Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams by William H. Seward (android pdf ebook reader .TXT) 📖

York, as secretary of the commission. These nominations were confirmed by the Senate; and an appropriation was voted by the House of Representatives, after strong opposition and much delay, to carry the contemplated measure into effect.

But the United States Government was never represented in the Panama Congress. The proceedings in the House of Representatives on this subject had been so protracted, that it was found too late for Mr. Sargeant to reach Panama in season for the meeting of the Congress, which took place on the 22nd of June, 1826. Mr. Anderson, who was then minister at Colombia, on receiving his instructions, commenced his journey to Panama; but on reaching Carthagena he was seized with a malignant fever, which terminated his existence.


During the second session of the nineteenth Congress, the subject of commercial intercourse with the British West India Colonies was thoroughly discussed. The British Parliament had laid restrictions so onerous on the trade of the United States with these Colonies, that it could be pursued to very little profit. Bills were introduced into both houses of Congress, for the protection of the interests of American merchants, trading with the British Colonies; but the Senate and House failing to agree on the details of the proposed measures, nothing was done to effect the desired object. Congress having adjourned without passing any law to meet the restrictive measures of Great Britain, President Adams, on the 17th of March, 1827, agreeably to a law passed three years before, issued a proclamation closing the ports of the United States against vessels from the British colonies, until the restrictive measures of the British Government should be repealed.

The policy pursued by Mr. Adams toward the Indian tribes within the United States, was pacific and humane. The position they held toward the General Government was of an unsettled and embarrassing character. Enjoying a species of independence, and subject to laws of their own enactment, they were, nevertheless, dependent on the Government of the United States for protection, and were, in fact, wholly at its disposal. Near the close of Mr. Monroe's administration, in a message to Congress, on the 27th of January, 1825, he proposed a plan to remove the tribes scattered through the several States, to a tract of country west of the Mississippi, and to unite them in one nation, with some plan for their government and civilization. This proposition meeting with a decided opposition on the part of many of the Indians, was modified during Mr. Adams's administration. It finally resulted in a plan of removing west of the Mississippi such individuals among the various tribes as would consent to go under the inducements held out; and allowing the remainder to continue in their old abode, occupying each a small tract of land. This policy has since been pursued by the General Government, and has resulted in the removal of most of the aborigines beyond the western shores of the Mississippi.

These removals, however, have been attended with no little difficulty, and at times have led to collisions which have assumed a serious aspect. An instance of this description occurred during the first year Mr. Adams occupied the presidential chair. In 1802, a compact was formed between the General Government and the State of Georgia, in which it was agreed, that in consequence of the relinquishment, on the part of Georgia, of all her claim to the land set off in the then new Mississippi Territory, the General Government, at its own expense, should obtain a relinquishment, from the Creek Indians, of all their lands within the State of Georgia, "whenever it could be peaceably done upon reasonable terms."

In compliance with this agreement, the United States had extinguished the Indian title to about fifteen millions of acres of land. At the close of Mr. Monroe's administration, over nine millions of acres were still retained by the Indians. The State authorities of Georgia became very anxious to obtain possession of this also. At the solicitation of Gov. Troup, President Madison sent two Commissioners to make a treaty with the Creeks, for the purchase of their lands, and the removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi. But the Creeks, having begun to appreciate and enjoy the comforts of civilization, and the advantages of the arts and sciences, which had been introduced into their midst, refused to treat on the subject, and passed a law in the General Council of their nation, forbidding, on pain of death, the sale of any of their lands. After the close of the council, a few of the Creeks, influenced by a chief named M'Intosh, met the United States Commissioners, and formed a treaty on their own responsibility, ceding to the General Government all the Creek lands in Georgia and Alabama. When intelligence of this treaty was circulated among the Indians, they were filled with indignation. Their General Council met - resolved not to sanction a treaty obtained in a manner so dishonorable and illegal - and despatched a party of Indians to the residence of M'Intosh, who immediately shot him and another chief who had signed the treaty with him.

This surreptitious treaty was transmitted to Washington, and under a misapprehension of the manner in which it was secured, was ratified by the Senate, on the 3d of March, 1825, the last day of Mr. Monroe's administration. Gov. Troup, acting under this treaty, sent surveyors into the Creek Territory, to lay out the land in lots, which were to be distributed among the white inhabitants of Georgia, by lottery. The Indians resisted this encroachment, and prepared to defend their rights by physical force - at the same time sending to Washington for protection from the General Government. The authorities of Georgia insisted upon a survey, and ordered out a body of militia to enforce it.

On hearing of this state of affairs, President Adams despatched a special agent to inquire into the facts of the case. After due investigation, the agent reported that the treaty had been obtained by bad faith and corruption, and that the Creeks were almost unanimously opposed to the cession of their lands. On receiving this report, the President determined to prevent the survey ordered by the Governor of Georgia, until the matter could be submitted to Congress, and ordered Gen. Gaines to proceed to the Creek country with a body of United States troops, to prevent collision between the Indians and the Georgia forces.

On the 5th of February, Mr. Adams transmitted a message to Congress, giving a statement of these transactions, and declaring his determination to fulfil the duty of protection the nation owed the Creeks, as guaranteed by treaty, by all the force at his command. "That the arm of military force," he continued, "will be resorted to only in the event of the failure of all other expedients provided by the laws, a pledge has been given by the forbearance to employ it at this time. It is submitted to the wisdom of Congress to determine whether any further acts of legislation may be necessary or expedient to meet the emergency which these transactions may produce."

The committee of the House of Representatives, to which this message was referred, reported that it "is expedient to procure a cession of the Indian lands in the State of Georgia, and that until such a cession is procured, the law of the land, as set forth in the treaty at Washington, ought to be maintained by all necessary, constitutional, and legal means." The firmness and decision of President Adams undoubtedly prevented the unhappy consequences of a collision between the people of Georgia and the Creek Indians. A new negotiation was opened with the Indians, by direction of the President, which resulted in declaring the M'Intosh treaty null and void, and in obtaining, at length, a cession of all the lands of the Creeks within the limits of Georgia, to the General Government.


As the friend and promoter of internal improvements, Mr. Adams was invited to be present at the interesting ceremony of "breaking ground," on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, then about to be commenced, which took place on the 4th of July, 1828. On the morning of that day, the President, the Heads of Departments, the Foreign Ministers, the Corporations of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, the President and Directors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, with a large concourse of citizens, embarked on board of steamboats and ascended the Potomac, to the place selected for the ceremony. On reaching the ground, a procession was formed, which moved around it so as to leave a hollow space, in the midst of a mass of people, in the centre of which was the spot marked out by Judge Wright, the Engineer of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, for the commencement of the work. A moment's pause here occurred, while the spade, destined to commence the work, was selected by the committee of arrangements, and the spot for breaking ground was precisely denoted.

At that moment the sun shone out from behind a cloud, giving an appearance of the highest animation to the scene. Amidst an intense silence, the Mayor of Georgetown handed to Gen. Mercer, the President of the Canal Company, the consecrated instrument; which, having received, he stepped forward from the resting column, and addressed as follows the listening multitude: -

"Fellow-citizens: There are moments in the progress of time which are the counters of whole ages. There are events, the monuments of which, surviving every other memorial of human existence, eternize the nation to whose history they belong, after all other vestiges of its glory have disappeared from the globe. At such a moment have we now arrived. Such a monument we are now to found."

Turning towards the President of the United States, who stood near him, Mr. M. proceeded: -

"Mr. President: On a day hallowed by the fondest recollections, beneath this cheering (may we not humbly trust auspicious) sky, surrounded by the many thousand spectators who look on us with joyous anticipation; in the presence of the representatives of the most polished nations of the old and new worlds; on a spot where little more than a century ago the painted savage held his nightly orgies; at the request of the three cities of the District of Columbia, I present to the Chief Magistrate of the most powerful Republic on earth, for the most noble purpose that was ever conceived by man, this humble instrument of rural labor, a symbol of the favorite occupation of our countrymen. May the use to which it is about to be devoted prove the precursor, to our beloved country, of improved agriculture, of multiplied and diversified arts, of extended commerce and navigation. Combining its social and moral influence with the principles of that happy constitution under which you have been called to preside over the American people, may it become a safeguard of their liberty and independence, and a bond of perpetual union!

"To the ardent wishes of this vast assembly I unite my fervent prayer to that infinite and awful Being without whose favor all human power is but vanity, that he will crown your labor with his blessing, and our work with immortality."

As soon as he had ended, the President of the United States, to whom Gen. Mercer had presented the spade, stepped forward, and, with an animation of manner and countenance which showed that his whole heart was in the thing, thus addressed the assembly of his fellow-citizens: -

"Friends and Fellow-citizens: It is nearly a full century since Berkely, bishop of Cloyne, turning towards this fair land which we now inhabit, the eyes of a prophet, closed a few lines of poetical inspiration with this memorable prediction -

"Time's noblest empire is the last :" -

a prediction