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Getting Started Browse by Volume Timeline Selected Pages |
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The timeline gives an overview to events of John Quincy Adams' life. Some entries on the timeline are informational and not limited to specific diary entries, while other timeline listings point to diary pages containing entries about particular events. The timeline also provides specific dates that may be entered into the date search tool.
Click here for a list of members of the Adams family and their relationships to JQA.
Youth (1767-1781) | ||
1767 | ||
11 July | JQA born. | Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts |
1778 | ||
13 February - 1 April | John Adams and JQA sail from Boston to France on the Boston. | Sails from Boston to France |
1779 | ||
17 June - 2 August | John Adams and JQA sail from L' Orient to Boston on La Sensible. | Sails from L'Orient, France to Boston |
13 November | John Adams, JQA, and Charles Adams sail from Boston for France on La Sensible. | Sails from Boston |
8 December - 9 February 1780 | John Adams, JQA, and Charles Adams travel across northern Spain to reach Paris. | Travels across Spain (El Ferrol, La Coruna, and Bilbao) to Bayonne and then Paris, France |
1780 | ||
27 July - 10 August | John Adams, JQA, and Charles Adams travel from Paris to Amsterdam. | Travels from Paris to Amsterdam |
1781 | ||
11 January | JQA and Charles Adams enroll at the University of Leyden. | Leyden, Netherlands |
7 July - 27 August | JQA accompanies Francis Dana to St. Petersburg, where he serves as Dana's secretary and interpreter. | Travels through Berlin and Riga to St. Petersburg, Russia |
Young adult (1781-1785) | ||
1782 | ||
30 October | JQA departs St. Petersburg. He travels through Finland, part of Sweden (Stockholm), Denmark, Copenhagen and Hamburg. | Travels through Helsingfors, Stockholm, Gottenberg, Copenhagen, and Hamburg to the Netherlands |
1783 | ||
16 April | JQA arrives at The Hague. | The Hague, Netherlands |
7 August | John Adams and JQA return to Paris. | Paris, France |
27 August | John Adams and JQA watch Monsieur Montgolfier's balloon ascension. See Selected Page (diary 8, page 20) | Paris, France |
3 September | JQA serves as secretary to his father during the signing of the Treaty of Paris. | Paris, France |
22 September | John Adams and JQA move from Paris to Auteuil. | Auteuil, France |
24 October - 5 January | John Adams and JQA travel to England where they visit London, Oxford, and Bath. | London, England |
1784 | ||
8 January - 14 May | JQA in the Netherlands (primarily at The Hague). | The Hague, Netherlands |
30 July | JQA joins his mother and sister in London. | London, England |
13 August | John Adams reassigned to Paris. John Adams, JQA, Abigail Adams and Abigail Adams (JQA's sister) reside in Auteuil for nine months. | Paris and Auteuil, France |
22 August | John Adams and JQA have dinner with Thomas Jefferson and his daughter. See Selected Page (diary 9, page 38) | Auteuil, France |
1785 | ||
24 February | JQA hears Benjamin Franklin's thoughts about animal magnetism. See Selected Page (diary 10, page 15) | Paris, France |
21 May - 17 July | JQA leaves Paris and travels to New York City. | Sails from France to New York, New York |
31 August | JQA meets with the Joseph Willard, president of Harvard, who advises him to wait until the following spring before starting classes. See Selected Page (diary 10, page 148) | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
30 September - 14 March 1786 | JQA studies and prepares for his admission to Harvard with his uncle, Reverend John Shaw of Haverhill. | Haverhill, Massachusetts |
College student (1786- July 1787) | ||
1786 | ||
15 March | JQA is officially admitted to Harvard College as a junior. | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
1787 | ||
18 July | JQA graduates from Harvard College. See Selected Page (diary 11, page 291) | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
7 September | JQA leaves Boston for Newburyport. He studies law under Theophilus Parsons, a New England attorney and future chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. | Newburyport, Massachusetts |
Law student and lawyer (September 1787- June 1794) | ||
1788 | ||
3 October | JQA leaves Newburyport and his legal studies to live in Braintree for a few months. | Braintree, Massachusetts |
1789 | ||
26 March | JQA returns to Newburyport to continue his legal studies. | Newburyport, Massachusetts |
1790 | ||
9 August | JQA opens law office in Boston. See Selected Page (diary 12, page 276) | Boston, Massachusetts |
1791 | ||
8 June - 27 July | Eleven essays written by JQA under the pen name, "Publicola," appear in the Columbian Centinel. | Boston, Massachusetts |
1792 | ||
19 December | JQA protests Boston's anti-theater ordinances in articles signed "Menander," that were published in the Columbian Centinel. | Boston, Massachusetts |
1793 | ||
24 April - 11 May | Three essays written by JQA under the pen name, "Marcellus," defending American neutrality, appear in the Columbian Centinel. | Boston, Massachusetts |
4 July | JQA delivers his first 4th of July oration in Boston. | Boston, Massachusetts |
30 November - 14 December | Five essays by JQA written under the pen name, "Columbus," denouncing France's Genet mission, appear in the Columbian Centinel. | Boston, Massachusetts |
1794 | ||
3 June | JQA receives a letter from his father informing him that President George Washington has appointed him resident minister to The Hague. See Selected Page (diary 20, page 1) | Boston, Massachusetts |
10 July | JQA dines with President George Washington the day before receiving his commission as resident minister to the Hague from the secretary of state. See Selected Page (diary 20, page 4) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
17 September -14 October | JQA sails from Boston to England with Thomas Boylston Adams who he names as his secretary. | Sails from Boston, Massachusetts to Deal, England, and then leaves for London, England |
6 November | JQA presents his credentials at The Hague. | The Hague, Netherlands |
Diplomat to the Netherlands and Prussia (July 1794-1801) | ||
1795 | ||
22 October - 11 November | JQA travels to London for the ratification of Jay's Treaty, but a delay because of bad weather prompts William Deas to complete JQA's assignment. | Travels from The Hague to Hellevoetsluis, Netherlands, then to London, England |
1796 | ||
27 January | JQA attends a ball at Joshua Johnson's house in London to celebrate Johnson's second daughter's (Louisa Catherine Johnson) 21st birthday. | London, England |
30 May | President Washington appoints JQA minister plenipotentiary to Portugal, but he never serves under this appointment. | The Hague, Netherlands |
1797 | ||
1 June | President John Adams appoints JQA minister plenipotentiary to Prussia. | The Hague, Netherlands |
20 June | JQA presents his letter of recall to the Dutch government. See Selected Page (diary 24, page 175) | The Hague, Netherlands |
26 July | JQA marries Louisa Catherine Johnson in London. See Selected Page (diary 24, page 180) | London, England |
18 October - 7 November | JQA, Louisa Catherine Adams, and Thomas Boylston Adams travel from London to Berlin. | Travel from London to Berlin (formerly part of Prussia) |
1798 | ||
4 September | JQA writes in his diary that studying German absorbs much of his time. See Selected Page (diary 24, page 231) | Berlin (formerly part of Prussia) |
1799 | ||
11 July | JQA signs a treaty of amity and commerce with Prussia. | Berlin (formerly part of Prussia) |
17 July - 12 October | JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams vacation in Bohemia and Saxony. | Bohemia and Saxony |
Fall 1799 | JQA begins translating Christopher Martin Wieland's epic poem Oberon; the translation is completed in. | Berlin area, (formerly part of Prussia) |
1800 | ||
23 July - 24 September | JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams travel through Silesia. | Silesia (a Prussian province, later became part of Poland) |
1801 | ||
February | President John Adams recalls JQA from Prussia. | Berlin area, (formerly part of Prussia) |
12 April | George Washington Adams, the first child of JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams, born in Berlin. See Selected Page (diary 24, page 322) | Berlin (formerly part of Prussia) |
17 June - 4 September | JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams leave Berlin and travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | Travel from Berlin (formerly part of Prussia) to Hamburg, Germany, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
21 September | JQA arrives in Quincy, Massachusetts and visits with his parents for the first time in seven years. See Selected Page (diary 24, page 338) | Quincy, Massachusetts |
21 October - 11 November | JQA in Washington. | Washington, DC |
Lawyer (1802) | ||
1802 | ||
5 April | JQA elected state senator from Suffolk County. | Boston, Massachusetts |
3 November | JQA lists the election results from two days prior in his diary; he was defeated by William Eustis for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. See Selected Page (diary 24, page 387) | Boston, Massachusetts |
Senator (1803 - June 1808) | ||
1803 | ||
3 February | JQA elected by the Massachusetts Legislature to the U.S. Senate. See Selected Page (diary 51, page 1) | Boston area, Massachusetts |
4 July | John Adams, second son of JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams, born in Boston. | Boston, Massachusetts |
1 November | JQA writes about debating one of the bills that would create stock for payment of the Louisiana Purchase. Around this time, JQA breaks with the Massachusetts Federalists and supports the Louisiana Purchase. See Selected Page (diary 27, page 50) | Washington, DC |
1804 | ||
12 March | JQA votes with Federalists against convicting John Pickering of impeachment charges. | Washington, DC |
Summer | JQA studies the entire U.S. Code (all laws since 1789) and compares and analyzes all Supreme Court decisions. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
24 December | JQA describes the discussion of U.S. senators about issues relating to impeachment and the upcoming proceedings against Judge Chase. See Selected Page (diary 27, page 116) | Washington, DC |
1805 | ||
1 August | JQA writes in his diary about his appointment as the first Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard. See Selected Page (diary 27, page 170) | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
1806 | ||
12 April | JQA votes to ratify the Treaty with Tripoli. | Washington, DC |
1807 | ||
10 July | JQA attends a meeting of the citizens at the Massachusetts State House regarding the British attack on the American frigate, Chesapeake. See Selected Page (diary 27, page 297) | Boston, Massachusetts |
18 August | Charles Francis Adams, 3rd son of JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams, born in Boston. | Boston, Massachusetts |
22 December | JQA is the only Federalist senator to support President Jefferson's embargo bill. | Washington, DC |
1808 | ||
23 January | JQA attends Republican caucus to select presidential nominee. | Washington, DC |
8 June | After the Massachusetts legislature instructed JQA to vote to repeal the embargo, he resigns as senator rather that complete his term (that was scheduled to end in 1809). | Boston, Massachusetts |
Professor (summer 1808 - June 1809) | ||
1808 | ||
Summer | JQA focuses on law and Harvard professorship. | Boston area, Massachusetts |
Diplomat to Russia and Great Britain (August 1809 - August 1817) | ||
1809 | ||
April - June | JQA's critical review of the Works of Fisher Ames appears in the Boston Patriot. | Boston, Massachusetts |
27 June | President Madison appoints JQA minister plenipotentiary to Russia. | Boston, Massachusetts |
August - October | JQA sails with Louisa Catherine Adams, Charles Francis Adams, and Catherine Johnson, Louisa's younger sister, from Boston to St. Petersburg. | Sails from Boston to Denmark, then travels to St. Petersburg, Russia |
1810 | ||
1810 | Lectures delivered from 1806 to 1809 at Harvard by JQA published as Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory. | St. Petersburg, Russia |
1811 | ||
13 January | JQA converses with the Emperor of Russia (Czar Alexander I) and is invited to dinner at the Hermitage. See Selected Page (diary 28, page 199) | St. Petersburg, Russia |
2 June | JQA declines a seat on the U. S. Supreme Court. | St. Petersburg, Russia |
21 June | During the summer solstice, JQA gets up at 2:00 in the morning to watch the sun rise at 2:46. See Selected Page (diary 28, page 260) | St. Petersburg, Russia |
12 August | Louisa Catherine Adams born to JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams in St. Petersburg. | St. Petersburg, Russia |
24 December | JQA attends a ball at the Hermitage on Czar Alexander I's birthday, hosted by the Empress Mother. See Selected Pages (diary 28, page 324 and diary 28 page 325) | St. Petersburg, Russia |
1812 | ||
15 September | JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams' daughter, Louisa Catherine, dies. | St. Petersburg, Russia |
1814 | ||
January | JQA heads commission to negotiate an Anglo-American peace treaty. | St. Petersburg, Russia |
18 April - 24 June | JQA travels alone from St. Petersburg to Ghent to negotiate treaty. | Travels from St. Petersburg, Russia to Sweden, and then to Ghent |
8 August | In his diary, JQA describes the negotiations with the British Commissioners regarding the Treaty of Ghent. See Selected Page (diary 29, page 129) | Ghent |
24 December | JQA signs the Treaty of Ghent with Great Britain, ending the War of 1812. | Ghent |
1815 | ||
12 February - 23 March | Louisa Catherine Adams and Charles Francis Adams travel from St. Petersburg to join JQA in Paris. |
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28 February | JQA commissioned envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain. | Paris, France |
29 March | While JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams are in Paris, JQA visits the Tuileries garden to glimpse Napoleon. See Selected Page (diary 29, page 240) | Paris, France |
25 May | JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams are reunited with their older sons, George Washington Adams and John Adams, in London. | London, England |
3 July | JQA, Henry Clay, and Albert Gallatin sign Commercial Convention that establishes American diplomatic equality with Great Britain for the first time. | Greater London, England |
1817 | ||
16 April | JQA learns of his appointment as secretary of state when he receives a letter sent by President Monroe on 6 March. See Selected Page (diary 30, page 170) | Greater London, England |
14 May | JQA presents a letter of recall to the British government. | London, England |
11 July | JQA celebrates his fiftieth birthday aboard the Washington. | Sailing from England to United States |
6 August | JQA arrives in New York City, returning to the United States after an eight-year absence. See Selected Page (diary 30, page 239) | New York, New York |
18 August | JQA visits with John Adams and Abigail Adams in Quincy, Massachusetts. See Selected Page (diary 30, page 243) | Quincy, Massachusetts |
Secretary of State (September 1817-1824) | ||
1817 | ||
22 September | JQA assumes post of secretary of state. See Selected Page (diary 30, page 257) | Washington, D.C. |
1818 | ||
15 July | JQA opposes censure of Andrew Jackson for invading the Spanish province of Florida without authorization and articulates his position in his diary as he describes a meeting with the president and other members of his cabinet. See Selected Page (diary 30, page 373 and diary 30, page 374) | Washington, DC |
4 September - 1 October | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
20 October | Under the direction of JQA, American commissioners in London sign the convention of 1818 with Britain, clarifying America's northern boundary, fishing rights, and commerce. See Selected Page (diary 30, page 419) | Washington, DC |
1 November | JQA expresses grief over the death of his mother, Abigail Adams, in his diary. (She died on 28 October 1818.) See Selected Page (diary 30, page 430 and diary 30 page 431) | Washington, DC |
1819 | ||
22 February | JQA signs Transcontinental Treaty with Spain (the Adams - Onis Treaty) by which the U.S. extends its boundaries (in Oregon) to the Pacific Ocean and acquires the territory of Florida. | Washington, DC |
1 September - 9 October | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
1820 | ||
14 March | Prompted by the recent announcement of the death of King George III, JQA writes in his diary about the King's mental state. See Selected Page (diary 31, page 285) | Washington, DC |
1821 | ||
22 February 1821 | JQA submits to the Senate his Report Upon Weights and Measures recommending uniform standards of measurement. See Selected Page (diary 31, page 529) | Washington, DC |
4 July | JQA addresses the House of Representatives, declaring the U.S. anti-colonial principles in relation to Latin America. | Washington, DC |
1822 | ||
1822 | JQA publishes a defense of his diplomacy at Ghent as The Duplicate Letters, the Fisheries and the Mississippi in response to the criticism of fellow negotiator Jonathan Russell. | Washington, DC |
1823 | ||
16 September | JQA describes a fishing trip. See Selected Page (diary 34, page 131) | Boston area, Massachusetts |
7 November and 21 November | In cabinet debates, JQA urges President Monroe to protect the western hemisphere from further colonization by foreign powers. Monroe adopts Adams's philosophy on foreign policy. He delivers an address to Congress on 2 December 1823 in which the Monroe Doctrine is revealed. | Washington, DC |
1824 | ||
8 January | JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams host a ball for Andrew Jackson on the ninth anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. See Selected Page (diary 34, page 204) | Washington, DC |
5 - 17 April | JQA concludes the Convention with Russia. | Washington, DC |
24 July | During a conversation with the Russian Minister, Baron Tuyl, JQA articulates the position of the Monroe Doctrine. See Selected Page (diary 34, page 102) | Washington, DC |
5 - 24 September | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
4 October | JQA accompanies the Marquis de Lafayette as he visits a number of institutions in Washington. See Selected Page (diary 35, page 266) | Washington, DC |
November | JQA runs second to Andrew Jackson in election for president and, within a diary entry for 13 November 1824, records how different members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted. See Selected Page (diary 49, page 690) | Washington, DC |
President (1825 -1828) | ||
1825 | ||
9 February | JQA chosen president by the U.S. House of Representatives. See Selected Page (diary 33, page 76; and diary 33, page 77) | Washington, DC |
4 March | JQA inaugurated as the sixth president of the United States. See Selected Page (diary 33, page 103 and diary 33, page 104) | Washington, DC |
15 May | JQA meets with four Creek Indians. See Selected Page (diary 33, page 150 and diary 33 page 151) | Washington, DC |
5 December | JQA gives "Lighthouses of the Skies" address to Congress, in which he recommends a Department of Interior, a naval academy, a national university, a national astronomical observatory, nation - wide internal improvements for transportation, and uniform laws on bankruptcy, weights and measures, militia, and patents for invention. | Washington, DC |
1826 | ||
4 July | JQA celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in Washington. | Washington, DC |
9 July | JQA receives notice of his father's death; (John Adams died on 4 July 1826). See Selected Page (diary 35, page 331) | Enroute from Washington, DC to Quincy, Massachusetts |
13 July - 6 October | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
1827 | ||
5 February | JQA asserts federal authority over the state of Georgia to protect land claims of Creek Indians. | Washington, DC |
11 August | JQA visits the quarry where stone-cutters are cutting blocks of granite for the Bunker Hill Monument. See Selected Page (diary 37, page 264) | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
1828 | ||
May - June | JQA receives Congressional approval for a program of internal improvement. | Washington, DC |
27 May | JQA reviews an act that supplies benefits to surviving officers of the American Revolution. See Selected Page (diary 37, page 554) | Washington, DC |
11 August - 8 September | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
3 December | JQA receives confirmation of his loss to Andrew Jackson in the recent presidential election. See Selected Page (diary 33, insert page 67) | Washington, DC |
Author (1829-October 1830) | ||
1829 | ||
17 February | JQA begins to compose "A Reply to the Appeal of the Massachusetts Federalists." See Selected Page (diary 36, insert page 145) | Washington, DC |
20 April | George Washington Adams dies from a jump or fall from a steamer in Long Island Sound. | Washington, DC |
19 October | JQA describes a memorial to John Adams and Abigail Adams in Quincy under construction at the Stone Temple. See Selected Page (diary 36, page 280) | Quincy, Massachusetts |
1830 | ||
9 January | Within his diary, JQA describes being surrounded by books and papers as he prepares to write about the war between Turkey and Russia. See Selected Page (diary 36, page 341) | Washington, DC |
Congressman (November 1830 - 1848) | ||
1830 | ||
1 November | JQA elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Plymouth district of Massachusetts. | Quincy, Massachusetts |
6 November | JQA writes about his election to the U. S. House of Representatives. See Selected Page (diary 38, page 27) | Quincy, Massachusetts |
1831 | ||
16 April | JQA completes the epic poem "Dermot MacMorrough, or The Conquest of Ireland." See Selected Page (diary 23, page 478) | Washington, DC |
25 August | JQA delivers a tribute to James Monroe who had died on 4 July 1831. | Boston, Massachusetts |
1832 | ||
14 January | JQA meets with the secretary of the U. S. Department of the Treasury and discusses modifying the existing tariff. See Selected Page (diary 38, page 350 and diary 38, page 351) | Washington, DC |
28 January | JQA has dinner with two French agents, Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont. See Selected Page (diary 38, page 360 and diary 38, page 361) | Washington, DC |
22 March - 17 April | JQA in Philadelphia. | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
17 April - 17 July | JQA in Washington. | Washington, DC |
26 July - 9 November | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
10 December | JQA is reappointed chairman of the Committee of Manufacturers. See Selected Page (diary 39, page 4 and diary 39, page 5) | Washington, DC |
1833 | ||
17 June | JQA works in his garden and nursery and notes in his diary that his tranquil day is quite a contrast to an event that occurred on the same day in 1775--the Battle of Bunker Hill. See Selected Page (diary 39, page 97) | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
2 September | JQA describes some of the mountains of New Hampshire, including the "Old Man of the Mountain" rock formation. See Selected Page (diary 39, page 137) | Franconia, New Hampshire |
7 September - 7 November | JQA in Boston. | Boston area, Massachusetts |
10 November - 5 July 1834 | JQA in Washington. | Washington, DC |
1834 | ||
13 July - 20 October | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
23 October | JQA's son, John Adams, dies at age thirty-one, of possible alcohol poisoning. | Washington, DC |
31 December | JQA delivers memorial discourse on Lafayette to a joint session of Congress. | Washington, DC |
1835 | ||
30 May - 11 November | JQA in Quincy. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
22 December | JQA appointed chairman of a House special advisory committee regarding the $500,000 bequest of James Smithson to establish the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. See Selected Page (diary 50 page 372) | Washington, DC |
1836 | ||
26 May | The U.S. House of Representatives passes a gag rule against antislavery petitions without allowing JQA to speak in opposition to it. JQA begins a nine-year fight to have the rule removed. | Washington, DC |
4 July | JQA votes against U.S. recognition of Texas. See Selected Page (diary 48, page 615) | Washington, DC |
27 September | JQA delivers eulogy for James Madison. | Boston, Massachusetts |
10 November - 9 May 1837 | JQA in Washington. | Washington, DC |
1837 | ||
4 July | JQA delivers 4th of July speech in Newburyport, Massachusetts. | Newburyport |
1838 | ||
16 June - 7 July | JQA delivers a speech in the House of Representatives on the freedom of petition and debate, forcing a delay in the efforts to annex Texas as a slave-holding state. | Washington, DC |
19 July - 26 November | JQA in Boston. | Boston area, Massachusetts |
29 November | JQA visits President Martin Van Buren to discuss the Smithsonian bequest and the establishment of a possible astronomical observatory. See Selected Page (diary 33, page 669) | Washington, DC |
1839 | ||
1 October | JQA writes in his diary about the case of fifty - three African slaves who revolted at sea while onboard the Amistad, but were later taken into the custody of a vessel from the United States. See Selected Page (diary 42, page 221) | Quincy, Massachusetts |
10 December | JQA saves the House of Representatives from anarchy by assuming the chair during a deadlock over its organization. | Washington, DC |
1840 | ||
5 March | JQA writes about presenting an amended version of the Smithsonian Bequest Bill, which included an estimate of expenses for erecting an astronomical observatory. See Selected Page (diary 42, page 383) | Washington, DC |
9 May | JQA finishes the poem "The Wants of Man." (Later, on 3 September 1841, this poem first appears in the Albany Evening Journal.) See Selected Page (diary 42, page 452) | Washington, DC |
2 August | JQA writes in his diary about Ralph Waldo Emerson and Transcendentalism. See Selected Page (diary 41, page 53) | Quincy, Massachusetts (check) |
1 - 19 September | JQA traveling in Canada. | Travels through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, Canada and Maine |
17 November | JQA meets with Mr. Roger Sherman Baldwin in New Haven, Connecticut. They discuss legal strategy regarding the Amistad case and visit the prisoners. See Selected Page (diary 41, page 160) | New Haven, Connecticut |
1841 | ||
24 February | JQA begins argument before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Amistad Africans. See Selected Page (diary 41, page 259) | Washington, DC |
1 March | JQA concludes argument before the Supreme Court on behalf of the Amistad Africans. See Selected Page (diary 41, page 264) | Washington, DC |
9 March | Supreme Court verdict declares the Amistad Africans to be free. See Selected Page (diary 41, page 272) | Washington, DC |
24 April - 27 May | JQA in Boston. | Boston area, Massachusetts |
22 August | JQA discusses an amendment to the Land Bill with other New England legislators. See Selected Page (diary 41, page 438) | Washington, DC |
22 November | JQA gives lecture at the Massachusetts Historical Society about Anglo - Chinese relations. | Boston, Massachusetts |
1842 | ||
25 January | The House of Representatives considers a motion to censure JQA for presenting extreme antislavery petitions. See Selected Page (diary 43, page 28) | Washington, DC |
2 - 7 February | JQA presents his defense and the motion for his censure is tabled. See Selected Page (diary 43, page 37) | Washington, DC |
14 March | JQA has dinner with Charles Dickens. See Selected Page (diary 50, page 861) | Washington, DC |
17 September | JQA gives a speech to his constituents at a church in Braintree. | Braintree, Massachusetts |
2 December - 2 May 1843 | JQA in Washington. | Washington, DC |
1843 | ||
29 May | JQA gives speech to Massachusetts Historical Society regarding the 200th anniversary of the New England Confederation. | Boston, Massachusetts |
13 July | During a trip through the state of New York, JQA visits Saratoga Springs. See Selected Page (diary 44, page 7) | Saratoga Springs, New York |
10 August | JQA receives notification about the publication of a letter that he wrote about the abolition of slavery. | Quincy area, Massachusetts |
10 November | JQA delivers an oration at the dedication of the new Cincinnati Astronomical Observatory. See Selected Page (diary 44, page 128) | Cincinnati, Ohio |
23 November - 10 July 1844 | JQA in Washington. | Washington, DC |
1844 | ||
7 October | JQA delivers address to the Young Men's Whig Club of Boston warning that the annexation of Texas would bring the country closer to Civil War. | Boston, Massachusetts |
3 December | U.S. House of Rep. drops its gag rule; JQA considers this a great triumph. | Washington, DC |
1845 | ||
28 February | JQA fails in effort to prevent the annexation of Texas. | Washington, DC |
26 June | JQA writes about the sunrise and sunset in his diary. See Selected Page (diary 45, page 177) | Quincy, Massachusetts |
1846 | ||
11 May | JQA votes against the declaration of war with Mexico. See Selected Page (diary 45, page 565 and diary 45, page 566) | Washington, DC |
20 November | JQA suffers a cerebral hemorrhage in Boston. (Later, on 14 March 1847, he writes an account of what happened in his diary.) See Selected Page (diary 46, page 103) | Boston, Massachusetts |
1847 | ||
13 February | JQA returns to Washington and to his seat in Congress. | Washington, DC |
26 July | JQA and Louisa Catherine Adams celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. | Quincy, Massachusetts |
1848 | ||
21 February | JQA collapses in his seat in the House of Representatives and is carried to the Speaker's Room, where he dies on the 23 February. | Washington, DC |
23 February | JQA dies. | Washington, DC |
25 February | Funeral ceremonies held in Washington, DC for JQA. |
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11 March | JQA's casket arrives in Quincy, Massachusetts and is placed in the family vault in the cemetery across from the First Parish Church. (Later, on 16 December 1852, JQA's coffin is moved and is reinterred with the coffin of Louisa Catherine Adams in the crypt of the First Parish Church in Quincy.) |
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