John Quincy Adams
...n and had 3 sons with her. The year after his father was defeated for reelection in 1800, John Quincy returned to Boston to practice law. In 1802, the Federalist Party leaders in Massachusetts helped him become elected to senate because of his past diplomatic records. Shortly afterward, in 1803, the Federalists in the state legislature elected him senator of Massachusetts. He disagreed heavily with the other senators in many issues such as the purchase of Louisiana and the passing of the Embargo Act. Later in 1808, several months before his term was up, the Massachusetts legislature elected another senator to replace him so Adams resigned. He then resumed his diplomatic career in 1809 when President James Madison appointed him U.S. diplomatic representative to Russia. Adams became an important asset to foreign relations, as Russia was the only European outlet for trade at that time. In 1817, John was called back to the U.S. to become secretary of state in the cabinet of James Monroe. It became a difficult time for him because Spain was having conflicts in Florida. Many hostile groups such as the Seminole Indians, runaway slaves, and outlaws began to cross the U.S. border and Spain was required by treaty to stop them from crossing. Spain failed to do so, so U.S. captured certain cities in Florida. This caused conflict between the U.S. and the Seminoles so the U.S. burned a Seminole village. This caused the Seminoles to retaliate and start the First Seminole War. John Quincy Adams called for General Andrew Jackson to stop the Seminoles and he did by capturing more Florida cities. But, he executed 2 British soldiers and this caused heavy tension between Spain, Great Britain, and the U.S. So, Adams told Spain to either subdue the enemies or to cede to the U.S. Spain, after many revolts causing loss of power and many negotiations, agreed to the demands of Adams and Florida ceded to the U.S. Also, Adams secured another important concession from Spain. This was the western boundary of Louisiana, which was never agreed upon by the Louisiana Purchase where U.S. gained Louisiana. Acting on his own and not by the orders of the government, John persuaded Spain to agree that Louisiana ran all the way to the Pacific Ocean. This was a major asset because now America stretched from ocean to ocean. Later, Adams ran for president of the U.S. and won becoming the sixth president. This was not easily won, though. When the Electoral College voted for the candidates, none of them received a majority vote. So, by the 12th Amendment, the House was to vote for the 3 candidates with the most votes. John Quincy became one of the 3 candidates because he had received the 2nd highest number of votes. Henry Clay of Kentucky helped Adams to gain the majority of vote and Adams was elected president. Soon, followers of Jackson said that Adams had won by a corrupt bargain with Clay. This caused major problems for Adams during his presidency. Another problem was that Adams wasn’t a very social person, but he remained pre...