AHG- 632 1A
First Annual Message- John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States, the son of a previous president and one of the most successful Secretaries of State, seemed destined for great things. Few men in history have been better prepared to take on the role of the presidency and yet, even before his inauguration, John Quincy Adams struggled to establish his legitimacy. An accomplished diplomat, Adams never seemed able to transfer his earlier successes to his time as president. Failing to win either the popular vote or the electoral vote, the election was decided by the House of Representatives and it was only with the help of Henry Clay that Adams won. Following a long line of Democratic-Republicans, …show more content…
As the country continued to grow, Adams had hoped to connect the different sections of the United States. “Roads and canals, by multiplying and facilitating the communications and intercourse between distant regions and multitudes of men, are among the most important means of improvement.” While this goal was not new, it continued to be met with severe resistance, in part, because of the power it placed in the hands of the federal government. John Lauritz Larson argues in his article “Bind the Republic Together” that the “real barrier to a national system of internal improvements sprang, first, from that system’s power to guide development from the center and, second, from America’s lingering fear of just such consolidated power” (365). The debate over internal improvements was only one example of many that could trace its roots back to the ratification of the Constitution. Should powers like these rest in the hands of the federal government or does it belong to the states? According to Larson, “fearing consolidation at the hands of distant elites, or jealous of local advantages, most congressmen refused to vest that authority [for a national system of internal improvements] in the president or any other agents who might injure their interests at home.” (384) Adam only feeds into this fear of a strong federal
First Annual Message- John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams, the 6th President of the United States, the son of a previous president and one of the most successful Secretaries of State, seemed destined for great things. Few men in history have been better prepared to take on the role of the presidency and yet, even before his inauguration, John Quincy Adams struggled to establish his legitimacy. An accomplished diplomat, Adams never seemed able to transfer his earlier successes to his time as president. Failing to win either the popular vote or the electoral vote, the election was decided by the House of Representatives and it was only with the help of Henry Clay that Adams won. Following a long line of Democratic-Republicans, …show more content…
As the country continued to grow, Adams had hoped to connect the different sections of the United States. “Roads and canals, by multiplying and facilitating the communications and intercourse between distant regions and multitudes of men, are among the most important means of improvement.” While this goal was not new, it continued to be met with severe resistance, in part, because of the power it placed in the hands of the federal government. John Lauritz Larson argues in his article “Bind the Republic Together” that the “real barrier to a national system of internal improvements sprang, first, from that system’s power to guide development from the center and, second, from America’s lingering fear of just such consolidated power” (365). The debate over internal improvements was only one example of many that could trace its roots back to the ratification of the Constitution. Should powers like these rest in the hands of the federal government or does it belong to the states? According to Larson, “fearing consolidation at the hands of distant elites, or jealous of local advantages, most congressmen refused to vest that authority [for a national system of internal improvements] in the president or any other agents who might injure their interests at home.” (384) Adam only feeds into this fear of a strong federal