Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/289

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 237 chusetts, until his death in 1848. He was shortly afterward nominated by the anti-masons for the governorship of Massachusetts, but was defeated in the legislature, there being no choice by the peo ple. In congress he occupied a perfectly independ ent attitude. He was one of those who opposed President Jackson s high-handed treatment of the bank, but he supported the president in his firm attitude toward the South Carolina nullifiers and toward France. In 1835, as the French govern ment delayed in paying over the indemnity of $5,000,000 which had been agreed upon by the treaty of 1831 for plunder of American shipping in the Napoleonic wars, Jackson threatened, in case payment should be any longer deferred, to issue letters of marque and reprisal against French com merce. This bold policy, which was successful in obtaining the money, enlisted Mr. Adams s hearty support. He defended Jackson as he had de fended Jefferson on the occasion of the embargo; and this time, as before, his course was disapproved in Massachusetts, and he lost a seat in the U. S. senate. He had been chosen to that office by the state senate, but the lower house did not concur, and before the question was decided the news of his speech in favor of reprisals turned his sup porters against him. He was thus left in the house of representatives more independent of party ties than ever, and was accordingly enabled to devote