Book Description
Richards' study presents not only a vivid portrait of John Quincy Adams but also provides an insightful exploration of American politics in the 1830s and 40s.Examining one of the few presidents who sustained a political career after his term in the White House, Richards depicts how two years after losing the presidential election to Andrew Jackson, Adams ran for the House of Representatives and served there until his death seventeen years later. During his outstanding congressional career, Adams became a folk hero in much of the North--hailed by some as "Old Man Eloquent" and "the conscience of New England" by others--while much of the South feared him, regarding him as a traitor and the "archest enemy of slavery that ever existed." Richards explores in detail Adams' battles with such prominent figures as Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, and Daniel Webster on the issues of slavery, the Indians and their land, the annexation of Texas, and the potential war against Mexico.Highlighting his importance in the anti-slavery movement, Richards reassesses Adams' role as a political analyst and as a vital force in the turbulent politics of the day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

House Bill 584, Verplank Bill, and Bank Wars
Tariffs were a way to force revenue. A very unpopular tariff put heavy dues on the South and was referred to as the tariff of abomination.House Bill 584 was a compromise to the tariff of abomination.House Bill 584 revised the tariff laws of the United States.The bill passed and claimed too cut total revenues by $5 million and establish a reserve for defense and internal improvements. However, crucial levies on iron, cotton goods, and fine woolens would remain high.Overall duties increased by $1 million and nullifiers were not pleased.Lawmakers thought to appease the South by eliminating minimum levies and remission of duties on coarse wool and coarse woolens, so called Negro clothes, which slave masters bought for their slaves.

The tariff money had to be put somewhere and that somewhere was a bank.Adams distrusted all bankers calling them swindlers and thieves.Adams believed every dollar beyond the gold or silver backing it, cheated someone.Banks lend more notes than they could cover (3 to 5 times the vault value).Southern legislators argued for strict constructionalism limiting the expansion of government spending and borrowing.

Expansionist argued that money and banking made possible manufacturing growth.Protective tariffs were necessary and the constitution provided provision for roads and canals to be built using the money.The Fed's job was to provide a favorable climate for economic growth; the Fed design was too protect against foreign competition; the Fed was charged too create a national market, and the Fed must ensured cohesion of commerce through internal improvements: roads, canals, and education.A second source of income came through the sale of public lands and those funds went into the federal treasury to fund the internal improvements.

Almost contradictory in nature to his beliefs, Adams supported a strong national bank to hold in check the smaller state banks.

The Verplank Bill passed and Jackson used the law too force South Carolina to pay tariffs. The south did not accept the bill readily.So another law was passed called the Compromise Tariff Act of 1833 that dropped rates down and spread them stepped over a nine-year interval.

In 1837, England faced a financial crisis triggered a run on banks in the U.S.Patrons began redeeming notes in gold and prices began to rise.Jackson, the successor to Van Buren championed the case of hard money.Jackson started to criticize the state banking policies and encourage business be done in gold and silver.These economic pressure lead to support of the Independent Treasury Act of 1840.

The Bank war rose after the second national bank came due too have its charter renewed.Jackson was against the renewing of the Charter that would expire in 1836.Adams wanted the national bank believing it would keep in line wildcat banks and ride the herd on issuing too many notes.In 1819, Biddle takes over the bank and Adams thinks highly of Biddle.The New York politicians are against Biddle's bank.Biddle fights against the political machinery buying support of Congress.The McDuffre report shows Bank involvement in: building houses to sale or rent, selling coin, and usury.The committee has limited access to inquiry into the banks financial activities since Adams has blocked the inquiry by amendment. The bank will be used to manage national debt and stockpile federal money.


... Read more

Book Description
This fact-filled book will provide your students withbiographical information about President John Quincy Adams while they learnto draw the iconic symbols of his life and times. ... Read more

Book Description
Elected after one of the most bitterly fought contests in American history, John Quincy Adams faces a contentious Congress and many national problems. William Pratt, the 12-year-old son of a cotton plantation owner, writes about one of the thorniest: the removal of the Creek Indians from their tribal land in Georgia. His father, the young man reports, supports the policy, but William believes the Creek are being betrayed. The president sympathizes, yet as his letters painfully reveal, his own political muscle has been deeply cut by powerful foes. ... Read more

Book Description
In Heir to the Fathers, author Gary V. Wood's discussion of Adams' political and intellectual life invites readers to reexamine the principles upon which the United States of America was founded. Heir to the Fathers is a salient addition to the study of constitutional law and history and American political thought. ... Read more

Book Description
In his years after the Presidency, this son of the second President served in the US House of Representatives with a distinction not often equaled. Late in his life he is asked to defend against an appeal to the Supreme Court to override the decisions of lower courts on what came to be known as the Amistad matter. Reluctant to take the case for a number of reasons, among them age and lack of practice, Adams exhibits his intense belief in the necessity of the rule of law which he must articulate with the passion of his convictions. Adams' decision is wrenched from him by the members of the Amistad crew with the help of Horace Greeley. ... Read more

Book Description
Neither his contemporaries nor subsequent historians have known quite what to do with John Quincy Adams. He was neither "conservative" nor "liberal," neither aristocrat nor democrat. Frequently at odds with New England's political and social leadership, he was influenced by both Puritan traditions of the 17th century and the scientific Enlightenment of the 18th. His life divided into three careers, with his presidency, his least successful career, sandwiched between those of diplomat and Secretary of State on one hand, and congressman on the other. This bibliography provides a guide to the literature on all three careers and provides the first comprehensive listing of Adams's published writings. Following the introduction and a chronology of Adams's life, the volume opens with chapters devoted to manuscript and archival resources, the writings of John Quincy Adams, and general biographical publications. Chapters 4 and 5 list sources on Adams's early career and mature years, and chapter 6 turns to the elections of 1824 and 1828. The presidency is covered in chapter 7, administration associates in chapter 8, and the post-presidential years in chapter 9. Chapter 10 examines his childhood and personal life. Two concluding chapters are devoted to historiography and iconography. The volume also includes a list of relevant periodicals and author and subject indexes. ... Read more

Book Description
In February 1778, at the height of the Revolutionary War, the Americanrepresentative from Massachusetts, John Adams, is sent on a secretmission to France. It is dangerous to cross the Atlantic in winter, butthe situation is desperate-the colonies need France's help against theBritish army. Adams is accompanied by his ten-year-old son, Johnny.Together, father and son must weather an angry ocean, perilous seabattles, and other dangers to help the colonies achieve freedom.

Vivid illustrations and a fast-paced narrative bring to life thislittle-told story of a character-defining event in the lives of twofuture presidents. ... Read more

Book Description

In her illuminating and dramatic biography The Stranger and the Statesman, Nina Burleigh reveals a little-known slice of social and intellectual history in the life and times of the man responsible for the creation of the United States' principal cultural institution, the Smithsonian.

It was one of the nineteenth century's greatest philanthropic gifts -- and one of its most puzzling mysteries. In 1829, a wealthy English naturalist named James Smithson left his library, mineral collection, and entire fortune to the "United States of America, to found ... an establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men" -- even though he had never visited the United States or known any Americans. In this fascinating book, Burleigh pieces together the reclusive benefactor's life, beginning with his origins in the splendidly dissipated eighteenth-century aristocracy as the Paris-born bastard son of the first Duke of Northumberland and a wild adventuress who preserved for her son a fortune through gall and determination.

The book follows Smithson through his university years and his passionate study of minerals across the European continent during the chaos of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Detailed are his imprisonment -- simply for being an Englishman in the wrong place, his experiences in the gambling dens of France, and his lonely and painstaking scientific pursuits.

After Smithson's death, nineteenth-century American politicians were given the task of securing his half-million dollars -- the equivalent today of fifty million -- and then trying to determine how to increase and diffuse knowledge from the muddy, brawling new city of Washington. Burleigh discloses how Smithson's bequest was nearly lost due to fierce battles among many clashing Americans -- Southern slavers, state's rights advocates, nation-builders, corrupt frontiersmen, and Anglophobes who argued over whether a gift from an Englishman should even be accepted. She also reveals the efforts of the unsung heroes, mainly former president John Quincy Adams, whose tireless efforts finally saw Smithson's curious notion realized in 1846, with a castle housing the United States' first and greatest cultural and scientific establishment.

Customer Reviews (8)

Well worth perusing
The first half of the book is a biography of James Smithson, the Smithsonian's benefactor, although little is really known of him. He was the illegitimate son of an English nobleman in the 18th century, and few records about him survive. It's a mystery why he left his fortune-half a million dollars in that day's currency, equivalent to about $50 million today-to the United States, and there was a lot of debate over whether it should be accepted! Then once it was accepted in theory, there was a significant challenge in physically procuring the money (eventually transported across the Atlantic in the form of gold). And finally, there was much disagreement about how the money should be used and a fair amount of graft and corruption that obliterated the principle. Quite an intriguing story. The book itself is a little too meandering for my tastes; the author tries too hard to fill in the blanks with conjecture and imagination. But well worth perusing.

A good History of the man behind the creation of the Smithsonian, but....
This book was a good read and I enjoyed it for the most part.The personal history of James Smithson was very interesting and Ms. Burleigh does a great job of writing this history in an engaging manner that the reader will enjoy.Understanding Smithson and the scientific era that he lived in is perhaps crucial to understanding the why of his bequest to the United States that led to the creation of the Smithsonian Institution.

The disappointment, and this is not a real fault of the author's, is that there is no way to fully understand what Smithson's motivation and his true goal for the bequest of his estate to the United States.Smithson donated his entire estate to the United States with the intent to create an institution in his name for the dissemination of scientific knowledge.The Smithsonian Institute has more than surpassed any expectation Smithson may have had.Unfortunately due to an unfortunate fire at the original Smithsonian castle that destroyed Smithson's papers we will never know his thought's behind the donation and this leaves a huge whole in the story.

Additionally the politics and creation of the Smithsonian from the bequest are written about in a rather hurried fashion.Ms. Burleigh does not go into the same depth behind the political challenges that the bequest created, the intrigues that resulted due to the bequest or the initial year of the Smithsonian's creation.By the time the story gets to John Quincy Adams it seems that the author is rushing to finish the book.More details surrounding the actual creation of the institution would have added greatly to this book.

All in all this was a book that was well written.I enjoyed reading it despite my previously mentioned criticisms and I would recommend it to anyone interested in history.

In short, delightful.
A great short read about a wonderful institution. The perfect book to read while traveling.

Wonderful history behind our prestigious museum.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book about The Smithsonian and how it came about. Smithson was an eccentric...no doubt about it, and there is little for us to go on to guage why he made the U.S. his heir, especially when he spent his life trying to 'ratify' his own place among the elite of England. But we Americans do not refuse a 'gift horse.' Especially one that would enable us to contend with the British museums. Adams may have not had his father's sense of humor, but he was smart enough to accept this gift, and see that it was used the way that Smithson intended it to be used. A very outstanding historical story, and well-researched. Glad to know the background of the Smithsonian...

Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh

Look what we've found hidden in "America's Attic"
Burleigh's book painstakingly peels back the opaque covers of history to acquaint us with the quirky, obsessive, and surprisingly fascinating characters on both sides of the Atlantic whose money and ideas spawned the Smithsonian Institution.The book profiles the reclusive, English scientist who bequeathed an inherited fortune to a country he had never seen to found an institution for the dissemination of knowledge.His life story as told by Burleigh is a marvelous palette of the scandalously rich nobility and ground-breaking gentlemen scientists of 18th century Europe.Then, the book moves to the rough-and-tumble young nation of America, where suspicion, selfishness and opportunism nearly doomed the Englishman's bequest until a man of then-unpopular vision, former President John Quincy Adams, used all of his Puritanical tenacity to ensure the money was used as the donor intended.Those who enjoy a peek into the lives of real people whose courage, flaws and vision influenced future generations will want to read this book. ... Read more

Book Description
The first Vice President and second President is discovered in the Executive Mansion (the White House) while it is under construction. Not only is the seemingly always irascible man plagued by the incompleteness of the building, but in a reelection bid faces the prospect of placing third in a four man race. Jefferson, his Vice President, has become a bitter enemy and Adams looks to strike back, primarily through the person of John Marshall. Adams is rude to the point of meanness and sentimental enough to draw tears from his wife, Abigail, who joins him in the shambles of his new residence and his faltering career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting, informative and very readable
The plays in the History's Project's "Character in Time: The US Presidents" series are interesting and informative and, above all, very readable.People unfamiliar with reading plays should not be put off by the format -- after a few minutes time, it seems perfectly natural to read dialogue instead of normal prose.Students, especially, will appreciate the playwright's artful distillation of the subject's ideas and philosophy, as well as the lively presentation of his character -- there's really a lot of information packed into these small volumes.

Shadows of Greatness
We are treated to an original account of our second president in a humorous rendition that plays brilliantly in our minds.This one act play is a poignant look at the personal issues of a Massachusetts's attorney turned president and the country he was elected to lead during its political infancy.The investment of your time will be well spent. ... Read more