|
Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 20 general entries.
Special Topics
|
 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Adams, John
| John Adams was born on October 30, 1735. However, the town of his birth, Quincy, Massachusetts, went by another name on that night before Halloween lo, those many years ago. What was it known as in the day of Adams? | John Adams: The Original Model
|
Braintree. The town of Braintree was established in 1640. Quincy was at that time a precinct of Braintree. In a fit of individualism, it broke away from Braintree in 1792, establishing itself as a town. City incorporation came in 1888. The town’s founder and namesake, Colonel John Quincy, was a great-grandfather of John Quincy Adams.
| As a young lawyer in Boston in 1770, Adams was called upon to represent the British commander and eight of his soldiers who “started” the Boston Massacre. Who was the British captain that Adams defended? | John Adams: The Original Model
|
Thomas Preston. Adams, along with his partner Josiah Quincy, were the only lawyers in Boston willing to face the wrath of their neighbors and defend Preston. Although a patriot, Adams believed that the British soldiers involved were innocent, and that more blame need be placed at the doorsteps of the “victims.” Adams surprised Boston, and himself, by successfully defending Captain Preston, and then winning the acquital of six of the eight soldiers. The two that were convicted were found guilty only of manslaughter, and received a slap on the wrist. They had their thumbs branded. As for Adams, for his efforts he received very little money and a great deal of enmity on the part of his fellow Bostonians, including his cousin, Samuel Adams.
| When Adams took over as U.S. president in March of 1797, there were only four cabinet positions in existence. What was unique about the men who initially made up John Adams’ cabinet? | John Adams: The Original Model
|
There were all holdovers from Washington’s presidency.. Adams’ reasons for keeping all of Washington’s last cabinet have been questioned for years, as Adams had, at best, a difficult relationship with most of the members. One reason he kept them was that it would have been difficult to find replacements. The low pay and lack of prestige (sounds like my job) kept away many a qualified candidate. Adams, as Washington’s vice president, saw the difficulty Washington had in filling these positions. Better to keep the status quo than run the risk of not having an attorney general or secretary of state. Also, the 1796 election, thanks to the shenanigans of Alexander Hamilton, had caused great divisions within the Federalist Party. Some have offered the theory that Adams kept the present members in order to avoid further erosion of the party.
| Adams, as a politician and as an individual, was admired by some and hated by others. Who made the following statement about John Adams, “Honest, intelligent, and sometimes out of his mind”? | John Adams: The Original Model
|
Benjamin Franklin. Adams and Franklin were part of the committee that negotiated the Treaty of Paris in 1783, ending the Revolutionary War. Although Franklin respected Adams, they had conflicting personalities. While Franklin was genial and open, Adams could be cold and distant. To his family, however, Adams was a warm, loving man. The letters between himself and his wife Abigail bear testament to a life-long love affair that was rooted in mutual trust and respect. Guess it’s all in the point of view.
Secretary of the Navy. One of Adams' more flattering, and accurate, nicknames is “Father of the American Navy.” As president, he pushed for a strong navy to offset the naval power of France and England, both of whom were threatening to use the U.S. as a pawn in their own little spat. Adams was determined to strengthen America’s power of neutrality by strengthening the navy and created the post in 1798. The Postmaster General was given cabinet status in 1829 by Andrew Jackson. The Interior came into existence under Zachary Taylor in 1849. The secretary of the Army has never been a cabinet position.
| After leaving office in 1801, Adams retired from public life to his farm in Quincy. He did on occasion find himself again a part of the political machinery. He was even afforded the chance to cast an electoral ballot in a later presidential election. For whom did he cast his vote? | John Adams: The Original Model
|
James Monroe. In 1820, Adams, now 86 years old, cast one of Massachusetts' 15 electoral votes for President Monroe, who had carried all 24 states in the Union at that time.
| The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 are not exactly among the more proud works of the American government. The acts, which were actually four separate bills, were a direct reaction to the XYZ Affair. Three of the acts were designed to expire after two years, with the option of renewal. Which act DID NOT have an expiration date? | John Adams: The Original Model
|
The Naturalization Act. A little background: the XYZ Affair refers to the attempted bribery of American representatives to France in order for American retribution to be addressed. Documents that revealed the French treachery had the names of the American reps substituted with the letters XYZ. War was a very real possibility for two years, until another peace mission accomplished what the first had been denied. The Alien and Sedition Acts grew out of the anti-French and anti-foreign clamor on the part of the public (and the anti-Republican sentiment amongst the party in power) from the affair. The Alien Act allowed the president to deport any alien deemed dangerous. The Alien Enemies Act, which was directly aimed at French immigrants, authorized the president, in times of war, to round up and imprison enemy aliens living in America. The Sedition Act was directed at anti-Federalist newspapers and publications by threatening fines and imprisonment for anyone writing or speaking against the president and/or the federal government. All three were allowed to expire in 1800. The Naturalization Act, which was designed to make the achievement of citizenship of immigrants difficult, if not impossible, was aimed to weaken the Republican party, the party of Jefferson. Most immigrants adhered to Republican teachings. It was repealed in 1802.
| John Adams was born in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts in 1735.
As Norfolk County developed, the Adams home in Old Braintree was incorporated into a different town in 1792.
Which is the name of the modern "City of Presidents"?
| President John Adams and His Times
|
Quincy. The town of Quincy was named after Colonel John Quincy, maternal grandfather of Abigail nee Smith Adams. The sixth US President, John Quincy Adams, was born in Braintree in 1767 and named after his great-grandfather.
The town of Brookline, to the north of Quincy, is the birthplace of the 35th President John F. Kennedy.
The town of Milton, adjoining Quincy to the west, is the birthplace of the 41st President George H. W. Bush.
Norfolk County, Massachusetts is the birthplace of 4 US Presidents.
| From 1778 until 1788 Adams served as a diplomatic envoy of the United States to several international posts.
To which country was Adams not appointed as a US envoy? | President John Adams and His Times
|
Spain. The Continental Congress appointed Adams as representative of the United States in various posts from 1778-1788:
Envoy to France (1778-1785); Envoy to The Netherlands (1780-1783); Ambassador to Great Britain (1785-1788).
While in the Netherlands, Adams purchased a building at Fluwelen Burgwal 18 in The Hague on April 19, 1782. On that same day, The Netherlands recognized the United States as an independent nation and Adams displayed the US flag on his building in celebration. The building is said to have been the first US Embassy in the world.
Federalist Party. Adams called the establishment of political parties "the greatest political evil under our Constitution."
| Although no states entered the union, the US extended its jurisdiction to two territories during the Adams administration.
Which two territories were added? | President John Adams and His Times
|
Indiana and Mississippi Territories. Mississippi (1798) from territory ceded to the US from Spain in the 1795 Treat of Madrid; Indiana (1800) from the old Northwest Territory.
Michigan Territory (1805) and Minnesota Territory (1849).
Dakota Territory (1861) - including North and South Dakota.
Territory of Hawaii (1900) and Territory of Alaska (1912).
| An iconic decision of John Adams was the appointment of John Marshall as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1801. Marshall’s tenure from 1801-1835 is the longest in US history.
Of the more than 1,000 constitutional court decisions issued during his tenure, how many times did John Marshall vote in the “minority" of judges dissenting from the Court’s opinion?
| President John Adams and His Times
|
1 time. John Marshall originated the judicial standard of issuing a single statement of the Court’s opinion on behalf of the majority of justices (individual justices could also issue “concurring” or “dissenting” opinions).
Only once in his 34-year tenure did John Marshall disagree with the majority: - in the case of Ogden v. Saunders in 1827.
| "May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
These words were written by Adams to his wife Abigail after his arrival at the new Executive Mansion (today's White House) in November, 1800.
In which room of today's White House are these words now engraved on the fireplace mantle?
| President John Adams and His Times
|
The State Dining Room.. In 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the words carved into the fireplace mantle of the State Dining Room.
|
Fun Trivia | 
Quizzes | 
Games
| 
People | 
Services | 
Help | 
Me
