John Quincy Adams’ Administration.
The President’s Policy, as pointed out at his inauguration, was the same as that of Monroe; but he did not doubt the power of Congress to authorize measures favoring internal improvements. In the selection of subordinates he endeavored to adopt a conciliatory course by appointing officers from the ranks of those who had been his opponents at the last election. Clay and Crawford were called to the cabinet; the latter declined.
Presistent opposition.—This course was not generally approved, nor was it appreciated where generosity was bestowed. It was charged upon the President that his election was effected through a bargain with Mr. Clay. Though the accusation could not be proved, it promoted the interests in opposition to the administration. In the Nineteenth Congress the friends of Jackson and Crawford united to embarrass the measures of the President; and the first session of the Twentieth Congress, composed of partisans devoted mainly to the overthrow of the administration, was an organized opposition to every question upon which the President relied for approval by the people.
The Panama mission.—Commissioners from American nations were invited by Spanish-American republics to meet at Panama, in June, 1826, with a view to confederate against European despotism under the name of the Holy Alliance. Ambassadors were appointed, but failed to reach Panama. The bill in Congress, authorizing the mission, excited intemperate discussion and feelings of estrangement between the President and Senate. The debate brought in the slavery question, and ideas on the subject were advanced which were new to the members from the free states. It was claimed that slavery in the states was an independent institution, and that its owners were invested with inherent rights.
The controversy with Georgia, concerning the removal of the Creek Indians, occasioned a difficulty between that State and Federal authority. The governor advocated resistance to the general government, and a committee of the state legislature made a report suggesting a southern confederacy, thus starting the doctrine of nullification. This doctrine had originated with Jefferson and Monroe in the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798; was proclaimed by the Massachusetts legislature in 1814; but it now appeared in a bolder form than ever before. It was fostered in Georgia during the administration, and strengthened by the tariff of 1828. Congress left the President to pursue his own course regarding the controversy. The question was not settled till the next administration.
Republican party divided.—The disaffection in the Republican ranks, which began at the election of Adams, increased till 1827, when the friends of Jackson and Crawford constituted an organized opposition to those of Adams and Clay. The following year each division became a distinct political party under a name of its own.
High tariff of 1828.—The duties, according to the tariff of 1824, were ad valorem. Importers would invoice their goods below their real value and thus defraud the revenue. To remedy this, the tariff was amended in 1828. Debate on the question continued for more than two months, and created great excitement, both in and out of Congress. In South Carolina the measure was denounced in the strongest terms. Her citizens petitioned the legislature to “save them from the grasp of usurpation and poverty,” occasioned by such a law. Daniel Webster and other prominent statesmen, who had hitherto opposed a protective tariff, now became its advocates.
Election of 1828.—“Simultaneously with the election of Mr. Adams in the House did the canvass for the succeeding election begin—General Jackson being the announced candidate on one side, and Mr. Adams on the other. These efforts, undertaken by the friends of the candidates, were soon seconded by the people. The legislature of Tennessee nominated General Jackson in October, 1825. Mr. Adams was nominated by the general assembly of Massachusetts. Additional nominations were made for each by conventions of friends. The caucus system had gone into disuse, and national conventions had not been invented. The canvass was long and exciting. The merits and failings of each candidate were magnified in an unusual degree; but the hero of New Orleans was elected by an overwhelming majority.
The Anti-Masonic party.—William Morgan, a Royal Arch Mason, of Genesee county, New York, threatened to publish the secrets of Masonry. He was arrested for a debt of two dollars and thrown into jail, from which he was taken by night to Port Niagara. He remained a short time at this place, and on the 29th of September, 1826, disappeared, and was never seen afterwards. Much excitement followed this event, for it was claimed that the Masons had put him to death clandestinely. The subject was taken into politics the following year, and the Anti-Masonic party was organized, which found adherents in all the principal towns and cities in the west. The principal object of the party was the exclusion from office of the supporters of Masonry.
Democratic party.—That division in the Republican party which supported Jackson and Crawford, abandoned, in 182S, the name of Republican and adopted the title of “Democratic,” “as a novel, distinct and popular name.” This marks the beginning of the modern Democratic party, though its adherents were generally called Jackson men till 1836. The Democrats, being close constructionists, claimed their organization to be a reformation and continuation of the real party of Jefferson.
National Republican party.—The section of the Republican party which adhered to Adams as their candidate, retained the name “Republican,” to which they prefixed the word “national” as an indication of the national character of Republicanism in contradistinction from the alleged sectional policy espoused by the Jackson party. The National Republicans adhered professedly to the faith of the Republican party, and claimed that their organization was a continuation of the party of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Adams. The National Republicans were broad constructionists.
Other measures.—An attempt was made to amend the constitution respecting the election of President; a committee was appointed “to inquire into the expediency of reducing the patronage of the executive government;” resolutions on retrenchment and reform were introduced; and a bill was brought forward “to provide for the distribution of a part of the revenues of the United States among the several states.” On these no conclusive results were reached.
