous inventions include bifocal glasses,<ref>see [http://www.antiquespectacles.com/topics/franklin/franklin.htm illustration]</ref> the glass armonica, the flexible catheter, the odometer, and swimming fins.

===Stove===
In 1742 he invented a device inserted into a fireplace that gave more warmth at a lower fuel cost. His idea, worked out with his friend Robert Grace, consisted of a low stove, equipped with loosely fitting iron plates through which air circulated and was warmed before it entered the room. This "New Pennsylvania Fireplace" avoided drafts, gave more even temperatures throughout the room, and checked loss of heat through the chimney. It was an insert in an already existing hearth, and did not resemble what are now called "Franklin stoves".

===Meteorology===
The first contributions to scientific meteorology in America were Franklin's famous experiments regarding lightning, atmospheric electricity, cyclone theory, and ocean circulation, during the years from 1748 to 1775. Franklin designed the experiment that proved that electric sparks created artificially in the laboratory were similar to deadly and destructive lightning bolts, except in magnitude. He proved that there were electric charges in the atmosphere both in cloudy (or thunder) weather and in fine weather. Franklin showed that storms may move progressively "into the wind," by observing that a cyclonic storm with a northeast wind hit Philadelphia a day or so before it hit Boston, which lies to the northeast of Philadelphia. Finally, while crossing the Atlantic between 1746 and 1775, and after discussions with his cousin a ship captain, he reported there is a warm current off the New England coast setting to the northeast—the [[Gulf Stream]]—and was able to chart its boundaries fairly accurately.

===Discovering electricity===
Franklin's great scientific achievement came in his experiments and theories regarding [[electricity]]. He was first intrigued by the concept after meeting Archibald Spencer and witnessing his demonstrations on the creation of static electricity. In 1747, Spencer donated a glass tube and information on generating electricity to the Library Company. Franklin had several of these glass devices made for his experiments. He theorized that electricity was one "fluid." He discovered that when a "positive" charge is created that a "negative" charge is created as well, which became known as the [[conservation of charge]]. He also began using [[Leyden jar]]s, a glass jar with foil on the outside and a conductor such as water or metal on the inside that could be charged with a wire. Franklin determined that the charge was not stored in the conductor, as was previously thought, and was held in the glass.<ref>We now know that the Leyden jar is an early form of the [[capacitor]], that the charge is contained in a layer of the conductor facing the glass and that the glass (the [[dielectricum]]) increases the [[capacitance]] of the jar (amount of charge that can be held).</ref> Based on this knowledge, he invented the first electrical battery, which was a series of glass planks that were flanked by metal and wired together.
[[Image:Franklin - kite.jpg|left|360px]]
Franklin began noticing the similar properties of [[lightning]] and electrical sparks, which led to his most famous experiment. In 1750, Franklin outlined his proposal in two letters to Peter Collinson, which were published and presented to the Royal Society in London. On May 10, 1752 French scientist [[Thomas-François D'Alibard]] successfully performed Franklin's experiment outside of Paris. In June, before word of success had crossed the Atlantic, Franklin performed his kite and key experiment with his son, William, with similar success, which has become a popular part of American folklore.<ref>See [http://www.mos.org/sln/toe/kite.html], [http://www.thebakken.org/electricity/franklin-kite.html] and [http://www2.fi.edu/exhibits/permanent/electricity.php]</ref> This led to the invention of lightning rods [http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/images/rod.jpg], which became widespread in the colonies, as well as Europe, bringing international fame to Franklin almost overnight. In 1753, he received honorary degrees from both Harvard and Yale, and the Royal Society in London awarded him the prestigious [[Copley Medal]].

Franklin is responsible for the nomenclature of "positive" and "negative" charge. He believed he could tell the direction in which electricity traveled by observing sparks. He was wrong; the electrons, which are the particles carrying ordinary [[electricity]], move in the opposite of the direction he thought they did. As a result, when electrons were discovered, according to Franklin's designation they had to be considered as having a negative charge.

===Controversies===
There were many rivalries among scientists of the day and Franklin joined in energetically. At every point of Franklin's career, rival scientists disputed his claims to inventions and disagreed with his scientific results. Abbé Nollet, the leader of the French scientific community, reported on experiments which he believed illustrated the shortcomings of Franklin's research on electricity. Nollet maintained that Franklin's lightning rods might ignite fires by attracting electricity. Various European scientists claimed to have thought of Franklin's kite or lightning rod experiments before Franklin. Leading British experimenter William Watson claimed that most of Franklin's ideas had their origins in his own work. Political controversy swirled in England in 1772 when members of the Royal Society debated whether lightning rods should be "points" or "blunts." George III entered the controversy by demanding that blunts should be placed on the royal palace after an official committee, of which Franklin was a member, recommended pointed rods to protect the government powder magazine.<ref>I. Bernard Cohen, "Franklin's Scientist Enemies: Real or Imagined" ''Pennsylvania History'' 1998 65(1): 7-20. 0031-4528</ref>

==Albany Plan of Union 1754==
While Franklin thought of himself as a loyal subject, and was comfortable with monarchy and aritocracy, he did express an emerging sense of Americanism. In 1753, London promoted Franklin to the position of Deputy Postmaster for the Colonies. The industrious Franklin, who frequently took inspection tours throughout the colonies, revamped the postal system to be more efficient, speeding up delivery times and creating the home delivery system. From visiting the colonies first hand, coupled with the increasing need for frontier defense, Franklin realized that some form of unification of the colonies was necessary. In June 1754, a conference was called by the London Board of Trade to meet in Albany, New York to discuss a more unified defense. He proposed the "Albany Plan of Union", which would have united the colonies under a royal governor, and given the colonies the power to tax themselves. Delegates from several colonies had come together to discuss ways to restore harmonious relations with the Indians but soon found themselves debating Franklin's plan of union, which would have created a unified colonial entity. The Plan was approved by the conference but was unanimously rejected by the colonial assemblies and by London. It was twenty years too soon for the colonies to give up their smug complacency and dependence upon London, rather than each other. In 1754 colonists assumed Britain was a benevolent empire run for the benefit of colonists, but within twenty years realized their error. The Albany plan formed much of the basis for the later American governments established by the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the Constitution.

==Politician==
In 1751, after serving as a clerk 15 years, Franklin was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly. He used his new position to advance civic projects such as pushing legislation to maintain and light the streets. One of the primary issues faced by the Assembly was keeping their frontier border safe from Indian attacks orchestrated by the French. There was frequent conflict between the Assembly and the Proprietary leadership of the Penn family. The Penns controlled a vast majority of the lands in Pennsylvania, however, forbid them to be taxed which hampered the Assembly's ability to build an adequate militia. Penn repeatedly fought the Penn family and tried, without success, to have the King take direct control of Pennsylvania.
==Colonial agent in London==

In 1757 Franklin was sent to London as the paid representative or lobbyist of the Pennsylvania Assembly to present the colony's side of its controversy with the Penn family, which still owned the colony.

His attempts to persuade this to both Thomas Penn and Parliament failed. Although his mission was over by 1758, Franklin lingered in London for another four years. He enjoyed his time meeting with the local intellectuals and political radicals, and with a touch of regret returned to Philadelphia in 1762. His return to Philadelphia was to be short-lived. In the 1764 elections, Franklin failed to be reelected after a vicious pamphlet war labeled him as anti-German and Scottish, which made up a majority of Pennsylvania's frontier population. He found this to be a blessing in disguise when the Assembly elected to send him back to London to serve as their agent once again. He tried and failed to obtain a recall of the Penn charter. Franklin also became the paid agent in London for Georgia in 1768, for New Jersey in 1769, and for Massachusetts in 1770. These appointments, together with his wide reputation, made Franklin a sort of ambassador extraordinary from the American colonies to Britain.

He remained abroad for eighteen years, not returning to American until 1775. He was invited to join the "Lunar Society" in [[Birmingham]], where he met many intellectuals and leaders of the emerging [[Industrial Revolution]]

===Stamp Act===
[[File:The Colonies Reduced.jpg|100px|thumb|left|The Colonies Reduced]]
In 1765, he blundered by assuring British politicians that Americans would accept the [[Stamp Act]]. He sent a letter to Philadelphia that was made public urging the colonies to simply make the best of it, leading to the misconception that Franklin had something to do with authoring the Stamp Act. News of colonial protest caused him to reverse his position and he helped negotiated trepeal of the hated tax. Afterwards, Franklin regularly opposed British attempts to tax the colonies, arguing that the colonists had the same rights as other British subjects, with the ability to govern and tax through an elected legislature.
[[File:Benjamin Franklin 1767.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Benjamin Franklin, 1767.]]
In June 1767, Parliament passed the [[Townshend Act]], another tax on colonial goods. Franklin, still loyal to the crown, took a moderate approach - simultaneously criticizing the rash colonials and the rash government. Increasing the great divide was representation in parliament. Americans had none.

===Hutchinson letters===
In 1773, Franklin somehow obtained the originals of secret letters written written 1767-1769 by Thomas Hutchinson when he was Chief Justice of Massachusetts to a member of the British government soliciting troops and urging abridgment of American liberties. Franklin sent the letters to friends in the colony, who in turn published them. His intent was to pin the blame on people like Hutchinson for encouraging the unpopular policies, which he hoped would promote a spirit of reconciliation with Britain. He misjudged the situation, however, which led to the Massachusetts Assembly demanding that Parliament remove Hutchinson from his governorship. London by now had lost all patience with the American colonies and had embarked on a series of punishments designed to humiliate the Americans and make them stay in their inferior places. London sent more troops to Boston and brought Franklin before the Privy Council where he was viciously humiliated in public on January 29, 1775. He was stripped of his position of postmaster.

Franklin's political roles in London in 1757-62 and 1764-75 reshaped his political views. Although he loved the scientists and intellectuals, he hated the politicians. He came to see Britain as vain and corrupt, and he returned to his native America in 1775 with the hope that in a still-uncorrupted republic virtue might prevail.<ref>Esmond Wright, "'The Fine and Noble China Vase, The British Empire': Benjamin Franklin's 'Love-Hate' View of England". ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History And Biography'' 1987 111(4): 435-464.</ref>

===Continental Congress===
Franklin arrived back in Philadelphia on May 5, 1775, and the next day was chosen a member of the Second Continental Congress. Fighting had broken out near Boston, and the New England militia had trapped the British army in the city. The Congress became the voice of the Americans, setting up shadow governments in each colony, getting ready for a major revolt. Militia units up and down the 13 colonies began drilling for war.

Franklin, following the lead of [[John Adams]], began preparing for independence. On July 21, 1775, he presented his scheme for the [[Articles of Confederation]], similar to his Albany Plan, which called for a strong central government and a congress with proportional representation. However, few of his ideas were included in the Articles Congress adopted in 1777. The Patriots now controlled every colony, and incited by the clever reasoning of [[Thomas Paine]], realized that their [[republican]] values and way of life were incompatible with conytrol by foreign aristocrats in London. As popular sentiment for independence swelled in late spring 1776, Franklin, joined [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[John Adams]], [[Roger Sherman]], and [[Robert Livingston]] as a committee to prepare a [[Declaration of Independence]]. Jefferson, the best writer, did the drafting, with Franklin offering his editorial commentary. A new nation emerged on July 4, 1776. It had driven out all the British officials. But they returned in force in August, 1776, seized New York City, and offered to negotiate on everything except independence. Patriots demanded independence and refused to negotiate any other terms. Help was needed from France, so in December 1776, Franklin was sent to Paris, along with [[Silas Deane]] and [[Arthur Lee]], to secure aid for the new nation.

Along with being on the committee to draft the [[Declaration of Independence]], Franklin also proposed an idea for the national seal. His proposal was to have a picture of the Isaelites crossing the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army being destoyed by the water encircled by the phrase, "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."

Franklin had made his illegitimate son William Franklin, the Royal Governor of [[New Jersey]], but he remained loyal to the Crown, and father and son never reconciled.

He understood the risks the [[Founding Fathers]] were taking and told them, "We must all hang together, or we shall hang separately."

==Ambassador==
[[Image:Franklin - France.jpg|right|340px]]
Franklin was America's first minister (ambassador) to King [[Louis XVI]] in [[France]], where he was instrumental in obtaining military and economic support for the struggle against Britain. Franklin arrived to great fanfare in France. Already well known for his lightning experiment, his flirtatious manner and wit made him a favorite among the courtiers. Franklin systematically mingled with scientists, writers, intellectuals and government officials in Paris. He avoided court costumes and cultivated the image of a rustic American, sometimes wearing a coonskin cap. The French loved every bit of it and his popularity helped in securing recognition, money and armies and navies to fight Britain.

===Diplomat===
Franklin proved himself to be a crafty diplomat. By the end of 1777, after the great American victory at [[Battle of Saratoga|Saratoga]], the French became confident the Americans were strong enough to prevail. The French favored an alliance with the Americans, but their ally Spain was opposed, fearing that anti-imperial republicanism might emerge ion Spain's many colonies. Franklin played on the traditional hatred between the British and the French, using the press to get his messages across. On February 5, 1778 he officially signed a treaty of alliance with France with the stipulation that the U.S. must have France's approval to negotiate peace with Britain. The American revolution was now a world war, and as the Netherlands and Spain joined France, and the rest remained neutral, Britain was outnumbered on land and sea and had little hope of defeating the Allies.

Franklin and John Adams did not get along. Adams that Franklin was "too old, too infirm, too indolent and dissipated for the discharge of all the important duties of ambassador, board of war, board of treasury, commissary of prisoners...." Adams did admit that the power of Franklin's name and fame made him essential, and historians generally agree Franklin did a very good job.<ref>Gorodon Wood, ''The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin'' (2004) p 192; Stacy Schiff, ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'' (2005)</ref> French aid proved to be critical to the Americans success, most notably in the decisive victory at Yorktown in October 1781. The Revolutionary war was now won, but negotiations dragged on until the Peace of Paris was signed on Sept. 3, 1783. Franklin remarked, about this time: "There never was a good war nor a bad peace."

Franklin was the most traditional American diplomat of era in his tendency to approach diplomacy as a search for compromise, his use of diplomacy as a tool for peace, his insistence on working through proper channels, and his adherence to the norms of good manners and civility. He played a central role in the peace negotiations in Paris, and to the amazement of observers at the time—and historians ever since—won highly favorable terms from the British, especially ownership of all the lands east of the Mississippi River (except Florida, which went to France's ally Spain.) Assisted by diplomats [[John Jay]] and John Adams, Franklin demonstrated great foresight and diplomatic aplomb in negotiating the treaty. While military victory certainly influenced the outcome, the envoys' tenacity and adroit craftsmanship nonetheless frustrated much of the great power intrigue aimed at blocking united American independence. By 1783, few European diplomats visualized an independent United States. The American emissaries, steeped in revolutionary fervor and confident after military victory, would not settle for less.<ref>Richard Morris, ''The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence'' (1965) is the definitive history.</ref>

===Disinherits his son===
In 1789 Franklin disinherited his only living son, William, who had been Franklin's close personal friend and, beginning in the 1750s, his political protégé. Franklin used his contacts in London to have William named royal governor of New Jersey, a lucrative and highly prestigious position. In 1774, when Franklin was fired as head of the American postal system and publicly humiliated at Whitehall, he believed his son would resign as governor to protest his father's treatment. When William failed to do this and even admonished his father to accept his fate and take a comfortable retirement, an irreparable breach was created between father and son, a rift widened by the son's loyalty to the British crown during the Revolutionary War. Although William attempted to reestablish a father-son relationship, Benjamin refused and could never forgive his son for the public nature of the humiliation he felt William had caused him.<ref>Sheila L. Skemp, "Benjamin Franklin, Patriot, and William Franklin, Loyalist." ''Pennsylvania History'' 1998 65(1): 35-45.</ref>

==Building a stronger nation==
Franklin returned home in September 1785. Like all nationalists he could see that the Articles of Confederation created a government that was too weak to survive in a dangerous world It had no president and no tax base, for example. Franklin's ideas for an American republic provided a reconciliation of classical republicanism and 18th century economic life. Franklin's demographic view put America and Britain in contrast. He criticized the British emphasis on manufacturing for export, and he preferred agriculture as the best source of national wealth. Although favoring self-sufficiency, as a means for a virtuous independence, Franklin recognized the need for encouraging a vigorous foreign commerce (with free trade). Open space and open markets were essential for republicanism to work.<ref>Drew R. McCoy, "Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1978 35(4): 607-628. 0043-5597</ref>

Franklin can be compared favorably with [[Frederick Jackson Turner]] as a promoter of the [[Frontier Thesis]], the idea of the significance of the West in the shaping of American character. Franklin used the words frontier and West interchangeably and generally equated both of them with free land. He believed that the West was decisive in producing the phenomenal population growth of the society of his day and its "middle-class agrarianism." His frontier-inspired ideas had a demonstrable effect on public events and contributed to the coming of the American Revolution. Americans eagerly gave wide currency to Franklin's ideas. His political and diplomatic exertions contributed considerably to insure that the West would be a part of the new nation he was helping to create.<ref>James H. Hutson, "Benjamin Franklin and the West". ''Western Historical Quarterly'' 1973 4(4): 425-434. 0043-3810</ref>

In 1787 the [[Constitutional Convention]] convened in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution. Franklin, at age 81 the oldest delegate, played an honorific role and his support helped legitimize the project. Other members of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Convention were [[George Clymer]], [[Thomas Fitzsimons]], [[Jared Ingersoll]], [[Thomas Mifflin]], [[Gouverneur Morris]], [[Robert Morris]], and [[James Wilson]].

==Slavery==
Franklin in the 1750s owned two slaves, whom he eventually freed, and also ran advertisements for slave sales in his ''Pennsylvania Gazette''. As a youth he had been a runaway himself. As a diplomat he supported slavery, but for Franklin slavery was always more of a political than a moral problem. Late in life he reversed directions and supported the abolition of the slavery trade (but not slavery itself). He joined the Pennsylvania Abolition Society and became their president in 1787; his was primarily honorific. The Society had hoped he would bring up the issue of slavery at the Constitutional Convention, which he declined to do, realizing that it would be too contentious of an issue. In November 1789, he published his ''Address to the Public'' which appealed for the emancipation of slaves and the further education of free blacks.<ref>David Waldstreicher, ''Runaway America: Benjamin Franklin, Slavery, and the American Revolution''(2004)</ref>

==Death==
In his later years, Franklin suffered from extremely painful afflictions, such as gout, which oftentimes made it difficult for him to stand upright.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbkPAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT29 "Mr. President": George Washington and the Making of the Nation's Highest Office]</ref> His physician, Dr. John Jones, wrote that due to how much pain Franklin constantly dealt with, he prescribed him with laudanum,<ref name=DrJones>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vAdUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA543 Benjamin Franklin: his autobiography]</ref> which is a narcotic opioid. In his final days Franklin was bedridden, and Jones reported that when Franklin was not blinded by "his tortures", he read books, was cheerful with people who came to visit him, and he was grateful of "the many blessings he had received from the Supreme Being".<ref name=DrJones />

Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84 and was buried at [[Christ Church, Philadelphia]]. Civic-minded to the end, Franklin's will established a 200-year trust fund for Boston and Philadelphia which was to be used to train and educate young craftsmen. Both cities have held true to Franklin's wishes, providing aid to students and establishing the Franklin Institute of Boston.

==Religious Beliefs==
Franklin progressed from a skepticism towards Puritanism as a youth to a strong belief in God and prayers for His intervention. At all times Franklin believed in God, but was unable to define what God meant for his soul; he never joined a church. Like most in Pennsylvania, he respected freedom of religion by others, but also emphasized the importance of religion in maintaining a society; much of his writing was designed to promote moral behavior. [[Liberals]] often like to bring up that he stated "lighthouses are more helpful than churches", as if that is some kind of "proof" that Franklin was only a Deist. It is merely [[liberal deceit]]. The British political system at the time of the American rebellion was based very firmly on Anglican Protestantism. Laws stated very clearly the monarch had to be a Protestant, and also that they were the head of The Church of England; even Protestants who were not Anglican had to pay for their own priests and build their own churches. Catholics were still denied the vote. To gather enough support among the colonists to successfully achieve independence, their leaders had to offer them something different, and to belittle the Anglican church in particular, so as to undermine the foundation of the British political system that ruled the American colonies. So, Franklin was saying that functional, useful things (such as lighthouses) contributed more to the safety and well-being of the individual than buildings that provided spiritual things (such as churches). It was his clever means of motivation, not some far-reaching personal belief of his.

Young Ben was an avid reader. "From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]],'' my first collection was of [[John Bunyan]]'s works in separate little volumes. My old favorite author, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress ... has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, and suppose it has been more generally read than any other book, except perhaps the Bible."''

In 1728, the twenty-two-year-old printer wrote "Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion," which Walters (1999) argues is the most crucial text of all Franklin’s religious writings.<ref>for the text see [http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/65/Articles_of_Belief_and_Acts_of_Religion_1p.html "Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion" by Benjamin Franklin, November 20, 1728]</ref> Franklin embraced a concept that sanctioned the value of different religions. Walters argues this “theistic perspectivism” is the key to understanding Franklin’s religion, for it allowed him to maintain his most basic belief in a divinity as the "First Cause" while also allowing him to understand different religions and sects as different ways to honor and serve the primary creator. Franklin’s lifelong advocacy of religious tolerance and his refusal to dogmatize resulted from his understanding that all religions helped bring the "First Cause" closer to humanity, bridging the immense gulf between Creator and creation.<ref>Kerry S. Walters, ''Benjamin Franklin and His Gods,'' (1999)</ref>

Franklin left behind the [[deism]] of his youth. In a draft autobiography written mostly in 1771, nearly 20 years prior to his death, Franklin described how he came to deism as a teenager. He recalled that his ''"parents had early given me religious impressions, and brought me through my childhood piously in the Dissenting way. But I was scarce fifteen, when, after doubting by turns of several points, as I found them disputed in the different books I read, I began to doubt of Revelation itself. Some books against Deism fell into my hands; they were said to be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lectures. It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist."'' <ref>http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Fra2Aut.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, p.57</ref>

Franklin then abandoned his youthful deism in favor of a strong belief in an interventionist God, as reflected by his prayer request during a troubled period of the [[Constitutional Convention]]. In a letter dated March 9, 1790, the last letter Franklin ever wrote, he expressed his strong faith in God and the possibility of heaven:
:''"Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That he governs it by Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him is doing good to his other Children. That the soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its conduct in in this. These I take to be the fundamental Principles of all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.

:''"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of Morals and His Religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubt as to his Divinity; tho' it is a question I need not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble. I see no harm in its being believed, if that belief has the good Consequence, as probably it has, of making his Doctrines more respected and better observed; especially as I do not perceive, that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the Unbelievers in his Government of the world with any peculiar Marks of his Displeasure."'' <ref>http://personal.pitnet.net/primarysources/franklin-stiles.html</ref>

===Whitefield===
Franklin admired [[George Whitefield]], who first visited the colonies in 1738 and played a major role in the [[First Great Awakening]]. Franklin saw Whitefield as a fellow intellectual, but thought Whitefield's plan to run an orphanage in Georgia would lose money. Franklin published several of Whitefield's tract. He was intrigued and himself moved by Whitefield's ability to preach and speak with clarity and enthusiasm to crowds ranging in the thousands. Franklin was an ecumenist and approved of Whitefield's ability to appeal to members of many denominations. Franklin was not moved by the Methodist evangelist's revivals, but did conclude that religiosity was a good thing for other people, so at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he proposed a prayer for divine intervention to aid the troubled proceedings. After one of Whitefield's sermons, Franklin noted the:
:"wonderful...change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street."<ref>''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,'' p.104-108; Samuel J. Rogal, "Toward a Mere Civil Friendship: Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield." ''Methodist History'' 1997 35(4): 233-243. 0026-1238</ref>

A lifelong close friendship developed between the revivalist preacher and the worldly, secular humanist. Looking beyond their public images, one finds a common charity, humility, and ethical sense embedded in the character of each man. True loyalty based on genuine affection coupled with a high value placed on friendship helped their association grow even stronger over time.

==Fame==
By 1776 Franklin was the most famous American in the world. He was one of the most prominent of the Founding Fathers, early political figures and statesmen of the [[United States]].

In the years immediately following his death, Franklin's reputation fell upon evil days. His political enemies, as well as [[Federalist Party]], journalists systematically emphasized the less attractive aspects of his character and minimized his achievements. The [[calumny]] was repeated until the 1850s, when the first real attempts were made to paint a broader portrait of this many-sided man. Franklin's "rags to riches" career had a natural attraction in the go-getter mood of the [[Gilded Age]] and he became the patron saint of "getting on," a role that he has not yet lost. The xenophobia of the period also affected the image of Franklin in that his prudential philosophy appeared less an expression of selfishness than a means of achievement expressive of the best in the American national character. The late 19th century also saw the beginning of real Franklin scholarship.<ref>Richard D. Miles, "The American Image of Benjamin Franklin" ''American Quarterly'' 1957 9(2): 117-143. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/2710628 in JSTOR]</ref>

Franklin is one of the few non-presidents whose likeness appears on U.S. currency. Franklin graces the $100 bill while [[Alexander Hamilton]] appears on the $10 bill.

In 1933, Isamu Noguchi (1904–88) designed a monument to Franklin. For years, the project languished. It finally came to fruition in Philadelphia in 1984 as “Bolt of Lightning . . . Memorial to Ben Franklin.”

Franklin was highly regarded throughout Europe as a leader in science and diplomacy, and as the representative American and the symbol of the New World's integrity and progress. The intellectual, poltiical and scoial leaders of France viewed Franklin as the epitome of the enlightened legislator, a brilliant inventor, and perceptive economist. He inspired his contemporaries and successive generations of Frenchmen to eulogize him in the arts. His unassailable reputation also encouraged divergent political factions to claim Franklin as a mentor after his death in 1790. Franklin was a figure of the Enlightenment, two countries, and two revolutions and there are still reminders of him in France today.<ref>J. A. Leith, "Le Culte de Franklin en France avant et pendant la Révolution Française," ["France's Cult of Franklin before and during the French Revolution"]. ''Annales Historiques de la Révolution Française,'' 1976 226 48(4): 543-571. 0003-4436</ref>

While most historians have admired Franklin's achievements, British literary critic [[D. H. Lawrence]] ridiculed Franklin as excessivelyt middle class. Lawrence spent time in the United States in the 1920s but came to dislike the country. He focused on Franklin as a personification of American culture in two essays. Lawrence's disdain for Franklin was based largely in their different philosophies. Franklin felt man was perfectable, and could excel through hard work, while Lawrence saw man as an imperfect, creative, fragmented being, for whom the body and emotions are central to achieving happiness.<ref>Ormond Seavey, "D. H. Lawrence and 'The First Dummy American'." ''Georgia Review'' 1985 39(1): 113-128. 0016-8386; D. H. Lawrence, ''Studies in Classic American Literature'' (1923), [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/LAWRENCE/dhlch02.htm online edition of ch. 2 on Franklin]</ref>

===Join or Die===
[[Image:Join-die.jpg|thumb|290px|left]]
The famous cartoon entitled "Join, or Die," printed on 9 May 1754 in Franklin's ''Pennsylvania Gazette'', shows a sliced up rattlesnake that forms a map of the colonies. It is impotent unless it joins together, as nature clearly intended. Rattlesnakes—powerful and dangerous creatures that were not found in Britain—were often used to represent America. Georgia, the newest colony, is missing, as is Delaware (then part of Pennsylvania). The cartoon alludes to an old myth that a snake that had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the sections were reassembled before sunset, Franklin based his cartoon on a 17th-century French emblem book by Nicolas Verrien which includes a snake divided into two parts with the motto: 'Se rejoindre ou mourir' ('Join or die').

While the idea behind the illustration was Franklin's, historians have not discovered who did the actual engraving. In form the illustration follows the plan of an emblem book illustration, with a motto, a symbolic picture, and an explanatory text; Franklin even referred to it in correspondence as an "emblem." Franklin was responsible for many visual creations, such as cartoons, designs for flags and paper money, emblems and devices. He possessed an extraordinary knowledge of symbols and heraldry. The snake image may be a composite of those found in Mark Catesby's ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands'' (1731–43). The iconic image of national unity became widespread in political illustrations concerning the [[Stamp Act]] of 1765, the American Revolution, and both the Union and Confederate causes in the American Civil War.<ref>Karen Severud Cook, "Benjamin Franklin and the Snake that would not Die," ''British Library Journal'' 1996 22 (1): 88-112. 0305-5167; Mark Bryant, "The First American Political Cartoon," ''History Today'' v. 57#12 (December 2007) pp 58+. [http://www.questia.com/read/5024806593?title=The%20First%20American%20Political%20Cartoon online edition]</ref>

==Autobiography==
A year after Franklin's death, his unfinished draft autobiography, entitled "Memoires De La Vie Privee," was published in Paris in March 1791, and portions soon appeared in English. The first complete edition appeares in 1868. It was one of the first and greatest American autobiographies and appears in many editions. Historians have treated the ''Autobiography'' as an allegory for the paradigm of American upward social mobility as well as representing the early economic and political success of America. Beyond this basic representativeness, it endorses the economic promise of free enterprise by using Franklin's life experience to advocate the new nation's economic potential and creditworthiness. Franklin aligns his own history with that of the fledgling United States, in effect equating his ability to successfully capitalize on credit with that of the nation. By depicting his own public credibility, Franklin was able to translate his reputation and promise of success into an endorsement of the viability of American life, intertwining self- and national promotion. In sharp contrast to Jefferson's glorification of the yeoman farmer as the carrier of republican virtue, Franklin looked to the [[cosmopolitan]] city for the advancement of mankind, as he tells how the youth arrives in the idyllic city of Philadelphia, where adherence to principles of independence, morality, and industry bring him success.<ref>Jennifer Jordan Baker, "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and the Credibility of Personality." ''Early American Literature'' 2000 35(3): 274-293. 0012-8163; James L. Machor, "The Urban Idyll of the New Republic: Moral Geography and the Mythic Hero of Franklin's Autobiography." ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 1986 110(2): 219-236.</ref>

The ''Autobiography'' gave an incomplete view of Franklin. The persona that Franklin assumed here was merely another of the several public roles he adopted in his writings and political activities. He believed that personal growth could only be accomplished by surrendering to a public function, and that the public forum should be a community for discourse rather than a marketplace for personal competition and acquisition.

==Quotes==
* From a letter in April 1787: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." and "it would end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall have become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other."

* "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - ''that God Governs in the affairs of men''. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it." I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest."<ref>[http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/debates_628.asp Madison Debates, June 28], [[Constitutional Convention]]</ref>

* A REPUBLIC MAM IF YOU CAN KEEP IT*

* "We must hang together, or most assuredly, we will hang separately." <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=7mgAwXas5xIC&pg=PA49&dq=We+must+hang+together,+or+we+will+assuredly+hang+separately.&ei=hqEySrf_N5jeyAThoNSCBg Beyond political correctness: social transformation in the United States‎ - Page 49] by Michael S. Cummings</ref>

*"Work as if you were to live a hundred years. Pray as if you were to die tomorrow." <ref>[http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/quotable/quote29.htm The Quotable Franklin] USHistory.org</ref>

*"Words may show a man's wit but actions his meaning." <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=A5kEAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA601&dq=Words+may+show+a+man%27s+wit+but+actions+his+meaning&ei=Azw8SvyjM5-8zASKj7y6BQ The life of Benjamin Franklin‎ - Page 601] by Benjamin Franklin, John Bigelow</ref>

*"I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it." <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SrIEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA430&dq=I+think+the+best+way+of+doing+good+to+the+poor,+is+not+making+them+easy+in+poverty,+but+leading+or+driving+them+out+of+it.&ei=VfNySvOGJ6bAygTw7q2TAw Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin‎ - Page 430]</ref>

*"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else"

*"In fine, we have the most sensible Concern for the poor distressed Inhabitants of the Frontiers. We have taken every Step in our Power, consistent with the just Rights of the Freemen of Pennsylvania, for their Relief, and we have Reason to believe, that in the Midst of their Distresses they themselves do not wish us to go farther. '''Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.'''" - Reply to the Governor, 11 November 1755<ref>[https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-06-02-0107 Pennsylvania Assembly: Reply to the Governor, 11 November 1755]</ref>

*"As for Jesus of Nazareth ... I think the system of Morals and Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw ... but I have ... some Doubts to his Divinity; though' it is a Question I do not dogmatism upon, having never studied it, and think it is needless to busy myself with it now, where I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble."<ref>http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/history/20018/benjamin_franklin_and_his_religious_beliefs/1014592</ref>

*"Half the truth is often a great lie" <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EuvqPkAq2bkC&pg=PA192&dq=half+a+truth+is+often+a+great+lie&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiri5KE56jOAhXqJ8AKHStKCDEQ6AEIKDAC#v=onepage&q=half%20a%20truth%20is%20often%20a%20great%20lie&f=false Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by Bartlett Jere Whiting]</ref>

*"I have since had the satisfaction to learn, that a disposition to abolish slavery prevails in North America, that many of the Pennsylvanians have set their Slaves at liberty, and that even the Virginia Assembly have petitioned the King for permission to make a law for preventing the importation of more into that Colony."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uFYCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA42 The works of Benjamin Franklin: with notes and a life of the author by J. Sparks]</ref>

==Basic readings==
* Becker, Carl Lotus. "Benjamin Franklin," ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (1931) with hot links [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm#becker online]
* Brands, Henry. ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000)- excellent long scholarly biography [https://www.amazon.com/First-American-Times-Benjamin-Franklin/dp/0385495404/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Isaacson, Walter. ''Benjamin Franklin: An American Life'' (2004) - good popular biography [https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-American-Walter-Isaacson/dp/074325807X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Ketcham, Ralph. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1966) 228 pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34300175 online edition], by short biography by a scholar
* Morgan, Edmund S. ''Benjamni Franklin'' (2003) the best short introduction [https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Yale-Nota-Bene/dp/0300101627/ref=pd_bbs_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1938), standard older biography [https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Carl-Van-Doren/dp/193154185X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222991&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* Wright, Esmond. ''Franklin of Philadelphia'' (1986) - excellent scholarly study [https://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Philadelphia-Belknap-Esmond-Wright/dp/0674318102/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203223116&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

==Detailed Bibliography==
===Biographies===
* Becker, Carl Lotus. "Benjamin Franklin," ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (1931) - vol 3, with hot links [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm#becker online]
* Brands, Henry. ''The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin'' (2000)- excellent long scholarly biography [https://www.amazon.com/First-American-Times-Benjamin-Franklin/dp/0385495404/ref=pd_bbs_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Isaacson, Walter. ''Benjamin Franklin: An American Life'' (2004) - well written popular biography [https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-American-Walter-Isaacson/dp/074325807X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Ketcham, Ralph. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1966) 228 pp [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=34300175 online edition]
* Morgan, Edmund S. ''Benjamni Franklin'' (2003) the best short introduction [https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Yale-Nota-Bene/dp/0300101627/ref=pd_bbs_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222697&sr=8-10 excerpt and text search]
* Van Doren, Carl. ''Benjamin Franklin'' (1938), standard older biography [https://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-Carl-Van-Doren/dp/193154185X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203222991&sr=8-6 excerpt and text search]
* Wood, Gordon. ''The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin'' (2005), influential intellectual history by leading conservative historian. [https://www.amazon.com/Americanization-Benjamin-Franklin-Gordon-Wood/dp/0143035282/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236327205&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Wright, Esmond. ''Franklin of Philadelphia'' (1986) - excellent scholarly study [https://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Philadelphia-Belknap-Esmond-Wright/dp/0674318102/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203223116&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

===Specialized Scholarly Studies===
* Anderson, Douglas. ''The Radical Enlightenments of Benjamin Franklin'' (1997) - fresh look at the intellectual roots of Franklin
* Buxbaum, M.H., ed. ''Critical Essays on Benjamin Franklin'' (1987)
* Chaplin, Joyce. ''The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius.'' (2007)
* Cohen, I. Bernard. ''Benjamin Franklin's Science'' (1990) - Cohen, the leading specialist, has several books on Franklin's science
* Conner, Paul W. ''Poor Richard's Politicks'' (1965) - analyzes Franklin's ideas in terms of the Enlightenment and republicanism
* Dull, Jonathan. ''A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution'' (1985)
* Ford, Paul Leicester. ''The Many-Sided Franklin'' (1899) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-many-sided-franklin-by-paul-leicester-ford.jsp online edition] - collection of scholarly essays
* Lemay, J. A. Leo, ed. ''Reappraising Benjamin Franklin: A Bicentennial Perspective'' (1993) - scholarly essays
* Lemay, J. A. Leo. ''The Life of Benjamin Franklin'' the most detailed scholarly biography, with very little interpretation; 3 volumes appeared before the author's death in 2008
** ''Volume 1: Journalist, 1706-1730'' (2005) 568pp [https://www.amazon.com/Life-Benjamin-Franklin-Journalist-1706-1730/dp/0812238540/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b excerpt and text search]
** ''Volume 2: Printer and Publisher, 1730-1747'' (2005) 664pp; [https://www.amazon.com/Life-Benjamin-Franklin-Publisher-1730-1747/dp/0812238559/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b excerpt and text search]
**''Volume 3: Soldier, Scientist, and Politician, 1748-1757'' (2008), 768pp [https://www.amazon.com/Life-Benjamin-Franklin-Scientist-Politician/dp/0812241215/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236306986&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* McCoy, Drew R. "Benjamin Franklin's Vision of a Republican Political Economy for America." ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 1978 35(4): 607-628. [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1923207 in JSTOR]
* Skemp, Sheila L. ''Benjamin and William Franklin: Father and Son, Patriot and Loyalist'' (1994)- Ben's son was a leading Loyalist

===Primary Sources===
* Franklin, Benjamin. ''Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin'', ed. L.W. Labaree et al. (1964) [http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/ online edition] - there are many editions
* Franklin, Benjamin. ''Franklin: Writings'', ed. J.A. Leo Lemay, Library of America (1987) [https://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Writings-Library-America-Benjamin/dp/0940450291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207333906&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]; [http://infomotions.com/alex/?cmd=search&query=creator:Franklin complete text online free]
* Franklin, Benjamin. ''Information to Those Who Would Remove to America'' (1784)
*Labaree, Leonard W., et al., eds., ''The Papers of Benjamin Franklin'' 35 vols. to date (1959-2002) - definitive edition, through 1781. This massive collection of BF's writings, and letters to him, is available in print form at large research libraries. [http://www.franklinpapers.org/franklin/index.jsp?src=g1&gclid=CJ6my-GEwpICFSgwiQodDQldrA the complete text, searchable, is online free from Yale] It is most useful for detailed research on very specific topics.
*[http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/ Yale edition of complete works of Benjamin Franklin]
*[http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/fellows/bob_morse_04/ The Electrical Writings of Benjamin Franklin] Collected by Robert A. Morse, 2004.
*[http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/family/lastwill.html Franklin's Last Will & Testament] Transcription.

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/franklin.htm "Guide to Benjamin Franklin" by Richard Jensen January 2007]
*[http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/ Leo Lemay, ed. ''"Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History"]
* [https://librivox.org/author/350 Works by Benjamin Franklin - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

{{Declaration of Independence}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Benjamin}}

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John Quincy Adams

2019-10-10T19:40:34Z

Jhello: John Quincy Adams

{{Officeholder
|name=John Quincy Adams
|image=JohnQuincyAdams1819.jpeg
|party=Federalist (before 1808) [[Republicans (Jeffersonian)|Republican]] (1808–30) National Republican (1830–1834) Anti-Masonic (1834-1838)
|spouse=Louisa Catherine Johnson
|religion=Unitarianism
|offices=
{{Officeholder/president
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|vp=[[John C. Calhoun]]
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{{Officeholder/representative
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{{Officeholder/representative
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|district=12th
|terms=March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1843
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{{Officeholder/representative
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|district=11th
|terms=March 4, 1831 – March 4, 1833
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{{Officeholder/ambassador
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|president=[[James Madison]]
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{{Officeholder/ambassador
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|to=Russia
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|terms=November 5, 1809 – April 28, 1814
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{{Officeholder/senator
|state=Massachusetts
|terms=March 4, 1803 – June 8, 1808
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{{Officeholder/ambassador
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|president=[[John Adams]]
|terms=December 5, 1797 – May 5, 1801
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{{Officeholder/ambassador
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|to=the Netherlands
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}}
'''John Quincy Adams''' (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth [[president of the United States of America]] and the son of American Founding Father [[John Adams]]. He served one term as president (1825–1829) and then returned to [[Congress]] where he spent the remainder of his political career fighting [[slavery]] as a moral evil. He was the son of President [[John Adams]] and [[Abigail Adams]]. A precocious teenager who aided his father in diplomatic missions, at 26 he was appointed minister<ref>The title "ambassador" came into use much later.</ref> to [[the Netherlands]] by President [[George Washington]], then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 Adams was elected to the US [[Senate]] and in 1808 he became the first U.S. minister of [[Russia]]. Adams served as one of the great secretaries of state under President [[James Monroe]], arranging with [[Britain]] for the joint occupation of the [[Oregon]] Country, obtaining from [[Spain]] the cessation of the [[Florida]]s, and helping to formulate the Monroe Doctrine. He returned to Congress and became an outspoken opponent of slavery. Deeply troubled by slavery, Adams correctly predicted the dissolution of the Union on the issue, but was incorrect in predicting a series of bloody slave insurrections.

Adams presented a vision of national greatness resting on economic growth and a strong federal government, but his presidency was not a success as he lacked political adroitness, popularity or a network of supporters, and ran afoul of politicians eager to undercut him. Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped American's foreign policy in line with his deeply conservative and ardently nationalist commitment to [[Republicanism|America's republican values]]. More recently he has been portrayed as the exemplar and moral leader in an era of modernization when new technologies and networks of infrastructure and communication brought to the people messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics, as well as moving goods, money and people ever more rapidly and efficiently.<ref>See Howe (2007).</ref>

==Early life==
Adams was born at Braintree, now Quincy, [[Massachusetts]], on July 11, 1767. He was the son of [[John Adams]], the second president of the United States, and [[Abigail Adams|Abigail Quincy Smith Adams]]. Abigail Adams proved to be a stern, disapproving mother while John Adams was the warmer, more loving parent. [[Alcoholism]] ruined Abigail's brothers (and later her younger son). To ensure her first-born son avoided a similar fate, she delivered a steady barrage of admonitions and criticisms to him throughout his life.<ref>When her health failed and she died in 1818, Secretary of State Adams said he was too busy to return to her bedside or attend the funeral.</ref> His father could be harsh at times, admonishing the son: "You come into life with advantages which will disgrace you if your success is mediocre. If you do not rise to the head not only of your profession, but of your country, it will be owing to your own Laziness, Slovenliness and Obstinacy."<ref>Quoted in Paul C. Nagel, ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life'' (1997) p. 76.</ref>

===Education===
Much of his early life was spent with his father on diplomatic missions, and he obtained his formal schooling piecemeal in [[France]], [[Amsterdam]], [[Leiden]], and [[The Hague]]. Highly precocious, at the age of 14 Adams became secretary to Francis Dana, the American minister to Russia, and in 1783 acted as secretary to his father during the peace negotiations with Britain. When his father was appointed minister to the [[Court of St James]] (Britain) in 1785, Adams returned to Massachusetts and entered [[Harvard College]], where he was graduated in 1787. Thereafter he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1790, and began practicing in [[Boston]], which bored him. He became professor of rhetoric at Harvard. In 1797 Adams married Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of a London-based American [[tobacco]] merchant from [[Maryland]].

===Young diplomat===
When his father was sent as minister to Europe by the Continental Congress, young John Quincy Adams went with him. He remained in Europe for the next nine years. While in France he studied at the Passy Academy. Later John Adams sent his son to Leiden University, where learned both Latin and Greek. When American diplomat, Francis Dana, looked for an interpreter to travel with him to Russia, Adams, who knew Russian, volunteered. He returned to his father in Hague, Holland. Adams assisted his father, as a secretary, while his father served as American minister to several European nations. He returned to America and attended Harvard College, graduating in 1787. He then studied law. After [[Thomas Paine]] wrote an anonymous pamphlet criticizing President [[George Washington]]'s policies, Adams wrote a series of anonymous articles called "Publicola", defending the president. They were so well done people assumed his father wrote them. He worked in law for two years until appointed by Washington as U.S. minister to Holland.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

==Public service==
He eventually arrived in Holland as ambassador during a time of war. The French had invaded Holland and for a time was in great danger of being exterminated. Fortunately, the French were defeated by the Dutch armies, after which he returned to America to wait for a new government to be established.

He continued his work as diplomat to Holland, until he was chosen as the minister to Portugal. But before he could leave, his father, John Adams, became president of the United States and sent his son to go as minister to Prussia, instead of Portugal. He kept the post successfully for the next four years. His father though was a very unpopular President and lost the [[United States presidential election of 1800|1800 presidential election]] to [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Because of this Adams returned home to his family with his wife and son, George.

===U.S. politics===
Returning to the United States, Adams was defeated in 1802 for the U.S. House of Representatives, but in 1803 was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Massachusetts legislature, then controlled by the [[Federalist Party]]. Like other Federalists he attacked the Louisiana Purchase as "accomplished by a flagrant violation of the Constitution." Adams soon showed that spirit of political independence which was to characterize his entire career. Crossing party lines, he supported the impeachment of Federalist judges, and, most important, Jefferson's [[Embargo of 1807]], which was strenuously opposed by his constituents. The embargo vote alienated him completely from the Federalists, who denounced him publicly and secured his defeat in the senatorial election in June 1808. Adams then joined the [[Jeffersonian Republicans]] and was aligned with Jefferson and Madison.

==Diplomat==
In 1809 the new President, [[James Madison]] appointed Adams to be the minister to Russia. He remained there, even when [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] invaded Russia unsuccessfully. His career as a diplomat was immensely successful. Adams was one of five diplomats who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent with Britain; it ended the [[War of 1812]].

Declining an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1811, he served minister to the Court of St. James (Britain).

==Secretary of state==
Adams appointment as secretary of state under President [[James Monroe]] in 1817 was eloquent testimony to his splendid diplomatic service as well as to his knowledge of European affairs. Few secretaries of state have been more successful. During his eight years in that office Adams succeeded in settling most of the major disputes with Britain, including questions arising over the Great Lakes, Oregon, and fishing rights. He played an important part in the purchase of Florida from Spain, restraining Monroe when the President's actions in regard to Latin America might have jeopardized the purchase. He also contributed greatly to the formulation of the [[Monroe Doctrine]] in 1823 by arguing against joint action with Britain and by suggesting that part of the doctrine which points out the differences between the political systems of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. During the Monroe administration he was a constant advocate of nationalistic measures, Although he did not approve of slavery he supported the [[Missouri Compromise]] in 1820.

In 1818 he secured a postponement of the question of the ownership of the vast, unsettled Oregon region (which included modern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho) by an agreement with Britain calling for a joint occupation for ten years.

===Relations with Spain===
After the Napoleonic wars Spain lost control of most of the American colonies. They revolted and declared independence. Rebels used American ports to equip privateers to attack Spanish ships, a practice defended by [[Henry Clay]], who severely criticized both Monroe and Adams for their more cautious wait-and-see policy. The Floridas, still Spanish territory but with no Spanish presence to speak of, became a refuge for runaway slaves and Indian raiders. Spain was not in charge. Monroe sent in General [[Andrew Jackson]] who pushed the Seminole Indians south, executed two British merchants who were supplying weapons, deposed one governor and named another, and left an American garrison in occupation. Jackson thought he had Washington's approval, but the orders were vague. President Monroe and all his cabinet, except Adams, believed Jackson had exceeded his instructions. Secretary of War [[John C. Calhoun]] proposed to punish Jackson. Adams argued that since Spain had proved incapable of policing her territories, the United States was obliged to act in self-defense. Adams so ably justified Jackson's conduct as to silence protests either from Spain or Britain. Congress debated the question, with Clay as the leading opponent of Jackson, but it would not disapprove of what Jackson had done.

Adams negotiated the "Transcontinental Treaty" with Spain in 1819 that turned Florida over to the U.S. and resolved border issues regarding the Louisiana Purchase. The treaty recognized Spanish control of Texas (a claim taken up by Mexico when it declared independence of Spain).

The post of Secretary of State was the normal path to the White House. After 1820 Adams, intent on winning the presidency, was less successful at the State Department. He failed to make key commercial treaties because he feared the necessary American concessions would be used to attack his candidacy. Instead the nation suffered from trade wars that could have been prevented.

==Rhetoric==
Disowned by the Federalists and not fully accepted by the Republicans, Adams used his Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard as a new base.<ref>He was appointed in 1805, after turning down the presidency of Harvard.</ref> Adams' devotion to classical rhetoric shaped his response to public issues. He remained inspired by classical rhetorical ideals long after the neo-classicalism and deferential politics of the founding generation had been eclipsed by the commercial ethos and mass democracy of the Jacksonian Era. Many of Adams's idiosyncratic positions were rooted in his abiding devotion to the Ciceronian ideal of the citizen-orator "speaking well" to promote the welfare of the polis.<ref>Lyon Rathbun, "The Ciceronian Rhetoric of John Quincy Adams." ''Rhetorica'' (2000) 18(2): 175-215.</ref>

Adams was influenced by the classical republican ideal of civic eloquence espoused by British philosopher [[David Hume]].<ref>See David Hume, "Of Eloquence," in ''Essays, Political and Moral'' (1742)</ref> Adams adapted these classical republican ideals of public oratory to America, viewing the multilevel political structure as ripe for "the renaissance of Demosthenic eloquence." Adams's ''Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory'' (1810) looks at the fate of ancient oratory, the necessity of liberty for it to flourish, and its importance as a unifying element for a new nation of diverse cultures and beliefs. Just as civic eloquence failed to gain popularity in Britain, in the United States interest faded in the second decade of the 18th century as the "public spheres of heated oratory" disappeared in favor of the private sphere.<ref>Adam S. Potkay, "Theorizing Civic Eloquence in the Early Republic: the Road from David Hume to John Quincy Adams." ''Early American Literature'' (1999) 34(2): 147-170.</ref>

==Politics 1820-24==
The nation became more sectionalized after the [[Panic of 1819|economic depression of 1819]] and the [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820. This worked to Adams' advantage in the presidential election of 1824, for the old caucus system collapsed and four Republicans competed on the basis of regional strength. As the only Northeastern candidate, Adams received 84 electoral votes to 99 for Tennessee's [[Andrew Jackson]], 41 for Georgia's [[William H. Crawford]]. and 37 for Kentucky's [[Henry Clay]]. Since no candidate had a majority, the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, which chose among the top three. Clay was out, but by opposing Jackson, he secured Adams' election on the first ballot. Adams made Clay the Secretary of State, to the outrage of Jackson who said a corrupt bargain had nullified the will of the people.

==Elected president==
As the [[United States presidential election of 1824|election of 1824]] drew near people began looking for candidates. New England voters admired Adams' patriotism and political skills and it was mainly due to their support that he entered the race. The old caucus system of the Jeffersonian Republicans had collapsed; indeed the entire [[First Party System]] had collapsed and the election was a free-for-all based on regional support. Adams had a strong base in New England. His opponents included [[John C. Calhoun]], [[William Crawford]], [[Henry Clay]] and the hero of New Orleans, [[Andrew Jackson]]. During the campaign Calhoun dropped out, and Crawford fell ill giving further support to the other candidates. When the election day came, Andrew Jackson won, although narrowly, the Popular and Electoral vote. However, because no candidate received a clear majority, a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives was necessary. Thanks to the support of Henry Clay, who realized he couldn't win the election, Adams held the majority of 13 states.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

When Adams took the Oath of Office at his Inauguration, he did not use a bible, even though he was religious. Instead, he swore the oath on a law book. According to his personal diary, he believed that since the oath was to uphold the United States Constitution and the laws of the country, the law book were appropriate.<ref>[http://fpc.state.gov/114510.htm Historical Perspectives on the Inaugural Swearing in Ceremony] Donald Kennon, Ph.D., Vice President for Scholarship and Education, U.S. Capitol Historical Society, January 14, 2009, Department of the State, retrieved September 1, 2012</ref>

==Presidency==
Adams' singular intelligence, vast experience, unquestionable integrity, and devotion to his country should have made him a great chief executive. But like his father he lacked political sense and an ability to command public support, and his contentious spirit spelled defeat for him personally and for many of his policies. He proposed a comprehensive program of internal improvements (roads, ports and canals), the creation of a national university, and federal support for the arts and sciences. he favored a high tariff to encourage the building of factories, and restricted land sales to slow the movement west. Opposition from the states' rights faction quickly killed the proposals,

Even more serious was the attack by the followers of Jackson, who accused him of being a partner to a "corrupt bargain" to obtain Clay's support in the election and then appoint him secretary of state. Refusing to play politics, Adams did little or nothing to build up a personal following committed to his re-election. He refused to discharge federal officeholders when they actively joined the opposition, and even considered appointing Jackson to his cabinet. Losing control of Congress in the elections of 1826, he still persisted in his independent policies and thus insured his own overwhelming defeat by Jackson two years later. He was particularly embittered by the unfounded accusations of fraud and extravagance made against him during the campaign by his opponents (not to mention the false accusation that he pimped for the Czar.)

The Adams administration recorded no major legislative, diplomatic, military or administrative achievements. Congress did pass the high [[Tariff of 1828]]—the "tariff of abominations" that created a violent outcry especially in South Carolina. Jackson defeated Adams in a landslide in 1828, and created [[Democrat Party|the modern Democrat Party]] and thus inaugurating the [[Second Party System]].

One of his priorities while being the President was supporting many modernizing public projects such as military academies, universities, canals, and even an astronomical observatory. Congress always said no. Adams was President when the 50th Independence day happened, on which both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died.

==Congress again==
After being defeated by [[Andrew Jackson]] in the [[United States presidential election, 1828|1828 presidential election]], Adams retired in Quincy, Massachusetts. However, in 1830 he ran and won a seat in the House of Representatives as a member of the [[Whig Party]]. While many speculated that Adams ran solely to earn money, this was not the case, as he had sufficient funds to last him the rest of his life. Adams probably ran for his Congressional seat for a combination of several reasons, chief among them the fact that he tried to raise his children in the same way he was raised, which is to say they spent lots of time away from home, which had a very negative impact on one of his sons, who died untimely. Adams, a former president, may have subjected himself to the humiliation of serving as a freshman Congressman as a sort of penance.

===Anti-slavery===
The "Old Man Eloquent," as he was called, won renewed respect throughout the North as an opponent of slavery. Although never an abolitionist, Adams fought the extension of slavery in the territories. The [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820 provoked a series of intense debates on slavery between Adams and [[John C. Calhoun]] that changed them from admiring friends into bitter enemies. Both men were brilliant students of political philosophy, and both were committed to [[republicanism]]. Both recognized the necessity of reconciling republican government with the issues of slavery and race, Adams vilified the practice of slavery as inherently corrupt and un-republican and preached total abolition. Calhoun countered that the right to slavery not only should be protected from interference from the federal government but was fundamental to republican government. The national debate led both men to consider dissolution of the Union as a way of resolving the slavery issue. Their immovable stances signaled the similar uncompromising positions adopted by the North and the South in the decades to follow.<ref>Chandra Miller, "'Title Page to a Great Tragic Volume': the Impact of the Missouri Crisis on Slavery, Race, and Republicanism in the Thought of John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams." ''Missouri Historical Review'' (2000) 94(4): 365-388. Issn: 0026-6582</ref>

Even more spectacular was his eight-year struggle against the Southern-inspired "gag resolutions," which sought to deny the presentation and the discussion of antislavery petitions in Congress. Repeatedly threatened by irate Southerners with disbarment from Congress, he courageously kept up the struggle and finally won the right of free petition in 1844. In a dramatic statement on the floor of the House, he protested, during a vote on the gag rule, "I hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the Constitution of the United States, the rules of this House, and the rights of my constituents." Adams was known for his sharp, insightful speeches, as well as his savage attacks of his opponents. He was referred to as "the old man" just as often as "old man eloquent." His battle against the gag rule finally bore fruit as it was eventually repealed.

====Missouri Compromise====
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 provoked a series of intense debates between Adams and [[John C. Calhoun]] that would eventually transform them from admiring friends into bitter enemies. Both men recognized the necessity of reconciling republican government and the traditional values of the American Revolution with the issues of slavery and race. Adams vilified the practice of slavery and preached total abolition, while Calhoun countered that the right to slavery not only should be protected from interference from the federal government but was fundamental to republican government. The national debate led both men to consider dissolution of the Union as a way of resolving the slavery issue. Their immovable stances signaled the similar uncompromising positions adopted by the North and the South in the decades to follow.<ref>Chandra Miller, "'Title Page to a Great Tragic Volume': the Impact of the Missouri Crisis on Slavery, Race, and Republicanism in the Thought of John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams." ''Missouri Historical Review'' 2000 94(4): 365-388, not online</ref>

====Amistad====
In 1839 African slaves in Cuba rebelled and seized a Spanish ship ''Amistad''. Led by Cinqué, they murdered some of their white captors and forced others to sail the ship to Africa; they sailed it instead to Connecticut, where the U.S. Navy took control. The slaves were charged with murder and with piracy; the case was complicated by salvage claims as to the ownership of the ''Amistad'' and diplomatic entanglements between the U. S. and Spain. National attention focused on the case as President [[Martin Van Buren]] wanted the slaves convicted and they were defended by Adams. Adams took the case to the Supreme Court, which held that they were free. They were returned to Africa; Christian missionaries who sponsored their return believe Cinqué became a slave trader.

====Texas====
In the debates over the annexation of Texas in the mid 1840s, he believed in a false conspiracy theory (popular among abolitionists) that annexation and the war with Mexico were plots hatched by southern slaveowners.

===Death and legacy===
He suffered a stroke on February 21, 1848 while on the House floor. He died two days later in the evening of February 23, 1848 in the capital of Washington D.C.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

The Adams funeral was the occasion for restoring new life into a country increasingly torn by sectional strife over slavery. The 19 days from Adams's death to his interment in the family tomb was a carefully scripted political pageantry, a dramatic expansion of American efforts to memorialize fallen leaders, and revealed a widespread intention and hope to unite the country once more around shared [[republican]] goals as expressed by the Founding Fathers.

One of his three sons, [[Charles Francis Adams]] became a distinguished American diplomat.

Regarded by contemporaries as a cold, aloof, and excessively intellectual, John Quincy Adams was deficient in personal warmth, ignored the voters and his own political supporters, was contentious, and was inclined to suspect the motives of his associates. He was also possessed of a brilliant mind, enormous energy, and abiding devotion to his country. Adams could also be cheerful and engaging, and was widely regarded to be one of his era's most brilliant dinner companions.

He kept one of the most famous diaries in American history, which was edited and partially published by his son, Charles Francis Adams, in 12 volumes, 1874-1877.

==Quotes==

* "The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible."<ref>The Rebirth of America (1986), Arthur S. DeMoss, Pg. 37</ref>

* "Why is it that, next to the birth day of the Savior of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day?—And why is it that, among the swarming myriads of our population, thousands and tens of thousands among us, abstaining, under the dictate of religious principle, from the commemoration of that birth-day of Him, who brought life and immortality to light, yet unite with all their brethren of this community, year after year, in celebrating this the birthday of the nation?
:Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon the earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfilment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?"<ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-on-independence-day-2/ Speech on Independence Day], July 4th, 1837</ref>

* "You will never know how much it cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

* "They[immigrants] must cast off the European skin, never to resume it. They must look forward to their posterity, rather than backward to their ancestors; they must be sure that whatever their own feelings may be, those of their children will cling to the prejudices of this country."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CvBIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA79 Immigration Into the United States]</ref>

*Twenty times, in the course of my late Reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out, “This would be the best of all possible Worlds, if there were no Religion in it”!!! But in this exclamati[, Start insertion,on, End,] I Should have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell.
"<ref>[https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-6744]</ref>

==Miscellaneous Facts==

*"[The Declaration of Independence] That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity." <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tkv9CjTLqhsC&pg=PA6&dq=human+government+upon+the+first+precepts+of+Christianity&ei=zpb1S4jiMIncNdmLyZwJ&cd=4#v=onepage&q=human%20government%20upon%20the%20first%20precepts%20of%20Christianity&f=false Rediscovering God in America‎ - Page 6, Newt Gingrich]</ref>

*The French aristocrat and American hero, the [[Marquis de Lafayette]], gave John Quincy Adams an alligator as a pet. Adams kept it in a bathroom in the White House.

*Adams was also responsible for the first installation in the White House of a pool table. Among his more unusual hobbies, he regularly went skinny dipping in the [[Potomac]] river. The first American female professional journalist, Anne Royall, knew of Adams' habit of taking nude swims at 5 a.m. She had frequently asked for interviews with him and been refused, so she went to the river and sat on his clothes until he answered her questions, becoming the first woman to interview a president.

*Adams was the first president to have his photo taken (April 13, 1843).<ref>http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/Presidents/qadams.html</ref>

*He is one of two sons of presidents to be elected to the same office; the other is [[George W. Bush]].

*He is the only ex-president to have entered the House ''after'' being President.

==Further reading==
* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. '' John Quincy Adams and the foundations of American foreign policy '' (1949), Pulitzer prize, vol 1
** Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''John Quincy Adams and the Union'' (1956), Pulitzer prize, vol 2
* Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' (2007). 928 pp. Pulitzer-prize winning survey downplays Jackson and makes Adams the hero of the entire era [https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/0195078942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229986467&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Mattie, Sean. "John Quincy Adams and American Conservatism," ''Modern Age'' Volume 45, Number 4; Fall 2003 [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/45_04/mattie.pdf online edition]
* Parsons, Lynn Hudson. ''John Quincy Adams.'' (1998). 284 pp. best short biography by scholar [https://books.google.com/books?id=V3HM9-uM8QcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:adams+inauthor:Parsons+inauthor:Lynn+inauthor:Hudson&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Remini, Robert. ''John Quincy Adams'' (2002) short biography by leading scholar [https://www.amazon.com/John-Quincy-Adams-American-Presidents/dp/0805069399/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229976311&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

==Advanced Bibliography==
* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''John Quincy Adams and the foundations of American foreign policy,'' (1950) and ''John Quincy Adams and the Union'' (1956), classic two volume scholarly biography; Pulitzer Prize
* Cunningham, Jr., Noble E. ''The Presidency of James Monroe'' (1996)
* Dangerfield, George. ''The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828'' (1954) [https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-American-Nationalism-1815-1828/dp/0881338230/ref=sr_1_46/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194477829&sr=8-46 excerpt and text search]
* Gaddis, John Lewis. ''Surprise, Security, and the American Experience'' (2004) [https://www.amazon.com/Surprise-Security-Experience-Civilization-Government/dp/0674018362/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194493700&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Hargreaves, Mary W. M. ''The Presidency of John Quincy Adams'' (1985), the standard scholarly survey [https://www.amazon.com/Presidency-John-Quincy-Adams/dp/0700602720/ref=sr_1_33/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194477829&sr=8-33 excerpt and text search]
* Hecht, Marie B. ''John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man'' (1972), biography by scholar
* Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' (2007). 928 pp. [https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/0195078942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229986467&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Lewis, James E., Jr. ''John Quincy Adams: Policymaker for the Union.'' (2001). 164 pp.
* Lipsky, George A. ''John Quincy Adams: His Theory and Ideas'' (1950). [http://www.questia.com/read/11883164 online edition]
* Nagel, Paul C. ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life.'' (1997) 444pp; emphasis on private life and psychology; ISBN 0-679-40444-9
* Mattie, Sean. "John Quincy Adams and American Conservatism." ''Modern Age'' (2003) 45(4): 305-314. Issn: 0026-7457 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Nagel, Paul C. ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life'' (1999), by a leading scholar [https://www.amazon.com/John-Quincy-Adams-Public-Private/dp/0674479408/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229976311&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search] Psychohistory stressed Adams fear of failure and his manic ups and depression-filled downs
* Parsons, Lynn Hudson. ''John Quincy Adams.'' (1998). 284 pp. short introduction by scholar
* Potkay, Adam S. "Theorizing Civic Eloquence in the Early Republic: the Road from David Hume to John Quincy Adams." ''Early American Literature'' (1999) 34(2): 147-170. Issn: 0012-8163 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Rathbun, Lyon. "The Ciceronian Rhetoric of John Quincy Adams." ''Rhetorica'' (2000) 18(2): 175-215. Issn: 0734-8584
* Wood, Gary V. ''Heir to the Fathers: John Quincy Adams and the Spirit of Constitutional Government'' (2004) 356pp

===Primary sources===
* Adams, John Quincy. ''Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848'', 12 vols., edited by Charles Francis Adams (1874–77)
** vol 1 [https://books.google.com/books?id=rBi7gsXtD0AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 2 [https://books.google.com/books?id=oGQFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 3 [https://books.google.com/books?id=s2QFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 4
** vol 5 [https://books.google.com/books?id=36DCZ38u0_0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 6 [https://books.google.com/books?id=KPQrq0LBvbYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 7 [https://books.google.com/books?id=w2UFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1#PPP9,M1 online edition]
** vol 8 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlADAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 9 [https://books.google.com/books?id=MDjWk-fhJZYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 10 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wQ4RL3gUcBAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 11 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Df-Mso4UtAoC&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1 online edition]
** vol 12 (1844–48) [https://books.google.com/books?id=HWYFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1#PPP4,M1 online edition]

* Adams, John Quincy. ''The Writings of John Quincy Adams.'' ed. by Worthington Chauncey Ford. (1913-1917). 7 vols.
** vol 1 [http://www.questia.com/read/9372417 online edition]
** vol 2 [http://www.questia.com/read/58135394 online edition]
** vol 3 [http://www.questia.com/read/97454654 online edition]
** vol 4 [http://www.questia.com/read/9460202 online edition]
** vol 6 [http://www.questia.com/read/63734659 online edition]
** vol 7 [http://www.questia.com/read/91945773 online edition]

* Adams, John Quincy. ''Diary of John Quincy Adams [November 1779-December 1788].'' Ed. David Grayson Allen et al. (1981). 2 vols.
* Adams, John Quincy. ''The Diary of John Quincy Adams, 1794-1845: American Political, Social and Intellectual Life from Washington to Polk ," ed, by Allan Nevins, (1929), a well-chosen selection
* LaFeber, Walter, ed. ''John Quincy Adams and the American Continental Empire'' (1965), contains Adams' letters, papers, and speeches.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/jqadams Essays by scholars and useful information from Miller Center at U. Virginia]
* [https://librivox.org/author/1107 Works by John Quincy Adams - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

{{USPresidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John Quincy}}
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Diplomacy]]
[[Category:Early National U.S.]]
[[Category:War of 1812]]
[[Category:Jacksonian Democracy]]
[[Category:John Adams]]

John Quincy Adams

2019-10-10T19:37:10Z

Jhello: John Quincy adams

{{Officeholder
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|image=JohnQuincyAdams1819.jpeg
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}}
'''John Quincy Adams''' (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth [[president of the United States of America]] and the son of American Founding Father [[John Adams]]. He served one term as president (1825–1829) and then returned to [[Congress]] where he spent the remainder of his political career fighting [[slavery]] as a moral evil. He was the son of President [[John Adams]] and [[Abigail Adams]]. A precocious teenager who aided his father in diplomatic missions, at 26 he was appointed minister<ref>The title "ambassador" came into use much later.</ref> to [[the Netherlands]] by President [[George Washington]], then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 Adams was elected to the US [[Senate]] and in 1808 he became the first U.S. minister of [[Russia]]. Adams served as one of the great secretaries of state under President [[James Monroe]], arranging with [[Britain]] for the joint occupation of the [[Oregon]] Country, obtaining from [[Spain]] the cessation of the [[Florida]]s, and helping to formulate the Monroe Doctrine. He returned to Congress and became an outspoken opponent of slavery. Deeply troubled by slavery, Adams correctly predicted the dissolution of the Union on the issue, but was incorrect in predicting a series of bloody slave insurrections.

Adams presented a vision of national greatness resting on economic growth and a strong federal government, but his presidency was not a success as he lacked political adroitness, popularity or a network of supporters, and ran afoul of politicians eager to undercut him. Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped American's foreign policy in line with his deeply conservative and ardently nationalist commitment to [[Republicanism|America's republican values]]. More recently he has been portrayed as the exemplar and moral leader in an era of modernization when new technologies and networks of infrastructure and communication brought to the people messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics, as well as moving goods, money and people ever more rapidly and efficiently.<ref>See Howe (2007).</ref>

==Early life==
Adams was born at Braintree, now Quincy, [[Massachusetts]], on July 11, 1767. He was the son of [[John Adams]], the second president of the United States, and [[Abigail Adams|Abigail Quincy Smith Adams]]. Abigail Adams proved to be a stern, disapproving mother while John Adams was the warmer, more loving parent. [[Alcoholism]] ruined Abigail's brothers (and later her younger son). To ensure her first-born son avoided a similar fate, she delivered a steady barrage of admonitions and criticisms to him throughout his life.<ref>When her health failed and she died in 1818, Secretary of State Adams said he was too busy to return to her bedside or attend the funeral.</ref> His father could be harsh at times, admonishing the son: "You come into life with advantages which will disgrace you if your success is mediocre. If you do not rise to the head not only of your profession, but of your country, it will be owing to your own Laziness, Slovenliness and Obstinacy."<ref>Quoted in Paul C. Nagel, ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life'' (1997) p. 76.</ref>

===Education===
Much of his early life was spent with his father on diplomatic missions, and he obtained his formal schooling piecemeal in [[France]], [[Amsterdam]], [[Leiden]], and [[The Hague]]. Highly precocious, at the age of 14 Adams became secretary to Francis Dana, the American minister to Russia, and in 1783 acted as secretary to his father during the peace negotiations with Britain. When his father was appointed minister to the [[Court of St James]] (Britain) in 1785, Adams returned to Massachusetts and entered [[Harvard College]], where he was graduated in 1787. Thereafter he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1790, and began practicing in [[Boston]], which bored him. He became professor of rhetoric at Harvard. In 1797 Adams married Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of a London-based American [[tobacco]] merchant from [[Maryland]].

===Young diplomat===
When his father was sent as minister to Europe by the Continental Congress, young John Quincy Adams went with him. He remained in Europe for the next nine years. While in France he studied at the Passy Academy. Later John Adams sent his son to Leiden University, where learned both Latin and Greek. When American diplomat, Francis Dana, looked for an interpreter to travel with him to Russia, Adams, who knew Russian, volunteered. He returned to his father in Hague, Holland. Adams assisted his father, as a secretary, while his father served as American minister to several European nations. He returned to America and attended Harvard College, graduating in 1787. He then studied law. After [[Thomas Paine]] wrote an anonymous pamphlet criticizing President [[George Washington]]'s policies, Adams wrote a series of anonymous articles called "Publicola", defending the president. They were so well done people assumed his father wrote them. He worked in law for two years until appointed by Washington as U.S. minister to Holland.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

==Public service==
He eventually arrived in Holland as ambassador during a time of war. The French had invaded Holland and for a time was in great danger of being exterminated. Fortunately, the French were defeated by the Dutch armies, after which he returned to America to wait for a new government to be established.

He continued his work as diplomat to Holland, until he was chosen as the minister to Portugal. But before he could leave, his father, John Adams, became president of the United States and sent his son to go as minister to Prussia, instead of Portugal. He kept the post successfully for the next four years. His father though was a very unpopular President and lost the [[United States presidential election of 1800|1800 presidential election]] to [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Because of this Adams returned home to his family with his wife and son, George.

===U.S. politics===
Returning to the United States, Adams was defeated in 1802 for the U.S. House of Representatives, but in 1803 was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Massachusetts legislature, then controlled by the [[Federalist Party]]. Like other Federalists he attacked the Louisiana Purchase as "accomplished by a flagrant violation of the Constitution." Adams soon showed that spirit of political independence which was to characterize his entire career. Crossing party lines, he supported the impeachment of Federalist judges, and, most important, Jefferson's [[Embargo of 1807]], which was strenuously opposed by his constituents. The embargo vote alienated him completely from the Federalists, who denounced him publicly and secured his defeat in the senatorial election in June 1808. Adams then joined the [[Jeffersonian Republicans]] and was aligned with Jefferson and Madison.

==Diplomat==
In 1809 the new President, [[James Madison]] appointed Adams to be the minister to Russia. He remained there, even when [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] invaded Russia unsuccessfully. His career as a diplomat was immensely successful. Adams was one of five diplomats who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent with Britain; it ended the [[War of 1812]].

Declining an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1811, he served minister to the Court of St. James (Britain).

==Secretary of state==
Adams appointment as secretary of state under President [[James Monroe]] in 1817 was eloquent testimony to his splendid diplomatic service as well as to his knowledge of European affairs. Few secretaries of state have been more successful. During his eight years in that office Adams succeeded in settling most of the major disputes with Britain, including questions arising over the Great Lakes, Oregon, and fishing rights. He played an important part in the purchase of Florida from Spain, restraining Monroe when the President's actions in regard to Latin America might have jeopardized the purchase. He also contributed greatly to the formulation of the [[Monroe Doctrine]] in 1823 by arguing against joint action with Britain and by suggesting that part of the doctrine which points out the differences between the political systems of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. During the Monroe administration he was a constant advocate of nationalistic measures, Although he did not approve of slavery he supported the [[Missouri Compromise]] in 1820.

In 1818 he secured a postponement of the question of the ownership of the vast, unsettled Oregon region (which included modern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho) by an agreement with Britain calling for a joint occupation for ten years.

===Relations with Spain===
After the Napoleonic wars Spain lost control of most of the American colonies. They revolted and declared independence. Rebels used American ports to equip privateers to attack Spanish ships, a practice defended by [[Henry Clay]], who severely criticized both Monroe and Adams for their more cautious wait-and-see policy. The Floridas, still Spanish territory but with no Spanish presence to speak of, became a refuge for runaway slaves and Indian raiders. Spain was not in charge. Monroe sent in General [[Andrew Jackson]] who pushed the Seminole Indians south, executed two British merchants who were supplying weapons, deposed one governor and named another, and left an American garrison in occupation. Jackson thought he had Washington's approval, but the orders were vague. President Monroe and all his cabinet, except Adams, believed Jackson had exceeded his instructions. Secretary of War [[John C. Calhoun]] proposed to punish Jackson. Adams argued that since Spain had proved incapable of policing her territories, the United States was obliged to act in self-defense. Adams so ably justified Jackson's conduct as to silence protests either from Spain or Britain. Congress debated the question, with Clay as the leading opponent of Jackson, but it would not disapprove of what Jackson had done.

Adams negotiated the "Transcontinental Treaty" with Spain in 1819 that turned Florida over to the U.S. and resolved border issues regarding the Louisiana Purchase. The treaty recognized Spanish control of Texas (a claim taken up by Mexico when it declared independence of Spain).

The post of Secretary of State was the normal path to the White House. After 1820 Adams, intent on winning the presidency, was less successful at the State Department. He failed to make key commercial treaties because he feared the necessary American concessions would be used to attack his candidacy. Instead the nation suffered from trade wars that could have been prevented.

==Rhetoric==
Disowned by the Federalists and not fully accepted by the Republicans, Adams used his Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard as a new base.<ref>He was appointed in 1805, after turning down the presidency of Harvard.</ref> Adams' devotion to classical rhetoric shaped his response to public issues. He remained inspired by classical rhetorical ideals long after the neo-classicalism and deferential politics of the founding generation had been eclipsed by the commercial ethos and mass democracy of the Jacksonian Era. Many of Adams's idiosyncratic positions were rooted in his abiding devotion to the Ciceronian ideal of the citizen-orator "speaking well" to promote the welfare of the polis.<ref>Lyon Rathbun, "The Ciceronian Rhetoric of John Quincy Adams." ''Rhetorica'' (2000) 18(2): 175-215.</ref>

Adams was influenced by the classical republican ideal of civic eloquence espoused by British philosopher [[David Hume]].<ref>See David Hume, "Of Eloquence," in ''Essays, Political and Moral'' (1742)</ref> Adams adapted these classical republican ideals of public oratory to America, viewing the multilevel political structure as ripe for "the renaissance of Demosthenic eloquence." Adams's ''Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory'' (1810) looks at the fate of ancient oratory, the necessity of liberty for it to flourish, and its importance as a unifying element for a new nation of diverse cultures and beliefs. Just as civic eloquence failed to gain popularity in Britain, in the United States interest faded in the second decade of the 18th century as the "public spheres of heated oratory" disappeared in favor of the private sphere.<ref>Adam S. Potkay, "Theorizing Civic Eloquence in the Early Republic: the Road from David Hume to John Quincy Adams." ''Early American Literature'' (1999) 34(2): 147-170.</ref>

==Politics 1820-24==
The nation became more sectionalized after the [[Panic of 1819|economic depression of 1819]] and the [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820. This worked to Adams' advantage in the presidential election of 1824, for the old caucus system collapsed and four Republicans competed on the basis of regional strength. As the only Northeastern candidate, Adams received 84 electoral votes to 99 for Tennessee's [[Andrew Jackson]], 41 for Georgia's [[William H. Crawford]]. and 37 for Kentucky's [[Henry Clay]]. Since no candidate had a majority, the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, which chose among the top three. Clay was out, but by opposing Jackson, he secured Adams' election on the first ballot. Adams made Clay the Secretary of State, to the outrage of Jackson who said a corrupt bargain had nullified the will of the people.

==Elected president==
As the [[United States presidential election of 1824|election of 1824]] drew near people began looking for candidates. New England voters admired Adams' patriotism and political skills and it was mainly due to their support that he entered the race. The old caucus system of the Jeffersonian Republicans had collapsed; indeed the entire [[First Party System]] had collapsed and the election was a free-for-all based on regional support. Adams had a strong base in New England. His opponents included [[John C. Calhoun]], [[William Crawford]], [[Henry Clay]] and the hero of New Orleans, [[Andrew Jackson]]. During the campaign Calhoun dropped out, and Crawford fell ill giving further support to the other candidates. When the election day came, Andrew Jackson won, although narrowly, the Popular and Electoral vote. However, because no candidate received a clear majority, a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives was necessary. Thanks to the support of Henry Clay, who realized he couldn't win the election, Adams held the majority of 13 states.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

When Adams took the Oath of Office at his Inauguration, he did not use a bible, even though he was religious. Instead, he swore the oath on a law book. According to his personal diary, he believed that since the oath was to uphold the United States Constitution and the laws of the country, the law book were appropriate.<ref>[http://fpc.state.gov/114510.htm Historical Perspectives on the Inaugural Swearing in Ceremony] Donald Kennon, Ph.D., Vice President for Scholarship and Education, U.S. Capitol Historical Society, January 14, 2009, Department of the State, retrieved September 1, 2012</ref>

==Presidency==
Adams' singular intelligence, vast experience, unquestionable integrity, and devotion to his country should have made him a great chief executive. But like his father he lacked political sense and an ability to command public support, and his contentious spirit spelled defeat for him personally and for many of his policies. He proposed a comprehensive program of internal improvements (roads, ports and canals), the creation of a national university, and federal support for the arts and sciences. he favored a high tariff to encourage the building of factories, and restricted land sales to slow the movement west. Opposition from the states' rights faction quickly killed the proposals,

Even more serious was the attack by the followers of Jackson, who accused him of being a partner to a "corrupt bargain" to obtain Clay's support in the election and then appoint him secretary of state. Refusing to play politics, Adams did little or nothing to build up a personal following committed to his re-election. He refused to discharge federal officeholders when they actively joined the opposition, and even considered appointing Jackson to his cabinet. Losing control of Congress in the elections of 1826, he still persisted in his independent policies and thus insured his own overwhelming defeat by Jackson two years later. He was particularly embittered by the unfounded accusations of fraud and extravagance made against him during the campaign by his opponents (not to mention the false accusation that he pimped for the Czar.)

The Adams administration recorded no major legislative, diplomatic, military or administrative achievements. Congress did pass the high [[Tariff of 1828]]—the "tariff of abominations" that created a violent outcry especially in South Carolina. Jackson defeated Adams in a landslide in 1828, and created [[Democrat Party|the modern Democrat Party]] and thus inaugurating the [[Second Party System]].

One of his priorities while being the President was supporting many modernizing public projects such as military academies, universities, canals, and even an astronomical observatory. Congress always said no. Adams was President when the 50th Independence day happened, on which both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died.

==Congress again==
After being defeated by [[Andrew Jackson]] in the [[United States presidential election, 1828|1828 presidential election]], Adams retired in Quincy, Massachusetts. However, in 1830 he ran and won a seat in the House of Representatives as a member of the [[Whig Party]]. While many speculated that Adams ran solely to earn money, this was not the case, as he had sufficient funds to last him the rest of his life. Adams probably ran for his Congressional seat for a combination of several reasons, chief among them the fact that he tried to raise his children in the same way he was raised, which is to say they spent lots of time away from home, which had a very negative impact on one of his sons, who died untimely. Adams, a former president, may have subjected himself to the humiliation of serving as a freshman Congressman as a sort of penance.

===Anti-slavery===
The "Old Man Eloquent," as he was called, won renewed respect throughout the North as an opponent of slavery. Although never an abolitionist, Adams fought the extension of slavery in the territories. The [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820 provoked a series of intense debates on slavery between Adams and [[John C. Calhoun]] that changed them from admiring friends into bitter enemies. Both men were brilliant students of political philosophy, and both were committed to [[republicanism]]. Both recognized the necessity of reconciling republican government with the issues of slavery and race, Adams vilified the practice of slavery as inherently corrupt and un-republican and preached total abolition. Calhoun countered that the right to slavery not only should be protected from interference from the federal government but was fundamental to republican government. The national debate led both men to consider dissolution of the Union as a way of resolving the slavery issue. Their immovable stances signaled the similar uncompromising positions adopted by the North and the South in the decades to follow.<ref>Chandra Miller, "'Title Page to a Great Tragic Volume': the Impact of the Missouri Crisis on Slavery, Race, and Republicanism in the Thought of John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams." ''Missouri Historical Review'' (2000) 94(4): 365-388. Issn: 0026-6582</ref>

Even more spectacular was his eight-year struggle against the Southern-inspired "gag resolutions," which sought to deny the presentation and the discussion of antislavery petitions in Congress. Repeatedly threatened by irate Southerners with disbarment from Congress, he courageously kept up the struggle and finally won the right of free petition in 1844. In a dramatic statement on the floor of the House, he protested, during a vote on the gag rule, "I hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the Constitution of the United States, the rules of this House, and the rights of my constituents." Adams was known for his sharp, insightful speeches, as well as his savage attacks of his opponents. He was referred to as "the old man" just as often as "old man eloquent." His battle against the gag rule finally bore fruit as it was eventually repealed.

====Missouri Compromise====
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 provoked a series of intense debates between Adams and [[John C. Calhoun]] that would eventually transform them from admiring friends into bitter enemies. Both men recognized the necessity of reconciling republican government and the traditional values of the American Revolution with the issues of slavery and race. Adams vilified the practice of slavery and preached total abolition, while Calhoun countered that the right to slavery not only should be protected from interference from the federal government but was fundamental to republican government. The national debate led both men to consider dissolution of the Union as a way of resolving the slavery issue. Their immovable stances signaled the similar uncompromising positions adopted by the North and the South in the decades to follow.<ref>Chandra Miller, "'Title Page to a Great Tragic Volume': the Impact of the Missouri Crisis on Slavery, Race, and Republicanism in the Thought of John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams." ''Missouri Historical Review'' 2000 94(4): 365-388, not online</ref>

====Amistad====
In 1839 African slaves in Cuba rebelled and seized a Spanish ship ''Amistad''. Led by Cinqué, they murdered some of their white captors and forced others to sail the ship to Africa; they sailed it instead to Connecticut, where the U.S. Navy took control. The slaves were charged with murder and with piracy; the case was complicated by salvage claims as to the ownership of the ''Amistad'' and diplomatic entanglements between the U. S. and Spain. National attention focused on the case as President [[Martin Van Buren]] wanted the slaves convicted and they were defended by Adams. Adams took the case to the Supreme Court, which held that they were free. They were returned to Africa; Christian missionaries who sponsored their return believe Cinqué became a slave trader.

====Texas====
In the debates over the annexation of Texas in the mid 1840s, he believed in a false conspiracy theory (popular among abolitionists) that annexation and the war with Mexico were plots hatched by southern slaveowners.

===Death and legacy===
He suffered a stroke on February 21, 1848 while on the House floor. He died two days later in the evening of February 23, 1848 in the capital of Washington D.C.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

The Adams funeral was the occasion for restoring new life into a country increasingly torn by sectional strife over slavery. The 19 days from Adams's death to his interment in the family tomb was a carefully scripted political pageantry, a dramatic expansion of American efforts to memorialize fallen leaders, and revealed a widespread intention and hope to unite the country once more around shared [[republican]] goals as expressed by the Founding Fathers.

One of his three sons, [[Charles Francis Adams]] became a distinguished American diplomat.

Regarded by contemporaries as a cold, aloof, and excessively intellectual, John Quincy Adams was deficient in personal warmth, ignored the voters and his own political supporters, was contentious, and was inclined to suspect the motives of his associates. He was also possessed of a brilliant mind, enormous energy, and abiding devotion to his country. Adams could also be cheerful and engaging, and was widely regarded to be one of his era's most brilliant dinner companions.

He kept one of the most famous diaries in American history, which was edited and partially published by his son, Charles Francis Adams, in 12 volumes, 1874-1877.

==Quotes==

* "The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible."<ref>The Rebirth of America (1986), Arthur S. DeMoss, Pg. 37</ref>

* "Why is it that, next to the birth day of the Savior of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day?—And why is it that, among the swarming myriads of our population, thousands and tens of thousands among us, abstaining, under the dictate of religious principle, from the commemoration of that birth-day of Him, who brought life and immortality to light, yet unite with all their brethren of this community, year after year, in celebrating this the birthday of the nation?
:Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon the earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfilment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?"<ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-on-independence-day-2/ Speech on Independence Day], July 4th, 1837</ref>

* "You will never know how much it cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

* "They[immigrants] must cast off the European skin, never to resume it. They must look forward to their posterity, rather than backward to their ancestors; they must be sure that whatever their own feelings may be, those of their children will cling to the prejudices of this country."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CvBIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA79 Immigration Into the United States]</ref>

==Miscellaneous Facts==

*"[The Declaration of Independence] That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity." <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tkv9CjTLqhsC&pg=PA6&dq=human+government+upon+the+first+precepts+of+Christianity&ei=zpb1S4jiMIncNdmLyZwJ&cd=4#v=onepage&q=human%20government%20upon%20the%20first%20precepts%20of%20Christianity&f=false Rediscovering God in America‎ - Page 6, Newt Gingrich]</ref>

*The French aristocrat and American hero, the [[Marquis de Lafayette]], gave John Quincy Adams an alligator as a pet. Adams kept it in a bathroom in the White House.

*Adams was also responsible for the first installation in the White House of a pool table. Among his more unusual hobbies, he regularly went skinny dipping in the [[Potomac]] river. The first American female professional journalist, Anne Royall, knew of Adams' habit of taking nude swims at 5 a.m. She had frequently asked for interviews with him and been refused, so she went to the river and sat on his clothes until he answered her questions, becoming the first woman to interview a president.

*Adams was the first president to have his photo taken (April 13, 1843).<ref>http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/Presidents/qadams.html</ref>

*He is one of two sons of presidents to be elected to the same office; the other is [[George W. Bush]].

*He is the only ex-president to have entered the House ''after'' being President.

==Further reading==
* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. '' John Quincy Adams and the foundations of American foreign policy '' (1949), Pulitzer prize, vol 1
** Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''John Quincy Adams and the Union'' (1956), Pulitzer prize, vol 2
* Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' (2007). 928 pp. Pulitzer-prize winning survey downplays Jackson and makes Adams the hero of the entire era [https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/0195078942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229986467&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Mattie, Sean. "John Quincy Adams and American Conservatism," ''Modern Age'' Volume 45, Number 4; Fall 2003 [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/45_04/mattie.pdf online edition]
* Parsons, Lynn Hudson. ''John Quincy Adams.'' (1998). 284 pp. best short biography by scholar [https://books.google.com/books?id=V3HM9-uM8QcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:adams+inauthor:Parsons+inauthor:Lynn+inauthor:Hudson&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Remini, Robert. ''John Quincy Adams'' (2002) short biography by leading scholar [https://www.amazon.com/John-Quincy-Adams-American-Presidents/dp/0805069399/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229976311&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

==Advanced Bibliography==
* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''John Quincy Adams and the foundations of American foreign policy,'' (1950) and ''John Quincy Adams and the Union'' (1956), classic two volume scholarly biography; Pulitzer Prize
* Cunningham, Jr., Noble E. ''The Presidency of James Monroe'' (1996)
* Dangerfield, George. ''The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828'' (1954) [https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-American-Nationalism-1815-1828/dp/0881338230/ref=sr_1_46/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194477829&sr=8-46 excerpt and text search]
* Gaddis, John Lewis. ''Surprise, Security, and the American Experience'' (2004) [https://www.amazon.com/Surprise-Security-Experience-Civilization-Government/dp/0674018362/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194493700&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Hargreaves, Mary W. M. ''The Presidency of John Quincy Adams'' (1985), the standard scholarly survey [https://www.amazon.com/Presidency-John-Quincy-Adams/dp/0700602720/ref=sr_1_33/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194477829&sr=8-33 excerpt and text search]
* Hecht, Marie B. ''John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man'' (1972), biography by scholar
* Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' (2007). 928 pp. [https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/0195078942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229986467&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Lewis, James E., Jr. ''John Quincy Adams: Policymaker for the Union.'' (2001). 164 pp.
* Lipsky, George A. ''John Quincy Adams: His Theory and Ideas'' (1950). [http://www.questia.com/read/11883164 online edition]
* Nagel, Paul C. ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life.'' (1997) 444pp; emphasis on private life and psychology; ISBN 0-679-40444-9
* Mattie, Sean. "John Quincy Adams and American Conservatism." ''Modern Age'' (2003) 45(4): 305-314. Issn: 0026-7457 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Nagel, Paul C. ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life'' (1999), by a leading scholar [https://www.amazon.com/John-Quincy-Adams-Public-Private/dp/0674479408/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229976311&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search] Psychohistory stressed Adams fear of failure and his manic ups and depression-filled downs
* Parsons, Lynn Hudson. ''John Quincy Adams.'' (1998). 284 pp. short introduction by scholar
* Potkay, Adam S. "Theorizing Civic Eloquence in the Early Republic: the Road from David Hume to John Quincy Adams." ''Early American Literature'' (1999) 34(2): 147-170. Issn: 0012-8163 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Rathbun, Lyon. "The Ciceronian Rhetoric of John Quincy Adams." ''Rhetorica'' (2000) 18(2): 175-215. Issn: 0734-8584
* Wood, Gary V. ''Heir to the Fathers: John Quincy Adams and the Spirit of Constitutional Government'' (2004) 356pp

===Primary sources===
* Adams, John Quincy. ''Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848'', 12 vols., edited by Charles Francis Adams (1874–77)
** vol 1 [https://books.google.com/books?id=rBi7gsXtD0AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 2 [https://books.google.com/books?id=oGQFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 3 [https://books.google.com/books?id=s2QFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 4
** vol 5 [https://books.google.com/books?id=36DCZ38u0_0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 6 [https://books.google.com/books?id=KPQrq0LBvbYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 7 [https://books.google.com/books?id=w2UFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1#PPP9,M1 online edition]
** vol 8 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlADAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 9 [https://books.google.com/books?id=MDjWk-fhJZYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 10 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wQ4RL3gUcBAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 11 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Df-Mso4UtAoC&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1 online edition]
** vol 12 (1844–48) [https://books.google.com/books?id=HWYFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1#PPP4,M1 online edition]

* Adams, John Quincy. ''The Writings of John Quincy Adams.'' ed. by Worthington Chauncey Ford. (1913-1917). 7 vols.
** vol 1 [http://www.questia.com/read/9372417 online edition]
** vol 2 [http://www.questia.com/read/58135394 online edition]
** vol 3 [http://www.questia.com/read/97454654 online edition]
** vol 4 [http://www.questia.com/read/9460202 online edition]
** vol 6 [http://www.questia.com/read/63734659 online edition]
** vol 7 [http://www.questia.com/read/91945773 online edition]

* Adams, John Quincy. ''Diary of John Quincy Adams [November 1779-December 1788].'' Ed. David Grayson Allen et al. (1981). 2 vols.
* Adams, John Quincy. ''The Diary of John Quincy Adams, 1794-1845: American Political, Social and Intellectual Life from Washington to Polk ," ed, by Allan Nevins, (1929), a well-chosen selection
* LaFeber, Walter, ed. ''John Quincy Adams and the American Continental Empire'' (1965), contains Adams' letters, papers, and speeches.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/jqadams Essays by scholars and useful information from Miller Center at U. Virginia]
* [https://librivox.org/author/1107 Works by John Quincy Adams - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

{{USPresidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John Quincy}}
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Diplomacy]]
[[Category:Early National U.S.]]
[[Category:War of 1812]]
[[Category:Jacksonian Democracy]]
[[Category:John Adams]]

John Quincy Adams

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Jhello: John quincy adams

John Quincy Adams

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Jhello: John quincy adams

{{Officeholder
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|image=JohnQuincyAdams1819.jpeg
|party=Federalist (before 1808) [[Republicans (Jeffersonian)|Republican]] (1808–30) National Republican (1830–1834) Anti-Masonic (1834-1838)
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{{Officeholder/ambassador
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'''John Quincy Adams''' (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth [[president of the United States of America]] and the son of American Founding Father [[John Adams]]. He served one term as president (1825–1829) and then returned to [[Congress]] where he spent the remainder of his political career fighting [[slavery]] as a moral evil. He was the son of President [[John Adams]] and [[Abigail Adams]]. A precocious teenager who aided his father in diplomatic missions, at 26 he was appointed minister<ref>The title "ambassador" came into use much later.</ref> to [[the Netherlands]] by President [[George Washington]], then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 Adams was elected to the US [[Senate]] and in 1808 he became the first U.S. minister of [[Russia]]. Adams served as one of the great secretaries of state under President [[James Monroe]], arranging with [[Britain]] for the joint occupation of the [[Oregon]] Country, obtaining from [[Spain]] the cessation of the [[Florida]]s, and helping to formulate the Monroe Doctrine. He returned to Congress and became an outspoken opponent of slavery. Deeply troubled by slavery, Adams correctly predicted the dissolution of the Union on the issue, but was incorrect in predicting a series of bloody slave insurrections.

Adams presented a vision of national greatness resting on economic growth and a strong federal government, but his presidency was not a success as he lacked political adroitness, popularity or a network of supporters, and ran afoul of politicians eager to undercut him. Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped American's foreign policy in line with his deeply conservative and ardently nationalist commitment to [[Republicanism|America's republican values]]. More recently he has been portrayed as the exemplar and moral leader in an era of modernization when new technologies and networks of infrastructure and communication brought to the people messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics, as well as moving goods, money and people ever more rapidly and efficiently.<ref>See Howe (2007).</ref>

==Early life==
Adams was born at Braintree, now Quincy, [[Massachusetts]], on July 11, 1767. He was the son of [[John Adams]], the second president of the United States, and [[Abigail Adams|Abigail Quincy Smith Adams]]. Abigail Adams proved to be a stern, disapproving mother while John Adams was the warmer, more loving parent. [[Alcoholism]] ruined Abigail's brothers (and later her younger son). To ensure her first-born son avoided a similar fate, she delivered a steady barrage of admonitions and criticisms to him throughout his life.<ref>When her health failed and she died in 1818, Secretary of State Adams said he was too busy to return to her bedside or attend the funeral.</ref> His father could be harsh at times, admonishing the son: "You come into life with advantages which will disgrace you if your success is mediocre. If you do not rise to the head not only of your profession, but of your country, it will be owing to your own Laziness, Slovenliness and Obstinacy."<ref>Quoted in Paul C. Nagel, ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life'' (1997) p. 76.</ref>

===Education===
Much of his early life was spent with his father on diplomatic missions, and he obtained his formal schooling piecemeal in [[France]], [[Amsterdam]], [[Leiden]], and [[The Hague]]. Highly precocious, at the age of 14 Adams became secretary to Francis Dana, the American minister to Russia, and in 1783 acted as secretary to his father during the peace negotiations with Britain. When his father was appointed minister to the [[Court of St James]] (Britain) in 1785, Adams returned to Massachusetts and entered [[Harvard College]], where he was graduated in 1787. Thereafter he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1790, and began practicing in [[Boston]], which bored him. He became professor of rhetoric at Harvard. In 1797 Adams married Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of a London-based American [[tobacco]] merchant from [[Maryland]].

===Young diplomat===
When his father was sent as minister to Europe by the Continental Congress, young John Quincy Adams went with him. He remained in Europe for the next nine years. While in France he studied at the Passy Academy. Later John Adams sent his son to Leiden University, where learned both Latin and Greek. When American diplomat, Francis Dana, looked for an interpreter to travel with him to Russia, Adams, who knew Russian, volunteered. He returned to his father in Hague, Holland. Adams assisted his father, as a secretary, while his father served as American minister to several European nations. He returned to America and attended Harvard College, graduating in 1787. He then studied law. After [[Thomas Paine]] wrote an anonymous pamphlet criticizing President [[George Washington]]'s policies, Adams wrote a series of anonymous articles called "Publicola", defending the president. They were so well done people assumed his father wrote them. He worked in law for two years until appointed by Washington as U.S. minister to Holland.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

==Public service==
He eventually arrived in Holland as ambassador during a time of war. The French had invaded Holland and for a time was in great danger of being exterminated. Fortunately, the French were defeated by the Dutch armies, after which he returned to America to wait for a new government to be established.

He continued his work as diplomat to Holland, until he was chosen as the minister to Portugal. But before he could leave, his father, John Adams, became president of the United States and sent his son to go as minister to Prussia, instead of Portugal. He kept the post successfully for the next four years. His father though was a very unpopular President and lost the [[United States presidential election of 1800|1800 presidential election]] to [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Because of this Adams returned home to his family with his wife and son, George.

===U.S. politics===
Returning to the United States, Adams was defeated in 1802 for the U.S. House of Representatives, but in 1803 was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Massachusetts legislature, then controlled by the [[Federalist Party]]. Like other Federalists he attacked the Louisiana Purchase as "accomplished by a flagrant violation of the Constitution." Adams soon showed that spirit of political independence which was to characterize his entire career. Crossing party lines, he supported the impeachment of Federalist judges, and, most important, Jefferson's [[Embargo of 1807]], which was strenuously opposed by his constituents. The embargo vote alienated him completely from the Federalists, who denounced him publicly and secured his defeat in the senatorial election in June 1808. Adams then joined the [[Jeffersonian Republicans]] and was aligned with Jefferson and Madison.

==Diplomat==
In 1809 the new President, [[James Madison]] appointed Adams to be the minister to Russia. He remained there, even when [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] invaded Russia unsuccessfully. His career as a diplomat was immensely successful. Adams was one of five diplomats who negotiated the Treaty of Ghent with Britain; it ended the [[War of 1812]].

Declining an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1811, he served minister to the Court of St. James (Britain).

==Secretary of state==
Adams appointment as secretary of state under President [[James Monroe]] in 1817 was eloquent testimony to his splendid diplomatic service as well as to his knowledge of European affairs. Few secretaries of state have been more successful. During his eight years in that office Adams succeeded in settling most of the major disputes with Britain, including questions arising over the Great Lakes, Oregon, and fishing rights. He played an important part in the purchase of Florida from Spain, restraining Monroe when the President's actions in regard to Latin America might have jeopardized the purchase. He also contributed greatly to the formulation of the [[Monroe Doctrine]] in 1823 by arguing against joint action with Britain and by suggesting that part of the doctrine which points out the differences between the political systems of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. During the Monroe administration he was a constant advocate of nationalistic measures, Although he did not approve of slavery he supported the [[Missouri Compromise]] in 1820.

In 1818 he secured a postponement of the question of the ownership of the vast, unsettled Oregon region (which included modern British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Idaho) by an agreement with Britain calling for a joint occupation for ten years.

===Relations with Spain===
After the Napoleonic wars Spain lost control of most of the American colonies. They revolted and declared independence. Rebels used American ports to equip privateers to attack Spanish ships, a practice defended by [[Henry Clay]], who severely criticized both Monroe and Adams for their more cautious wait-and-see policy. The Floridas, still Spanish territory but with no Spanish presence to speak of, became a refuge for runaway slaves and Indian raiders. Spain was not in charge. Monroe sent in General [[Andrew Jackson]] who pushed the Seminole Indians south, executed two British merchants who were supplying weapons, deposed one governor and named another, and left an American garrison in occupation. Jackson thought he had Washington's approval, but the orders were vague. President Monroe and all his cabinet, except Adams, believed Jackson had exceeded his instructions. Secretary of War [[John C. Calhoun]] proposed to punish Jackson. Adams argued that since Spain had proved incapable of policing her territories, the United States was obliged to act in self-defense. Adams so ably justified Jackson's conduct as to silence protests either from Spain or Britain. Congress debated the question, with Clay as the leading opponent of Jackson, but it would not disapprove of what Jackson had done.

Adams negotiated the "Transcontinental Treaty" with Spain in 1819 that turned Florida over to the U.S. and resolved border issues regarding the Louisiana Purchase. The treaty recognized Spanish control of Texas (a claim taken up by Mexico when it declared independence of Spain).

The post of Secretary of State was the normal path to the White House. After 1820 Adams, intent on winning the presidency, was less successful at the State Department. He failed to make key commercial treaties because he feared the necessary American concessions would be used to attack his candidacy. Instead the nation suffered from trade wars that could have been prevented.

==Rhetoric==
Disowned by the Federalists and not fully accepted by the Republicans, Adams used his Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard as a new base.<ref>He was appointed in 1805, after turning down the presidency of Harvard.</ref> Adams' devotion to classical rhetoric shaped his response to public issues. He remained inspired by classical rhetorical ideals long after the neo-classicalism and deferential politics of the founding generation had been eclipsed by the commercial ethos and mass democracy of the Jacksonian Era. Many of Adams's idiosyncratic positions were rooted in his abiding devotion to the Ciceronian ideal of the citizen-orator "speaking well" to promote the welfare of the polis.<ref>Lyon Rathbun, "The Ciceronian Rhetoric of John Quincy Adams." ''Rhetorica'' (2000) 18(2): 175-215.</ref>

Adams was influenced by the classical republican ideal of civic eloquence espoused by British philosopher [[David Hume]].<ref>See David Hume, "Of Eloquence," in ''Essays, Political and Moral'' (1742)</ref> Adams adapted these classical republican ideals of public oratory to America, viewing the multilevel political structure as ripe for "the renaissance of Demosthenic eloquence." Adams's ''Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory'' (1810) looks at the fate of ancient oratory, the necessity of liberty for it to flourish, and its importance as a unifying element for a new nation of diverse cultures and beliefs. Just as civic eloquence failed to gain popularity in Britain, in the United States interest faded in the second decade of the 18th century as the "public spheres of heated oratory" disappeared in favor of the private sphere.<ref>Adam S. Potkay, "Theorizing Civic Eloquence in the Early Republic: the Road from David Hume to John Quincy Adams." ''Early American Literature'' (1999) 34(2): 147-170.</ref>

==Politics 1820-24==
The nation became more sectionalized after the [[Panic of 1819|economic depression of 1819]] and the [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820. This worked to Adams' advantage in the presidential election of 1824, for the old caucus system collapsed and four Republicans competed on the basis of regional strength. As the only Northeastern candidate, Adams received 84 electoral votes to 99 for Tennessee's [[Andrew Jackson]], 41 for Georgia's [[William H. Crawford]]. and 37 for Kentucky's [[Henry Clay]]. Since no candidate had a majority, the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, which chose among the top three. Clay was out, but by opposing Jackson, he secured Adams' election on the first ballot. Adams made Clay the Secretary of State, to the outrage of Jackson who said a corrupt bargain had nullified the will of the people.

==Elected president==
As the [[United States presidential election of 1824|election of 1824]] drew near people began looking for candidates. New England voters admired Adams' patriotism and political skills and it was mainly due to their support that he entered the race. The old caucus system of the Jeffersonian Republicans had collapsed; indeed the entire [[First Party System]] had collapsed and the election was a free-for-all based on regional support. Adams had a strong base in New England. His opponents included [[John C. Calhoun]], [[William Crawford]], [[Henry Clay]] and the hero of New Orleans, [[Andrew Jackson]]. During the campaign Calhoun dropped out, and Crawford fell ill giving further support to the other candidates. When the election day came, Andrew Jackson won, although narrowly, the Popular and Electoral vote. However, because no candidate received a clear majority, a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives was necessary. Thanks to the support of Henry Clay, who realized he couldn't win the election, Adams held the majority of 13 states.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

When Adams took the Oath of Office at his Inauguration, he did not use a bible, even though he was religious. Instead, he swore the oath on a law book. According to his personal diary, he believed that since the oath was to uphold the United States Constitution and the laws of the country, the law book were appropriate.<ref>[http://fpc.state.gov/114510.htm Historical Perspectives on the Inaugural Swearing in Ceremony] Donald Kennon, Ph.D., Vice President for Scholarship and Education, U.S. Capitol Historical Society, January 14, 2009, Department of the State, retrieved September 1, 2012</ref>

==Presidency==
Adams' singular intelligence, vast experience, unquestionable integrity, and devotion to his country should have made him a great chief executive. But like his father he lacked political sense and an ability to command public support, and his contentious spirit spelled defeat for him personally and for many of his policies. He proposed a comprehensive program of internal improvements (roads, ports and canals), the creation of a national university, and federal support for the arts and sciences. he favored a high tariff to encourage the building of factories, and restricted land sales to slow the movement west. Opposition from the states' rights faction quickly killed the proposals,

Even more serious was the attack by the followers of Jackson, who accused him of being a partner to a "corrupt bargain" to obtain Clay's support in the election and then appoint him secretary of state. Refusing to play politics, Adams did little or nothing to build up a personal following committed to his re-election. He refused to discharge federal officeholders when they actively joined the opposition, and even considered appointing Jackson to his cabinet. Losing control of Congress in the elections of 1826, he still persisted in his independent policies and thus insured his own overwhelming defeat by Jackson two years later. He was particularly embittered by the unfounded accusations of fraud and extravagance made against him during the campaign by his opponents (not to mention the false accusation that he pimped for the Czar.)

The Adams administration recorded no major legislative, diplomatic, military or administrative achievements. Congress did pass the high [[Tariff of 1828]]—the "tariff of abominations" that created a violent outcry especially in South Carolina. Jackson defeated Adams in a landslide in 1828, and created [[Democrat Party|the modern Democrat Party]] and thus inaugurating the [[Second Party System]].

One of his priorities while being the President was supporting many modernizing public projects such as military academies, universities, canals, and even an astronomical observatory. Congress always said no. Adams was President when the 50th Independence day happened, on which both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died.

==Congress again==
After being defeated by [[Andrew Jackson]] in the [[United States presidential election, 1828|1828 presidential election]], Adams retired in Quincy, Massachusetts. However, in 1830 he ran and won a seat in the House of Representatives as a member of the [[Whig Party]]. While many speculated that Adams ran solely to earn money, this was not the case, as he had sufficient funds to last him the rest of his life. Adams probably ran for his Congressional seat for a combination of several reasons, chief among them the fact that he tried to raise his children in the same way he was raised, which is to say they spent lots of time away from home, which had a very negative impact on one of his sons, who died untimely. Adams, a former president, may have subjected himself to the humiliation of serving as a freshman Congressman as a sort of penance.

===Anti-slavery===
The "Old Man Eloquent," as he was called, won renewed respect throughout the North as an opponent of slavery. Although never an abolitionist, Adams fought the extension of slavery in the territories. The [[Missouri Compromise]] of 1820 provoked a series of intense debates on slavery between Adams and [[John C. Calhoun]] that changed them from admiring friends into bitter enemies. Both men were brilliant students of political philosophy, and both were committed to [[republicanism]]. Both recognized the necessity of reconciling republican government with the issues of slavery and race, Adams vilified the practice of slavery as inherently corrupt and un-republican and preached total abolition. Calhoun countered that the right to slavery not only should be protected from interference from the federal government but was fundamental to republican government. The national debate led both men to consider dissolution of the Union as a way of resolving the slavery issue. Their immovable stances signaled the similar uncompromising positions adopted by the North and the South in the decades to follow.<ref>Chandra Miller, "'Title Page to a Great Tragic Volume': the Impact of the Missouri Crisis on Slavery, Race, and Republicanism in the Thought of John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams." ''Missouri Historical Review'' (2000) 94(4): 365-388. Issn: 0026-6582</ref>

Even more spectacular was his eight-year struggle against the Southern-inspired "gag resolutions," which sought to deny the presentation and the discussion of antislavery petitions in Congress. Repeatedly threatened by irate Southerners with disbarment from Congress, he courageously kept up the struggle and finally won the right of free petition in 1844. In a dramatic statement on the floor of the House, he protested, during a vote on the gag rule, "I hold the resolution to be a direct violation of the Constitution of the United States, the rules of this House, and the rights of my constituents." Adams was known for his sharp, insightful speeches, as well as his savage attacks of his opponents. He was referred to as "the old man" just as often as "old man eloquent." His battle against the gag rule finally bore fruit as it was eventually repealed.

====Missouri Compromise====
The Missouri Compromise of 1820 provoked a series of intense debates between Adams and [[John C. Calhoun]] that would eventually transform them from admiring friends into bitter enemies. Both men recognized the necessity of reconciling republican government and the traditional values of the American Revolution with the issues of slavery and race. Adams vilified the practice of slavery and preached total abolition, while Calhoun countered that the right to slavery not only should be protected from interference from the federal government but was fundamental to republican government. The national debate led both men to consider dissolution of the Union as a way of resolving the slavery issue. Their immovable stances signaled the similar uncompromising positions adopted by the North and the South in the decades to follow.<ref>Chandra Miller, "'Title Page to a Great Tragic Volume': the Impact of the Missouri Crisis on Slavery, Race, and Republicanism in the Thought of John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams." ''Missouri Historical Review'' 2000 94(4): 365-388, not online</ref>

====Amistad====
In 1839 African slaves in Cuba rebelled and seized a Spanish ship ''Amistad''. Led by Cinqué, they murdered some of their white captors and forced others to sail the ship to Africa; they sailed it instead to Connecticut, where the U.S. Navy took control. The slaves were charged with murder and with piracy; the case was complicated by salvage claims as to the ownership of the ''Amistad'' and diplomatic entanglements between the U. S. and Spain. National attention focused on the case as President [[Martin Van Buren]] wanted the slaves convicted and they were defended by Adams. Adams took the case to the Supreme Court, which held that they were free. They were returned to Africa; Christian missionaries who sponsored their return believe Cinqué became a slave trader.

====Texas====
In the debates over the annexation of Texas in the mid 1840s, he believed in a false conspiracy theory (popular among abolitionists) that annexation and the war with Mexico were plots hatched by southern slaveowners.

===Death and legacy===
He suffered a stroke on February 21, 1848 while on the House floor. He died two days later in the evening of February 23, 1848 in the capital of Washington D.C.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Presidents John Quincy Adams]] by Zachary Kent, Children's Press</ref>

The Adams funeral was the occasion for restoring new life into a country increasingly torn by sectional strife over slavery. The 19 days from Adams's death to his interment in the family tomb was a carefully scripted political pageantry, a dramatic expansion of American efforts to memorialize fallen leaders, and revealed a widespread intention and hope to unite the country once more around shared [[republican]] goals as expressed by the Founding Fathers.

One of his three sons, [[Charles Francis Adams]] became a distinguished American diplomat.

Regarded by contemporaries as a cold, aloof, and excessively intellectual, John Quincy Adams was deficient in personal warmth, ignored the voters and his own political supporters, was contentious, and was inclined to suspect the motives of his associates. He was also possessed of a brilliant mind, enormous energy, and abiding devotion to his country. Adams could also be cheerful and engaging, and was widely regarded to be one of his era's most brilliant dinner companions.

He kept one of the most famous diaries in American history, which was edited and partially published by his son, Charles Francis Adams, in 12 volumes, 1874-1877.

==Quotes==

* "The first and almost the only book deserving of universal attention is the Bible."<ref>The Rebirth of America (1986), Arthur S. DeMoss, Pg. 37</ref>

* "Why is it that, next to the birth day of the Savior of the World, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day?—And why is it that, among the swarming myriads of our population, thousands and tens of thousands among us, abstaining, under the dictate of religious principle, from the commemoration of that birth-day of Him, who brought life and immortality to light, yet unite with all their brethren of this community, year after year, in celebrating this the birthday of the nation?
:Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon the earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfilment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?"<ref>[http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-on-independence-day-2/ Speech on Independence Day], July 4th, 1837</ref>

* "You will never know how much it cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it."

* "They[immigrants] must cast off the European skin, never to resume it. They must look forward to their posterity, rather than backward to their ancestors; they must be sure that whatever their own feelings may be, those of their children will cling to the prejudices of this country."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=CvBIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA79 Immigration Into the United States]</ref>

Twenty times, in the course of my late Reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out, “This would be the best of all possible Worlds, if there were no Religion in it”!!! But in this exclamati[, Start insertion,on, End,] I Should have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in polite Company, I mean Hell.

==Miscellaneous Facts==

*"[The Declaration of Independence] That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity." <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=tkv9CjTLqhsC&pg=PA6&dq=human+government+upon+the+first+precepts+of+Christianity&ei=zpb1S4jiMIncNdmLyZwJ&cd=4#v=onepage&q=human%20government%20upon%20the%20first%20precepts%20of%20Christianity&f=false Rediscovering God in America‎ - Page 6, Newt Gingrich]</ref>

*The French aristocrat and American hero, the [[Marquis de Lafayette]], gave John Quincy Adams an alligator as a pet. Adams kept it in a bathroom in the White House.

*Adams was also responsible for the first installation in the White House of a pool table. Among his more unusual hobbies, he regularly went skinny dipping in the [[Potomac]] river. The first American female professional journalist, Anne Royall, knew of Adams' habit of taking nude swims at 5 a.m. She had frequently asked for interviews with him and been refused, so she went to the river and sat on his clothes until he answered her questions, becoming the first woman to interview a president.

*Adams was the first president to have his photo taken (April 13, 1843).<ref>http://www.classroomhelp.com/lessons/Presidents/qadams.html</ref>

*He is one of two sons of presidents to be elected to the same office; the other is [[George W. Bush]].

*He is the only ex-president to have entered the House ''after'' being President.

==Further reading==
* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. '' John Quincy Adams and the foundations of American foreign policy '' (1949), Pulitzer prize, vol 1
** Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''John Quincy Adams and the Union'' (1956), Pulitzer prize, vol 2
* Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' (2007). 928 pp. Pulitzer-prize winning survey downplays Jackson and makes Adams the hero of the entire era [https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/0195078942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229986467&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Mattie, Sean. "John Quincy Adams and American Conservatism," ''Modern Age'' Volume 45, Number 4; Fall 2003 [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/45_04/mattie.pdf online edition]
* Parsons, Lynn Hudson. ''John Quincy Adams.'' (1998). 284 pp. best short biography by scholar [https://books.google.com/books?id=V3HM9-uM8QcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:adams+inauthor:Parsons+inauthor:Lynn+inauthor:Hudson&lr=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Remini, Robert. ''John Quincy Adams'' (2002) short biography by leading scholar [https://www.amazon.com/John-Quincy-Adams-American-Presidents/dp/0805069399/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229976311&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]

==Advanced Bibliography==
* Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''John Quincy Adams and the foundations of American foreign policy,'' (1950) and ''John Quincy Adams and the Union'' (1956), classic two volume scholarly biography; Pulitzer Prize
* Cunningham, Jr., Noble E. ''The Presidency of James Monroe'' (1996)
* Dangerfield, George. ''The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828'' (1954) [https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-American-Nationalism-1815-1828/dp/0881338230/ref=sr_1_46/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194477829&sr=8-46 excerpt and text search]
* Gaddis, John Lewis. ''Surprise, Security, and the American Experience'' (2004) [https://www.amazon.com/Surprise-Security-Experience-Civilization-Government/dp/0674018362/ref=sr_1_1/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194493700&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Hargreaves, Mary W. M. ''The Presidency of John Quincy Adams'' (1985), the standard scholarly survey [https://www.amazon.com/Presidency-John-Quincy-Adams/dp/0700602720/ref=sr_1_33/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194477829&sr=8-33 excerpt and text search]
* Hecht, Marie B. ''John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man'' (1972), biography by scholar
* Howe, Daniel Walker. ''What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848'' (2007). 928 pp. [https://www.amazon.com/What-Hath-God-Wrought-Transformation/dp/0195078942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229986467&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Lewis, James E., Jr. ''John Quincy Adams: Policymaker for the Union.'' (2001). 164 pp.
* Lipsky, George A. ''John Quincy Adams: His Theory and Ideas'' (1950). [http://www.questia.com/read/11883164 online edition]
* Nagel, Paul C. ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life.'' (1997) 444pp; emphasis on private life and psychology; ISBN 0-679-40444-9
* Mattie, Sean. "John Quincy Adams and American Conservatism." ''Modern Age'' (2003) 45(4): 305-314. Issn: 0026-7457 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Nagel, Paul C. ''John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life'' (1999), by a leading scholar [https://www.amazon.com/John-Quincy-Adams-Public-Private/dp/0674479408/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229976311&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search] Psychohistory stressed Adams fear of failure and his manic ups and depression-filled downs
* Parsons, Lynn Hudson. ''John Quincy Adams.'' (1998). 284 pp. short introduction by scholar
* Potkay, Adam S. "Theorizing Civic Eloquence in the Early Republic: the Road from David Hume to John Quincy Adams." ''Early American Literature'' (1999) 34(2): 147-170. Issn: 0012-8163 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Rathbun, Lyon. "The Ciceronian Rhetoric of John Quincy Adams." ''Rhetorica'' (2000) 18(2): 175-215. Issn: 0734-8584
* Wood, Gary V. ''Heir to the Fathers: John Quincy Adams and the Spirit of Constitutional Government'' (2004) 356pp

===Primary sources===
* Adams, John Quincy. ''Memoirs of John Quincy Adams: Comprising Portions of His Diary from 1795 to 1848'', 12 vols., edited by Charles Francis Adams (1874–77)
** vol 1 [https://books.google.com/books?id=rBi7gsXtD0AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 2 [https://books.google.com/books?id=oGQFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 3 [https://books.google.com/books?id=s2QFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 4
** vol 5 [https://books.google.com/books?id=36DCZ38u0_0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 6 [https://books.google.com/books?id=KPQrq0LBvbYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 7 [https://books.google.com/books?id=w2UFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1#PPP9,M1 online edition]
** vol 8 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZlADAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 9 [https://books.google.com/books?id=MDjWk-fhJZYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 10 [https://books.google.com/books?id=wQ4RL3gUcBAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=editions:06Y9qHmlVKqA5pOWt-eX5I online edition]
** vol 11 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Df-Mso4UtAoC&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1 online edition]
** vol 12 (1844–48) [https://books.google.com/books?id=HWYFAAAAQAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:john+inauthor:quincy+inauthor:adams&num=30&as_brr=1#PPP4,M1 online edition]

* Adams, John Quincy. ''The Writings of John Quincy Adams.'' ed. by Worthington Chauncey Ford. (1913-1917). 7 vols.
** vol 1 [http://www.questia.com/read/9372417 online edition]
** vol 2 [http://www.questia.com/read/58135394 online edition]
** vol 3 [http://www.questia.com/read/97454654 online edition]
** vol 4 [http://www.questia.com/read/9460202 online edition]
** vol 6 [http://www.questia.com/read/63734659 online edition]
** vol 7 [http://www.questia.com/read/91945773 online edition]

* Adams, John Quincy. ''Diary of John Quincy Adams [November 1779-December 1788].'' Ed. David Grayson Allen et al. (1981). 2 vols.
* Adams, John Quincy. ''The Diary of John Quincy Adams, 1794-1845: American Political, Social and Intellectual Life from Washington to Polk ," ed, by Allan Nevins, (1929), a well-chosen selection
* LaFeber, Walter, ed. ''John Quincy Adams and the American Continental Empire'' (1965), contains Adams' letters, papers, and speeches.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/jqadams Essays by scholars and useful information from Miller Center at U. Virginia]
* [https://librivox.org/author/1107 Works by John Quincy Adams - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

{{USPresidents}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, John Quincy}}
[[Category:United States History]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Diplomacy]]
[[Category:Early National U.S.]]
[[Category:War of 1812]]
[[Category:Jacksonian Democracy]]
[[Category:John Adams]]

George Washington

2019-10-10T19:26:49Z

Jhello: george washington

{{Officeholder
|name=George Washington
|image=Gilbert-Stuart 1795 Washington-portrait.jpg
|party=''None''
|spouse=[[Martha Dandridge Custis Washington]]
|religion=[[Anglican]]/[[Episcopalian]]
|offices=
{{Officeholder/president
|country=the United States
|number=1st
|terms=April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797
|vp=[[John Adams]]
|preceded=''None''
|former=y
|succeeded=[[John Adams]]
}}

|military=y
|allegiance=[[Great Britain]], [[The United States]]
|branch=Continental Army United States Army
|serviceyears=Continental Army: 1775–1783 U. S. Army: 1798–1799
|rank= Lieutenant General; General of the Armies of the United States
|commands=Continental Army United States Army
|battles=[[French and Indian War]] [[American Revolutionary War]]
|awards=Congressional Gold Medal, Thanks of Congress
}}
'''George Washington''' (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was the first [[president of the United States]] (1789–1797) and commander-in-chief of the [[Continental Army]]. He was the dominant military and political leader of the new [[United States of America]] from 1775 to 1797, leading the American victory over [[Britain]] in the [[American Revolution]] and was the unanimous choice to serve as president.

Along with [[Abraham Lincoln]], Washington has become the foremost icon of American [[nationalism]] and a model of the ideal [[Republicanism|republican]] union of political and military leadership. He endeared himself to Americans by his efforts to destroy monarchy and aristocracy. The archetype of Washington as the republican champion has become part of America's collective idealization of faith-based citizenship, and is immortalized in New York City's [[Washington Square Arch]], which depicts Washington the soldier on the left, and Washington the statesman on the right.<ref>For photographic images, see http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GV/GV046WashingtonSquareArch.htm</ref>
{{cquote|'''The Constitution is the guide, which I never will abandon. — George Washington'''}}

==Early life==
Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at Wakefield, [[Virginia]] to Augustine Washington, a wealthy planter, and his second wife, Mary Ball. He was home schooled by his father and older half-brother Lawrence, and in later life read widely. His interests were in land, in surveying, and in farming. His father died in 1743, and George lived with Lawrence. Lawrence died in 1752. Washington leased the estate from Lawrence's widow until her death in 1761, when he inherited the plantation and joined the local upper class.

===Military experience===
In 1748 he joined an expedition sent out by the sixth Lord Fairfax to survey his lands in the Shenandoah Valley. Washington was eager for a military career. The first step came in October 1753 when the lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie sent him to warn the French at Presque Isle (now Erie, PA.) and Fort Le Boeuf (now Waterford, PA) against making further encroachments on British-claimed territory in the Ohio Valley. The 11-week journey, some 500 miles (800 km) round-trip, was dangerous, as Washington evaded hostile [[Native American|Indians]] (allied to the French). He reported back that a frontier conflict was imminent with [[France]].

====French and Indian War====
In April 1754 Washington returned to the Ohio country as a lieutenant colonel in command of a volunteer force with the mission of checking the French and protecting an expedition sent out by the Ohio Company of Virginia to build a fort on the Ohio River, at what is now [[Pittsburgh]]. Washington discovered the French had reached the site first. They called it Fort Duquesne. In May he fired on a party of French soldiers, killing ten, including their leader, Jumonville. The French now could cite the attack on Jumonville as a cause of war. This was Washington's first battle and the first engagement of the [[French and Indian War]], which became a major war in Europe.

On July 3 at Fort Necessity he was attacked by superior French forces led by Jumonville's brother and was compelled to surrender. The terms offered were generous and Washington returned to Virginia. Washington was criticized for his imprudence, and relations cooled between him and Dinwiddie.

=====Battle of Monongahela=====
To meet the French threat the British sent Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock and two under-strength regiments of British regulars to Virginia. Washington served as aide-de-camp to Braddock on his expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. Braddock was ambushed and killed by the French and Indians in July, and the Braddock Expedition was a failure.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4QGPDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 Atlantic Politics, Military Strategy and the French and Indian War]</ref> The massacre of the British forces was so complete, that rumors started to make their way around about the death of Washington himself. Washington wrote a letter to his brother, explaining that the rumors were true, and also explaining the miraculous circumstances with which he survived the incident. He wrote:

<blockquote>As I have heard since my arriv'l at this place, a circumstantial acct. of my death and dying speech, I take this early oppertunity of contradicting both, and of assuring you that I now exist and appear in the land of the living by the miraculous care of Providence, that protected me beyond all human expectation; I had 4 Bullets through my Coat, and two Horses shot under me, and yet escaped unhurt.<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/george-washington/history.html From George Washington to John Augustine Washington], July 18th, 1755</ref></blockquote>

Years later, Washington returned to the location of the battle. One of the Indian Chiefs, who was also at the battle, was informed that Washington was back in the area. He met with Washington, and he said:

<blockquote>I am a chief and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes and to the far blue mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man’s blood mixed with the streams of our forests that I first beheld this chief: I called to my young men and said, Mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of the red-coat tribe – he hath an Indian's wisdom and his warriors fight as we do – himself alone exposed. Quick, let your aim be certain and he dies. Our rifles were leveled, rifles which, but for you, knew not how to miss – 'twas all in vain, a power mightier far than we shielded you. He can not die in battle. I am old and shall soon be gathered to the great council fire of my fathers in the land of the shades, but ere I go, there is something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy:
Listen! ''The Great Spirit protects that man, and guides his destinies–he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire.''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9WBVDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT115 George Washington's Sacred Fire]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jAEWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA79 The Guardian, Volume 28], 1877</ref></blockquote>

Another account by a second Indian warrior, also led him to believe that a greater power was guiding Washington. He said: "Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet! For I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle, and after all I could not bring him to the ground."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6tc56rgYE1YC&pg=PA44 The Life of George Washington; with Curious Anecdotes, Equally Honourable to Himself, and Exemplary to His Young Countrymen. ]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nQsiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA190 History of the Indian Wars: To which is Prefixed a Short Account of the Discovery of America by Columbus, and of the Landing of Our Forefathers at Plymouth]</ref>

During the battle, Washington displayed courage and initiative in halting the rout that followed, and afterwards became known as the "Hero of Monongahela"<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=cq7Mwvru8nAC&pg=PR22 George Washington's First War: His Early Military Adventures]</ref>
[[Image:GW1755.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Colonel George Washington of the Virginia militia]]
=====Commander of Virginia Regiment=====
In August 1755 he was promoted to colonel and made commander in chief of all Virginia forces, responsible for the defense of a 350-mile (560-km) frontier against French and Indian attack. It was a difficult challenge militarily, but Washington met it and learned the administrative needs of commanding a major force. He was on the defensive throughout 1756 and 1757, but in 1758 he accompanied Brig. Gen. John Forbes and a large force to attack Fort Duquesne. They discovered the French had left and there was no combat. Washington returned to Virginia and resigned his commission at the end of 1758. For him, as for Virginia, the French and Indian War was over. He had been bloodied in combat, was an acknowledged leader of Virginia soldiers, knew the frontier better than anyone, and had a sterling reputation. On the other hand, he had demonstrated no remarkable strategic or tactical skills, and had displayed rashness in action against Jumonville. Washington, a very tall strong man, demonstrated great physical courage and endurance, qualities much admired in a military leader.

Ellis (2004) concludes Washington was influenced by the East, where he picked up the deferential world of British patronage and hierarchy and curried favor from the well-connected Fairfax family, but failed to get a permanent commission in the British army. From the West came experiences on the Ohio frontier, where Washington carried out surveying expeditions and military campaigns against the French and Indians. Going to war instead of to college, Ellis concludes, scarred and immunized Washington against idealism.

===Planter and family life===
On Jan. 6, 1759, Washington married [[Martha Washington|Martha Dandridge Custis]], a very wealthy widow with two young children. Washington had no children of his own, but he later adopted two of his wife's grandchildren: George Washington Parke Custis and Eleanor Custis, who married Washington's nephew Lawrence. The marriage was a comfortably happy one. It made him rich, for the Custis plantation covered some 17,000 acres and included 300 slaves and a town house in [[Williamsburg]]. Washington proved himself an able and active manager, with a keen interest in scientific agriculture and land speculation. He bought up unoccupied western lands shrewdly, even in advance of permission from London. Unlike most planters, he foresaw the risks involved in a concentration on [[tobacco]] and diversified his crops. He grew wheat as well as tobacco on his Potomac farms, and by 1772 he was exporting both fish and flour to the West Indies. By 1774 he was one of the wealthiest of landowners at a time when ownership of land involved the administration of managers, overseers, tenants, and slaves; the keeping of accounts with the tobacco factors in Britain; and the ordering from England of most tools, furniture and clothing.

The local gentry controlled local government. Washington became a vestryman (in charge of the local [[Anglican]] church) and a justice of the peace. From 1758 to 1765 he was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses for Frederick County, and from 1765 for Fairfax, although he took little part in affairs in Williamsburg. He was not a debater, speaker or pamphleteer, but nevertheless struck a conspicuous figure as a man of sound military, political and economic judgment. He had shown particular concern over bounty land due to the veterans of the French and Indian War, and he knew the Virginia frontier at first hand. Washington was America's first great entrepreneur, who saw the future of a diversified economy even in the South and achieved it for himself at least; who saw the future of the West and invested in it; and who directed all his activities with a careful and rather cold efficiency.

==American Revolution==
Washington's path to revolution reflected the American ideology of [[Republicanism, U.S.|republicanism]]; indeed, it provides "an almost textbook example of the Radical Whig ideology that historians have made the central feature of scholarship on the American Revolution for the past forty years."<ref>Ellis (2004) p. 62</ref> Personal experiences on multiple levels convinced Washington there was indeed a British conspiracy to enslave the colonies, as he saw imperial policies constantly limiting and restricting his prized autonomy. In his quests for a commission in the redcoat army, for western land, and for economic independence from British consignment merchants, Washington found himself losing out, becoming a helpless dependent.

Washington and the Continental Army triumphed by driving the 10,000 British out of [[Boston]] in March 1776. The tide turned; Washington barely survived humiliating defeats the defense of New York City that fall. He revived the nation's fortunes by crossing the Delaware River and defeating British forces in stunning victories at Trenton and Princeton over the winter of 1776-77.
[[Image:washington-deleware.jpg|right|thumb|220px|''[[Washington Crossing the Delaware]]'', by Emmanuel Leutze, 1850]]

As Ellis (2004) argues, the June 1775-March 1776 siege of Boston was the formative event in Washington's development as a military and political leader, for it was there that he first responded to the logistical problems inherent to the American cause in the Revolutionary War with his trademark determination, leadership ability, and sound decision making. He also, however, exhibited a stubborn, aloof, severe personality that "virtually precluded intimacy." Washington, dubbed "His Excellency" by the adoring American public, also became acquainted with many of his future staff members and lieutenants during this period. The British were forced out of Boston and every place in America, which declared its independence and became "the United States of America" on July 4, 1776.

[[King George III]] personally demanded the rebellion be suppressed. He sent two-thirds of his army, and half of the Royal Navy in "the largest projection of seaborne power ever attempted by a European power."<ref>Fischer (2004) p. 33</ref> The British sent 23,000 regular troops under experienced officers and sergeants, and another 10,000 trained [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessians]] supported by 70 warships. The ocean off the entire [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] coast came under British control, shutting down the large American merchant marine. In the face of this, Washington's forces melted away. He had more than 28,000 men under his command at the end of August when the British landed. After losing badly in New York City, at the beginning of December he had a mere 6,800. But he used them in an audacious Christmas-day attack that destroyed the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey <ref>[[Hessian (soldier)|Hessians]] lost 896 captured, 22 killed and 83 seriously wounded. Washington lost two men killed in battle, two more frozen to death, and eight wounded. Fischer (2004) pp. 254-5.</ref> and defeated the British outpost at Princeton, New Jersey. Threatened by Washington and harassed by patriotic farmer-marksmen, the British withdrew from the state of [[New Jersey]].

[[Image:Am-Rev.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Advantages (top) and disadvantages (bottom) General Washington had to cope with during the Revolution]]
In 1777 he tricked the British into dividing their forces so that one British army under General Howe confronted (and defeated) Washington in unimportant battles near [[Philadelphia]], while the main British army under general Cornwallis was forced to surrender at Saratoga, in upstate New York. This great American victory at Saratoga enabling the French to enter the war officially and make it an even contest militarily.

When the British moved in fall 1777 to capture the national capital at Philadelphia, Washington moved south to stop them, but was defeated by Howe at Brandywine (Sept 11) and Germantown (Oct 4). The British wintered in comfort in the city while Washington's army, 11,000 strong at first, had stark quarters at Valley Forge nearby. "The whole of them," said Gen. John Sullivan, were "without watch coats, one half without blankets, and more than one third without shoes . . . many of them without jackets...and not a few without shirts." Rations were scarce, as the local farmers refused to accept Continental money. Exhausted and ill, hundreds deserted to go home to their farms. Washington warned Congress: "unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place... this army must inevitably...starve, dissolve or disperse." Many in Congress grumbled about Washington's leadership and there was talk of promoting his chief critic, General Thomas Conway. However Congress and the army realized Washington was indispensable, and he remained in charge. The bright note was that Washington brought in a highly skilled European officer, General [[Friedrich von Steuben]], who systematically trained the officers and sergeants in the latest drills and maneuvering techniques of the Prussian army.<ref>Quotes from Freeman 4:570, 568.</ref>
[[Image:Washington resign commission.jpg|right|thumb|220px|John Trumbull's portrayal of General Washington resigning his commission]]
===Victory in the South 1780-1781===
The British made one last major effort in 1780-1781, invading South Carolina (and remote Georgia) in the hopes of rallying enough Loyalists to break off the southern states. Washington kept the main British army bottled up in New York City, as the southern campaigns turned into [[guerrilla warfare]] and assassination squads. The British realized they had failed and moved their army to Yorktown, Virginia, awaiting the Royal Navy to take it to New York. The British fleet did show up but was defeated by a stronger French fleet. Washington meanwhile moved his entire army and the French army to Yorktown, where they forced the British to surrender in October 1781.

King George III wanted to fight on even after losing two of his three combat armies but he lost control of [[Parliament]] and the American war was over. When the peace treaty was finalized in 1783, Washington triumphantly marched into New York City. Then to the astonishment of the world, Washington—by now the most famous man in the world—stopped the [[Newburgh Conspiracy]], resigned his commission, and went home to his plantation, setting a standard of republican belief in civilian supremacy.

===Conflict with the Iroquois===
As part of the revolutionary war, George Washington is said to have massacred the Iroquois. The story goes as follows: On June 4, 1779, Washington ordered the Revolutionary army to invade the land of where the Iroquois tribe was to kill many of them as possible. This widely publicized story states that the invasion had devastated the tribe and their army.<ref name="usnews.com">https://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/06/27/town-destroyer-versus-the-iroquois-indians</ref><ref name="americanhistory.oxfordre.com">http://americanhistory.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-3</ref> 
The "Ho-De-No-Sau-Nee," or "League of the Iroquois," was a group of five tribes in northern New York and Pennsylvania which joined forces in 1570. As one body represented by 50 members of each tribe, they made decisions relating to trade and war. Day-to-day operations within tribes were left to the jurisdiction of their respective tribes, but matters of war had to be agreed upon by the group. In general, they seemed to side with the British in most matters. However, they also proved deceitful in certain matters, such as the sale of land which did not belong to them, but rather the Shawnee, Delaware and Cherokee.<ref>http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_treaties/fp_treaties_br1stpplafter1763.html</ref> They also generally fought with the British against the colonists.<ref>[http://theiroquoisstory.weebly.com TheIroquoisStory] retrieved 9/18/17</ref> 
This system worked until about the time of the American revolution. With many Native Americans as involved in the conflict as Europeans, the Iroquois needed to make a decision on who to fight, but could not. In the end, each tribe tried to go its own way, but most fought against the colonists in favor of the British. Even so, Iroquois made themselves enemies of the British in some cases as well.<ref name="let.rug.nl">http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/history-1994/early-america/colonial-indian-relations.php</ref> As the Iroquois Indians had been raiding the colonies' northern frontier, Washington finally ordered the "total destruction and devastation" of Iroquois settlements in order to crush their hostile Confederacy.<ref name="usnews.com"/><ref name="americanhistory.oxfordre.com"/><ref name="let.rug.nl"/> 
Revisionist history tries to portray this final strike against the Iroquois as a cruel, senseless slaughter of innocent Native Americans. It was quite the opposite, being rather a well-deserved retaliatory strike, putting an end to the ongoing aggression of the alliance. It also removed one of the military options of the British.

==Constitution==
Long before most of his contemporaries, Washington realized that independence could not be guaranteed without a standing army and that a nation strong enough to defend itself and to control the West could not exist without a central taxing power and a competent executive authority. All of those things, he admitted. ran directly counter to anti-tax, anti-centralizing sentiments that animated the Revolution. But they were necessary nonetheless, Washington insisted throughout the 1780s. Ellis (2004) concludes that Washington, succeeded in reconciling those contradictions and playing the difficult role of a semi-monarchical republican leader because he understood so well the proper use of power and could project "onto the national screen ... the same kind of controlling authority he had orchestrated within his own personality."<ref>Ellis 2004 p. 274</ref>

In 1785 Washington hosted the [[Mount Vernon Conference]] at his home, which led to both the [[Annapolis Convention]] and the creation of the Constitution.

Because of the reputation he gained in the American Revolution, Washington was a logical choice for Virginia to send as a delegate to the [[Constitutional Convention]]. There, he was quickly chosen to chair the convention. While he barely ever spoke, the delegates have been said to have designed the [[President of the United States|Presidency]] assuming he would be the first President. Other members of the Virginia delegation to the Convention were [[John Blair]], [[James Madison]], [[George Mason]], [[James McClurg]], [[Edmund Randolph]], and [[George Wythe]].

==First president==
[[File:Federal Hall Wall Street New York.jpg|thumb|Statue of George Washington, erected at the [[Federal Hall National Memorial]] on the spot where he took his oath of office in 1789.]]
In [[United States presidential election, 1789|the first Presidential election]], George Washington was enthusiastically and unanimously elected. Reluctantly, he once more assented to the call of duty. This allowed him great freedom in setting up the customs, honors and daily functioning of the new government. Washington surrounded himself with a sophisticated and intelligent group of consultants and supporters and successfully delegated most of the responsibility for the conduct of their offices to those trusted colleagues. He practiced "leading by listening".<ref>Ellis (2004) p. 175</ref>

One of Washington's greatest achievements was creating the form and style of the new government—a creation that has lasted to this day. The Constitution was vague about administrative details, and under the Confederation the national government was ineffective. Washington created a strong cabinet, with departments of State (foreign affairs), Treasury, War (military and naval affairs), along with an Attorney General. His style was formal but avoided the elaborate ceremonies and costumes of European courts. Washington consulted with his cabinet, but made the decisions himself. He served as his own chief of staff and kept a very small presidential staff in New York City (which was the national capital until it moved to Philadelphia in 1790). He ignored vice president [[John Adams]].

As president Washington employed careful restraint in exercising executive power (to prevent a backlash against centralization), and practiced calculated postponement of potentially lethal issues such as foreign war or ending slavery. His was restrained regarding such issues as the power of the Supreme Court and the abolition of slavery (he quietly favored gradual emancipation), and his absence from early pronouncements in favor of Hamilton's financial plans, allowed him to develop both a nation and an office that appeared above the day-to-day political battles. However, he played a leading role in the struggle to locate the permanent national capital in the District of Columbia and in making military and foreign policy. He believed America's future interests did not depend on Europe but on the people and lands to the nation's west. Washington's vision led to a restrained but effective use of the power of the executive office and the foundations for a strong national government.<ref>Ellis, "Inventing the Presidency." ''American Heritage'' 2004</ref>
[[File:GeneralWashingtonatChristChurc.jpg|thumb|George Washington worshipped at [[Christ Church, Philadelphia]].]]
===Hamiltonian policies===
By far the most important innovations came from Treasury Secretary [[Alexander Hamilton]]. Washington gave strong support to Hamilton's successful programs, all approved by Congress, to take over the state debts, to fund the new national debt through a tariff on imports, and to create a national bank, the first Bank of the United States. [[Thomas Jefferson]], the Secretary of State, opposed all these programs but was defeated. Hamilton set up a national network of supporters that became the [[Federalist Party]]. Washington never joined the party, but he supported most of its policies and became its iconic symbol. Jefferson and Madison set up a rival party called the [[Jeffersonian Republicans]]. Both parties set up newspapers that engaged in nasty invective. By his second term, Washington had become the target of intense attacks from the Republicans. They first portrayed him as an unwitting tool of Hamilton, but later realized that he actually did support Federalist policies.<ref>''America Afire: Jefferson, Adams, and the Revolutionary Election of 1800''. Bernard A. Weisberger.</ref>

====Whiskey Rebellion, 1794====
Washington decided on decisive action to suppress the [[Whiskey Rebellion]], in which angry farmers in western Pennsylvania were protesting the new federal tax on whiskey. He called on governors to supply militia units, which they did. Washington rode at the head of a strong army into Pennsylvania and the rebellion collapsed without a confrontation.

===French Revolution===
Washington had not traveled outside the U.S. (apart from a brief visit to Bermuda), and paid little attention to European affairs. When the French Revolution led to war in 1793 between Britain (America's leading trading partner), and France (the old ally, with a treaty still in effect), Washington and his cabinet decided on a policy of neutrality. Washington supported the [[Jay's Treaty]], designed by Hamilton to avoid war with Britain and encourage commerce. The Jeffersonians vehemently opposed the treaty, but Washington's support proved decisive, and the U.S. and Britain were on friendly terms for a decade.

===Farewell Address===
Washington reluctantly served a second term, beginning in 1793, but by 1796 he was exhausted and insisted on not running again. (Since then, no President except [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[Franklin Roosevelt]] has ever tried for a third term; the [[Twenty-Second Amendment]] makes this two-term limit into law.) His [[Farewell Address]], partly drafted by Hamilton and Jefferson, remains a classic statement of republicanism, calling on Americans to practice civic virtue and avoid alliances with the warring parties in Europe.
[[File:Life of George Washington - The Christian death.jpg|thumb|Washington on his death bed]]
===Retirement and death: 1797-99===
Washington returned to his beloved Mount Vernon, but his health continued to decline. In 1798 he accepted appointment as nominal head of a new national army designed to fight the French in a threatened war. (President John Adams chose him as the one man who would command respect from all factions.) His role was nominal, as Hamilton was in effective command.

Washington died in 1799 from acute epiglottitis during an influenza epidemic, and complications from extensive [[bloodletting]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jgC36S_BdpwC&pg=PR17 Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution]</ref> Attending physicians, including his personal physician [[James Craik]], could not agree whether his condition was cynanche, an inflammation of the throat that was believed to require powerful remedies, or something that would require less radical therapeutic interventions than those his physicians had prescribed.<ref>Ben Cohen, Ben. "The Death of George Washington (1732-99) and the History of Cynanche." ''Journal of Medical Biography'' 2005 13(4): 225-231. Issn: 0967-7720</ref> [[Tobias Lear]], Washington's personal secretary, reported that his last words were "Tis well."<ref>[http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/biography/washington-stories/tobias-lear-tells-the-tale-of-washingtons-death/ Tobias Lear Tells the Tale of Washington's Death]</ref>

==Family and personality==
[[File:Savage The Washington Family.jpg|right|thumb|The Washington Family, 1796 by [[Edward Savage]].]]
Although he had no children, Washington enjoyed a happy family life and especially enjoyed management of his tobacco plantation.

As Henriques (2006) stresses, Washington was driven by a lifelong quest for fame. He zealously guarded his reputation and took great care to ensure that he always acted properly and that he received due acknowledgment for his propriety. Washington prided himself on his honorable actions and was inordinately sensitive to criticism. Ellis (2004) stresses that Washington learned to discipline his emotions as an essential survival skill while facing dangers as a young officer in the Seven Years' War. That capacity for self-control, outwardly manifested in his famous aloofness, served Washington well again during the Revolution, not only by insulating him from criticism, but also by enabling him to curb his ambitions sufficiently to give up power at the end of the war. This earned him the universally honorable reputation that he so ardently desired. Washington was compared, in his willing surrender of power to the Roman leader [[Cincinnatus]], a comparison which drew worldwide attention and acclaim, even in Britain, the nation defeated under his leadership.<ref>For Lord Byron's poem on the subject, hailing Washington as "the first, the last, the best, the Cincinnatus of the West," see http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/2001/byron0101.html.</ref>

===Slavery===
Critics argue that Washington's status as a slaveholder, his treatment of his slaves, and his condoning of the institution of slavery besmirch his reputation as the "father of our country." Washington's stay at the President's House in Philadelphia was similarly colored by slavery - nine slaves resided both in the house and in adjacent slave quarters. As a slaveholder, Washington personally struggled to balance the moral injustice of the institution with harsh realities, such as the fact that his own slaves were intermarried with those of his wife, whom he could not legally free. In his will, Washington emancipated his 123 slaves and provided financial support for the elderly and vocational training for the young. He acted in part to remove the only stain on his carefully cultivated reputation.

==Christianity==
[[Image:W-pray.jpg|right|thumb|''"I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, 'Do you see that woods & that plain? There laid the army of Washington. It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man. In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer.... To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. "''.<ref>From ''Diary and Remembrances,'' by Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden (1770-1851), who received it from an eyewitness to the scene, Valley Forge resident Isaac Potts</ref>]]
Washington was a practicing Christian who frequently attended services of several denominations and took seriously his responsibilities as vestryman of his Anglican parish. Washington frequently invoked God and commanded that chaplains be included in every regiment:

<blockquote>"The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavor so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country."<ref>http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-02-22&view=View</ref></blockquote>

Washington declared in his Inaugural Address:

<blockquote>"It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of Providential agency."<ref>''Id.''</ref></blockquote> Comments such as this one have led some modern historians to conclude that Washington was more a deist than a Christian.

Washington told a delegation of Indians: <blockquote>"You do well to wish to learn our arts and way of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ... Congress will do everything they can to assist you in this wise intention.<ref>Original Intent, [[David Barton]], 2004, Pg. 168</ref></blockquote>

Washington declared in his Farewell Address: <blockquote>"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." <ref>[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r106:4:./temp/~r1068i99iE:e2427: Reading of Washington's Farewell Address -- (Senate - February 22, 2000)]</ref></blockquote>

He began his last will and testament, "In the name of God, Amen".

Washington cherished his Bible so much that he includes the following sentence in his will "To the Reverend, now Bryan, Lord Fairfax, I give a Bible in three large folio volumes, with notes, presented to me by the Right Reverend Thomas Wilson" <ref>[http://www.ashbrook.org/library/18/washington/will.html Last Will and Testament] Ashbrook Center</ref>

==Freemason==
On November 4, 1752, Washington was initiated into [[Freemasonry]] at Fredricksburg Lodge, Fredricksburg, Virginia. He was passed and raised at the same lodge, becoming a Master Mason on August 4, 1753. He later served as Worshipful Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22 in Alexandria, Virginia. Upon his death in 1799, he was given a Masonic funeral at his wife's request.<ref>http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/washington_g/washington_g.html</ref> Despite this, Washington despised the [[Illuminati]] and the [[Jacobins]], which were closely associated with Freemasons and radicalism.<ref>Philipp, Joshua (May 29, 2019). [https://www.theepochtimes.com/washingtons-warnings-against-partisanship-related-to-the-illuminati-and-democratic-socities_2941627.html Washington’s Warnings Against Partisanship Related to the ‘Illuminati’ and ‘Democratic Socities’]. ''The Epoch Times''. Retrieved May 29, 2019.</ref>

==Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree Story==
In 1809, Mason Locke Weems (1756-1825), usually referred to as "Parson Weems," published a book entitled ''History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington.'' This book contained many fanciful stories and half-truths, intended to present Washington as a larger-than-life figure. Perhaps the most famous passage in it is Weems' recounting of a story which he attributed to an unnamed "aged lady, who was a distant relative [of Washington], and, when a girl, spent much of her time in the [Washington] family:"

:"When George," said she, "was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was immoderately fond, and was constantly going about chopping everything that came in his way. One day, in the garden, where he often amused himself hacking his mother's pea-sticks, he unluckily tried the edge of his hatchet on the body of a beautiful young English cherry-tree, which he barked so terribly, that I don't believe the tree ever got the better of it. The next morning the old gentleman, finding out what had befallen his tree, which, by the by, was a great favorite, came into the house; and with much warmth asked for the mischievous author, declaring at the same time, that he would not have taken five guineas for his tree. Nobody could tell him anything about it. Presently George and his hatchet made their appearance. "George," said his father," do you know who killed that beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden?" This was a tough question; and George staggered under it for a moment; but quickly recovered himself: and looking at his father, with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out, "I can't tell a lie, Pa; you know I can't tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet."—"Run to my arms, you dearest boy," cried his father in transports, "run to my arms; glad am I, George, that you killed my tree; for you have paid me for it a thousand fold. Such an act of heroism in my son is more worth than a thousand trees, though blossomed with silver, and their fruits of purest gold."<ref>British spellings are as they appear in the original text.</ref><ref>Weems, George Mason (1918), ''History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington.'' [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/gw/chap2.html Chapter 2: Birth and Education], online at University of Virginia</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC22316477&id=6tc56rgYE1YC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=mason+locke+weems&as_brr=1#PPP13,M1 The Life of George Washington] with Curious Anecdotes Equally Honorable to Himself, and Exemplary to his Young Countrymen. 1837, facsimile page images at Google Books</ref>

(Notice that Weems did not represent Washington as calling it "my ''little'' hatchet;" that appears to be a "familiar misquotation.")

==Greatness==
Surveys of scholars always rank Washington as one of the two or three greatest presidents—with [[Abraham Lincoln]] his main competition.

In an October 2000 survey of 132 prominent professors of history, law, and political science, President Washington was grouped in the "Great" group, ranked 1st, with a mean score of 4.92 out of 5.00.<ref>Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House (New York, Wall Street Journal Book, 2004)</ref>

[[Image:Trumbull G. Washington.jpg|right|thumb|''George Washington'', by [[John Trumbull]]]]

==Speeches from George Washington==
*[[George Washington's First Inaugural Speech]]
*[[George Washington's First Annual Message to Congress]]
*[[George Washington's Second Inaugural Address]]
*[[George Washington's Farewell Address]]

==Quotes from George Washington==
* "I have only been an instrument in the hands of Providence"

*"The freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter." (1783)<ref>To THE OFFICERS OF THE ARMY, Head Quarters, Newburgh, March 15, 1783, from ''The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources, '' ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, (Washington: U.S. GPO, 1931-1944)26: 224</ref>

*"Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." (1796)<ref>("FAREWELL ADDRESS" in ''Writings,'' 35:229.</ref>

*"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily."<ref>To the Secretary of State, in ''Writings,''34:266.</ref>

*"There is no such thing as coincidence. God wills the world according to his design." (1773)<ref>From The Diaries of George Washington, 1773)</ref>

*"The propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." (1789)<ref>First Inaugural Address https://founders.archives.gov/?q=The%20propitious%20smiles%20of%20Heaven%2C%20can%20never%20be%20expected%20on%20a%20nation%20that%20disregards%20the%20eternal%20rules%20of%20order%20and%20right%2C%20which%20Heaven%20itself%20has%20ordained&s=1111311111&sa=&r=1&sr=</ref>

*"But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed." (1796)<ref>(Farewell Address; September 19, 1796</ref>

*"Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government."<ref>To Henry Lee, Oct. 31, 1786 [https://books.google.com/books?id=5CHqDr6CJLsC&pg=PA204&dq=%22are+unfit+for+their+own+%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES#PPA204,M1 online p 202-3]</ref>

*"Government is not [[reason]]; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."<ref>[http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/26552 The War on Reason]</ref>

''„Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens. The mere Politican, equally with the [[Piety|pious]] man ought to respect & to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private & public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the Oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure--reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. 'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of Free Government. Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric.“'' [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/farewell/intro.html The Papers of George Washington, Documents, The Farewell Address, page 20]

==Trivia==
George Washington did not have wooden teeth, as many tales have asserted. As early as his 20's, Washington had trouble with his teeth.<ref name=teeth>[http://www.mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/false-teeth/ False Teeth]</ref> This would lead to several sets of dentures for Washington, made out of several different materials, including ivory and human teeth.

Washington's dentist was Dr. John Greenwood.<ref name=teeth />

He is rumored to have told Thomas Jefferson that a function of the Senate is to "cool off" legislation passed from the House of Representatives, similarly to how a saucer is used to cool off hot tea.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senate_Created.htm United States Senate]</ref><ref>[https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/senatorial-saucer Senatorial Saucer]</ref>

Washington was an accomplished dancer. He took dancing lessons in his teenage years and enjoyed practice throughout his life.<ref>[http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/colonial-life-today/dancing/ Dancing with General Washington]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=X1MrG9oLmvwC&pg=PT84 George Washington's Leadership Lessons: What the Father of Our Country Can Teach Us About Effective Leadership and Character]</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Washington Elm]]
*[[Gallery of American Heroes]]
*[[George Washington's Circular Address to the States]]
*[[George Washington's speech which ended the Newburgh Conspiracy]]
*[[Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation]]

==Bibliography==
[[File:Washington Houdon 1792.jpg|Right|250px|thumb|A statue of Washington by Jean-Antoine Houdon, currently in the Virginia State Capitol's Rotunda]]
===Interpretations===
* Cunliffe, Marcus. ''Washington: Man and Monument'' (1958),
* Ellis, Joseph J. ''His Excellency: George Washington'' (2004), by Pulitzer prize winner
* Ellis, Joseph J. "Inventing the Presidency." ''American Heritage'' 2004 55(5): 42-48, 50, 52-53. Issn: 0002-8738 Fulltext: online at Ebsco.
* Henriques, Peter R. ''Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington.'' (2006).
* Higginbotham, Don. ''George Washington: Uniting a Nation'' (2002)
* Higginbotham, Don, ed. ''George Washington Reconsidered''. (2001). 336 pp.
* Wood, Gordon S. "The Greatness of George Washington." ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' 1992 68(2): 189-207. Issn: 0042-675x Fulltext: in Ebsco

===Biographies===
* Alden, John R. ''George Washington: A Biography'' (1984)
* Ferling, John E. ''The First of Men: A Life of George Washington'' (1988)
* Flexner, James Thomas. ''Washington: The Indispensable Man'' (1974). short version of Flexner, ''George Washington,'' 4 vols. (1965–1972). [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=98849444 vol 1 online, 1732-1775]
* Freeman, Douglas Southall, ''George Washington,'' 7 vols. (1948–1957); Pulitzer prize; a one-volume condensed version appeared in 1968 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=62946671 vol 1 online]
* Lillback, Peter A., ''George Washington's Sacred Fire''; 2006 [http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/george-washingtons-sacred-fire-peter-a-lillback/1100258407]

===Military===
* Alden, John Richard. ''A History of the American Revolution'' (1969).
* Bodle, Wayne. ''Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers in War'' (2002)
* Buchanan, John. ''The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution'' (2004) 368 pp.. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=106756208 online edition]
* Fischer, David Hackett. ''Washington's Crossing'' (2004), Pulitzer prize winner; study of 1776-77 [http://blog.oup.com/2006/02/washingtons_cro online excerpt]
* Higginbotham, Don. ''George Washington and the American Military Tradition'' (1985);
* Higginbotham, Don. ''The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice, 1763–1789'' (1971). an analytical history of the war
* Lengel, Edward G. ''General George Washington: A Military Life.'' (2005). 450 pp
* McCullough, David. ''1776.'' 386 pp.
* Reed, John F. ''Campaign to Valley Forge: July 1, 1777–December 19, 1777'' (1965)
* Royster, Charles. ''A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775–1783'' (1979)
* Taaffe, Stephen R. ''The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777–1778'' (2003).
* Ward, Christopher. ''The War of the Revolution,'' 2 vols., 1952, a good narrative of all the major battles.
* Wrong, George M. ''Washington and His Comrades in Arms: A Chronicle of the War of Independence'' (1921) by a Canadian scholar [https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2704 online edition]
* ''West Point Atlas'' [http://www.military.com/Resources/HistorySubmittedFileView?file=history_americanrevolution_maps.htm online version]; the maps are public domain and not copyrighted

[[Image:Washington1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|print from 1790s]]

===Political===
* Bassett, John Spencer. ''The Federalist System, 1789–1801'' (1906), survey of politics [https://books.google.com/books/pdf/____The_Federalist_System__1789_1801.pdf?vid=OCLC64662233&id=tcQtUqwJCT8C&output=pdf&sig=JEsIhspA7Iw74WFJWe0zHeZU57k online version],
* Chernow, Ron. <cite>Alexander Hamilton</cite>. Penguin Books, (2004) (ISBN 1-59420-009-2). detailed biography
* Cronin, Thomas F., ed. ''Inventing the American Presidency.'' U. Press of Kansas, 1989. 404 pp.
* Deconde, Alexander. ''Entangling Alliance: Politics & Diplomacy under George Washington'' (1958) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=14354962 online edition]
* Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick. ''The Age of Federalism.'' (1994) the leading scholarly history of the 1790s. [http://www.questia.com/library/book/the-age-of-federalism-by-stanley-elkins-eric-mckitrick.jsp online edition]
* Fishman, Ethan M.; William D. Pederson, Mark J. Rozell, eds. ''George Washington'' (2001) essays by scholars
* Flaumenhaft; Harvey. ''The Effective Republic: Administration and Constitution in the Thought of Alexander Hamilton'' Duke University Press, 1992
* Grizzard, Frank E., Jr. ''George Washington: A Biographical Companion.'' ABC-CLIO, 2002. 436 pp. Comprehensive encyclopedia by leading scholar
* Gregg II, Gary L. and Matthew Spalding, eds. ''George Washington and the American Political Tradition.'' ISI (1999), essays by scholars
* Leibiger, Stuart. "Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic." U. Press of Virginia, 1999. 284 pp.
*McDonald, Forrest. ''The Presidency of George Washington''. 1988. Intellectual history showing Washington as exemplar of republicanism.
* Miller, John C. ''The Federalist Era, 1789-1801'' (1960), political survey of 1790s.
*Miller, John C. ''Alexander Hamilton: Portrait in Paradox'' (1959), full-length scholarly biography; [http://www.questia.com/library/book/alexander-hamilton-portrait-in-paradox-by-john-c-miller.jsp online edition]
* Morgan, Philip D. "'To Get Quit of Negroes': George Washington and Slavery.'' ''Journal of American Studies'' 2005 39(3): 403-429. Issn: 0021-8758
* Novak, Michael and Novak, Jana. ''Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country.'' 2006. 282 pp. Rejects idea that Washington was a deist; he kept his religion private and was probably a Christian
* Nordham, George W. ''The Age of Washington: George Washington's Presidency, 1789-1797.'' (1989).
* Pogue, Dennis J. "George Washington: Slave Master." ''American History'' 2004 38(6): 52-61. Issn: 1076-8866 Fulltext: in Ebsco, popular history
* Rozell, Mark J., William D. Pederson, Frank J. Williams. ''George Washington and the Origins of the American Presidency'' 2000 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=26469391 online edition]
* Riccards, Michael P. ''A Republic, If You Can Keep It: The Foundations of the American Presidency, 1700-1800.'' (1987)
* Sharp, James. ''American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis.'' (1995), survey of politics in 1790s
* Smith, Robert W. ''Keeping the Republic: Ideology and Early American Diplomacy.'' (2004)
* Spalding, Matthew. "George Washington's Farewell Address." ''The Wilson Quarterly'' v20#4 (Autumn 1996) pp: 65+.
* White, Leonard D. ''The Federalists: A Study in Administrative History'' (1956), thorough analysis of the mechanics of government in 1790s
* Henry Wiencek. ''An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America,'' 2003. 404 pp.

==Primary sources==
* George Washington. ''Writings'' (1997) (Library of America edition) 440 letters and key documents, 1184pp [http://loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=5&section=toc online table of contents]

===Large editions===
Four major editions of Washington's writings have appeared:<ref>See [http://loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=5&section=notes] for details</ref>
* ''The Writings of George Washington,'' edited by [[Jared Sparks]] (12 volumes, 1833–37)
* ''The Writings of George Washington,'' edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (14 volumes, 1889–93) [https://books.google.com/books?q=ford+%22Writings+of+George+Washington%2C%27%27&btnG=Search+Books&as_brr=1 online volumes]
* ''The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799,'' edited by John C. Fitzpatrick (39 volumes, 1931–44). [http://www.questia.com online at [[Questia]]]
* ''The Papers of George Washington,'' edited by W. W. Abbot, Dorothy Twohig, and others, is ongoing; 48 volumes have been published since 1976, and when complete this edition will be the most comprehensive edition so far. See [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/project/volumes/order.html] for details
** Washington, George. ''The Papers of George Washington Colonial Series'' Volumes 1-10 (complete)
** Washington, George. ''The Papers of George Washington Revolutionary War Series'' Volumes 1-16
** Washington, George. ''The Papers of George Washington Confederation Series'' Volumes 1-6 (complete)
** Washington, George. ''The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series'' University Press of Virginia. Latest volume is Vol. 12: January–May 1793. ed by Philander D. Chase, 2005. 708 pp.
** Washington, George. ''The Papers of George Washington Retirement Series'' Volumes 1-4 (complete)
* ''Documents of the American Revolution, 1770-1783'' Ed. by K.G. Davies. 21 vols. (Irish Academic University Press, 1972), all the important British documents

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gw1.html White House biography]
*[http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/index.html Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia]
*[http://www.livingtrustnetwork.com/content/lwt/wills/washingtonwill.php Last will and testament]
*[https://archive.org/details/lifegeorgewashi00mdgoog The Life of George Washington], by [[David Ramsay]]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=xT8FAAAAYAAJ The Life of George Washington], by Mason Locke Weems
*[https://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gw1.html White House biography]
*[https://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/ PBS biography]
*[http://georgewashington.si.edu/ Smithsonian Institute biography]
*[http://www.mountvernon.org/ George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate]
*[http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/gwashington.html Internet Public Library, list of links]
*[http://gw.ffc.navy.mil/ USS ''George Washington'' CVN-73]
*[http://www.nps.gov/wamo/historyculture/index.htm WASHINGTON MONUMENT] the 125th anniversary of the monument's completion and dedication.
*[https://librivox.org/author/354 Works by George Washington - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]

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