| 1735 |
Oct. 30 (Oct. 19, O.S.): |
Born in the North Precinct of Braintree (which in 1792 was taken off and named Quincy), Mass. |
| 1740's |
|
Attends Mrs. Belcher's and Joseph Cleverly's schools in Braintree. |
| 1750–1751 |
|
Attends Joseph Marsh's school in Braintree. |
| 1751 |
|
Enrolls in Harvard College. |
| 1755 |
July: |
Graduates A.B. |
| 1755 |
Aug.: |
Begins to keep school in Worcester, Mass. |
| 1755 |
Nov. 18: |
Begins his Diary. |
| 1756 |
Aug.: |
Signs contract to read law with James Putnam for two years. |
| 1758 |
July: |
Attends Harvard commencement and receives M.A. |
| 1758 |
Oct.: |
Returns from Worcester to live in Braintree. |
| 1758 |
Oct.–Dec.: |
Tries (and loses) first case as a practicing lawyer (Field v. Lambert) before Colonel and Justice Josiah Quincy in Braintree. |
| 1758 |
Nov.: |
Admitted to the Suffolk bar, Jeremiah Gridley serving as his sponsor, and begins to practice in the Inferior Court of Common Pleas. |
| 258 |
| 1760 |
|
Drafts essays on appointment of new chief justice and on evils of licensed houses. |
| 1761 |
Feb.: |
Records arguments in Superior Court of Judicature on writs of assistance. |
| 1761 |
May: |
Upon the death of his father, inherits Braintree property (later known as the John Quincy Adams Birthplace). |
| 1761 |
Nov.: |
Admitted to practice in the Superior Court of Judicature. |
| 1762 |
Spring: |
Begins serving on town committees and traveling the Inferior and Superior Court circuits. His circuit riding continues for fourteen years. |
| 1762 |
Aug.: |
Admitted barrister in the Superior Court of Judicature. |
| 1762 |
Oct.: |
His surviving courtship correspondence with Abigail, daughter of Rev. William Smith of Weymouth, begins. |
| 1763 |
June–July: |
His first known newspaper contributions, signed “Humphrey Ploughjogger,” are published in the Boston Evening Post and Boston Gazette.
|
| 1764 |
April–May: |
Inoculated in Boston for the smallpox. |
| 1764 |
Oct. 25: |
Marries Abigail Smith (AA) and brings her to live in the house inherited from his father. |
| 1765 |
Jan.: |
Joins a lawyers' “sodality” in Boston for the study of legal history and theory. |
| 1765 |
March: |
Elected surveyor of highways in Braintree. |
| 1765 |
June: |
Travels the eastern court circuit to Maine for the first time. |
| 1765 |
July 14: |
His 1st daughter, Abigail 2d (AA2), is born. |
| 1765 |
Aug.–Oct.: |
Publishes “A Dissertation of Canon and Feudal Law” in installments in the Boston Gazette.
|
| 1765 |
Sept.: |
Composes the Braintree Instructions denouncing the Stamp Act. |
| 1765 |
Dec: |
Named of counsel for Boston to plead for reopening of the courts. |
| 259 |
| 1766 |
Jan.: |
Publishes three letters, signed “Clarendon,” in the Boston Gazette on the British constitution and American rights. |
| 1766 |
March: |
Elected a Braintree selectman. |
| 1766 |
July: |
Becomes active in the improvement of professional practice of the law through the Suffolk bar association. |
| 1767 |
July 11: |
His 1st son, John Quincy (JQA), is born. |
| 1768 |
March: |
Declines to stand again for Braintree selectman. |
| 1768 |
April: |
Moves to the “White House” in Brattle Square, Boston. |
| 1768 |
June: |
Writes instructions for the Boston representatives to the General Court protesting the seizure of Hancock's sloop Liberty.
|
| 1768 |
Dec. 28: |
His 2d daughter, Susanna (d. 4 Feb. 1770), is born. |
| 1768 |
Winter: |
Successfully defends John Hancock in admiralty court against charges of smuggling in connection with the sloop Liberty.
|
| 1769 |
Spring: |
Moves to Cold (or Cole) Lane, Boston. |
| 1769 |
May: |
Writes instructions for the Boston representatives to the General Court protesting the presence of British troops and the growing power of admiralty courts. |
| 1769 |
May–June: |
Successfully defends Michael Corbet and three other sailors in admiralty court for the killing of Lt. Panton of the British Navy. |
| 1769 |
Aug.: |
Takes two law clerks (Austin and Tudor) into his Boston office because of his expanding legal business. |
| 1769 |
Sept.: |
Engaged by James Otis as co-counsel following the Robinson affray; case concluded in Otis” favor, July 1771. |
| 1770 |
Jan.: |
Begins serving as clerk of the Suffolk bar association. |
| 1770 |
March: |
Agrees to defend Capt. Thomas Preston, officer commanding the British soldiers in the “Boston Massacre.” |
| 1770 |
May 29: |
His 2d son, Charles (CA), is born. |
| 1770 |
June: |
Elected a representative to the General Court from Boston;serves until April 1771. |
| 260 |
| 1770 |
Oct.–Nov.: |
Successfully defends Preston and the soldiers in the “Boston Massacre” trials. Moves during this year to “another House in Brattle Square.” |
| 1771 |
April: |
Moves back to Braintree. |
| 1771 |
June: |
Travels to Connecticut for his health and takes the mineral waters at Stafford Springs. |
| 1772 |
Spring: |
Writes and presumably delivers a patriotic oration at Brain-tree at the request of the town. |
| 1772 |
Sept. 15: |
His 3d son, Thomas Boylston (TBA), is born. |
| 1772 |
Nov.: |
Moves to Queen Street (later Court Street) in Boston and maintains his law office there until the outbreak of hostilities. |
| 1772 |
Dec.: |
Successfully defends Ansell Nickerson in admiralty court against charges of murder; case concluded in July-Aug. 1773. |
| 1773 |
Jan.–Feb.: |
Publishes articles in the Boston Gazette answering William Brattle and opposing crown salaries to Superior Court judges. |
| 1773 |
May: |
Elected by the House a member of the Council but is negatived by Hutchinson. |
| 1774 |
Feb.: |
Buys his father's homestead (later known as the John Adams Birthplace) from his brother Peter Boylston Adams. |
| 1774 |
March: |
Furnishes legal authorities for impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Peter Oliver. About the same time drafts report for General Court on Massachusetts” northern and western territorial claims. |
| 1774 |
May: |
Elected by the House a member of the Council but is negatived by Gage. |
| 1774 |
June: |
Elected a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress; moves his family to Braintree. |
| 1774 |
June–July: |
Travels “for the tenth and last time on the Eastern Circuit” in Maine, and parts with his loyalist friend Jonathan Sewall at Falmouth (Portland). |
| 1774 |
Aug.: |
Travels from Boston to Philadelphia with the Massachusetts delegation to the Continental Congress. |
| 1774 |
Sept.–Oct.: |
Attends first Continental Congress. |
| 261 |
| 1774 |
Oct.–Nov.: |
Returns from Philadelphia to Braintree. |
| 1774 |
Nov.–Dec.: |
Attends first Provincial Congress in Cambridge as a member from Braintree. |
| 1774 |
Dec.: |
Reelected to Continental Congress. |
| 1775 |
Jan.–April: |
Publishes essays signed “Novanglus” in the Boston Gazette in answer to Daniel Leonard's “Massachusettensis” articles. |
| 1775 |
March: |
Elected a selectman of Braintree. |
| 1775 |
April–May: |
Travels from Braintree to Philadelphia. |
| 1775 |
May–July: |
Attends second Continental Congress; proposes George Washington as commander in chief. |
| 1775 |
July: |
Elected by the House a member of the Council; resigns in April 1776. |
| 1775 |
July: |
Writes letters to AA and James Warren ridiculing John Dickinson's conciliatory views; the letters are intercepted and published by the British in August and produce a great sensation. |
| 1775 |
Aug.: |
Returns from Philadelphia to Braintree, attends the Massachusetts Council in Watertown, and is reelected to Continental Congress. |
| 1775 |
Aug.–Sept.: |
Travels from Boston to Philadelphia. |
| 1775 |
Sept.–Dec.: |
Attends Continental Congress and plays a principal part in the measures leading to the establishment of an American navy, including the composition and publication of
Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies of North-America.
|
| 1775 |
Oct.: |
Appointed Chief Justice of Massachusetts; resigns in Feb. 1777 without ever serving. |
| 1775 |
Dec: |
Obtains leave from Congress and returns from Philadelphia to Braintree, attends the Massachusetts Council in Watertown, visits the army headquarters in Cambridge, and is reelected to Continental Congress. |
| 1776 |
Jan.: |
Drafts proclamation for the General Court to be read at the opening of courts of justice and town meetings. |
| 1776 |
Jan.–Feb.: |
Travels from Braintree to Philadelphia. |
| 1776 |
Feb.–Oct.: |
Attends Continental Congress. |
| 1776 |
March–April: |
Writes Thoughts on Government, which is “put ... under Types” by R. H. Lee and widely used in state constitution making. |
| 262 |
| 1776 |
May: |
Advocates establishment of new state governments and writes preamble to the resolution of 15 May recommending such action to the states. |
| 1776 |
June: |
Appointed president of the newly formed Continental Board of War and Ordnance. |
| 1776 |
June–July: |
Appointed to committee to draft a declaration of independence and makes the principal speech in favor of the resolution for independence. |
| 1776 |
June–Sept.: |
Drafts a “Plan of Treaties” and instructions to the first American Commissioners to France. |
| 1776 |
Sept.: |
Journeys to Staten Island with Benjamin Franklin and Edward Rutledge to confer with Admiral Lord Howe. |
| 1776 |
Oct.: |
Obtains leave from Congress and returns from Philadelphia to Braintree. |
| 1776 |
Nov.: |
Reelected to Continental Congress. |
| 1777 |
Jan.: |
Travels from Braintree to attend Continental Congress sitting in Baltimore. |
| 1777 |
March: |
Travels to Philadelphia when Congress adjourns to that city. |
| 1777 |
March–Sept.: |
Attends Congress and continues to preside over the Board of War and Ordnance. |
| 1777 |
July 11: |
His 3d daughter, Elizabeth, is stillborn. |
| 1777 |
Sept.: |
Leaves Philadelphia upon the adjournment of Congress after the battle of Brandywine and travels to York via Trenton, Easton, Bethlehem, and Reading. |
| 1777 |
Nov.: |
Obtains leave from Congress, returns to Braintree, and resumes his law practice, traveling to Portsmouth in December to defend the owners of the Lusanna. Elected by Congress a joint commissioner (with Franklin and Arthur Lee) to France, replacing Silas Deane; commission dissolved Sept. 1778, with Franklin named sole minister. |
| 1778 |
Feb.–March: |
Sails with JQA from Quincy Bay aboard the Continental frigate Boston to Bordeaux. |
| 1778 |
April: |
Joins Franklin's household at the Hotel de Valentinois in Passy. |
| 1778 |
May: |
Received in first audience by Louis XVI of France. |
| 1779 |
Feb.: |
Exchanges letters with Vergennes on the conduct of Silas Deane and in defense of Arthur Lee, and learns immediately thereafter he has been relieved of his joint commission. |
| 263 |
| 1779 |
March: |
Takes leave of the French court. |
| 1779 |
March–June: |
In Nantes, Brest, Lorient, Saint Nazaire, and on board the Alliance arranging for the exchange of prisoners of war and awaiting passage to America. |
| 1779 |
June–Aug.: |
Sails from Lorient to Boston with La Luzerne aboard the French frigate La Sensible.
|
| 1779 |
Aug.: |
Proposes founding the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, incorporated May 1780. |
| 1779 |
Aug.–Nov.: |
Elected to represent Braintree in convention to frame a new state constitution; attends the convention and drafts The Report of a Constitution ... for the Commonwealth of Massa chusetts which is adopted, after some amendments, by the voters of Massachusetts in 1780. |
| 1779 |
Sept.: |
Elected minister by Congress to negotiate treaties of peace and commerce with Great Britain; commissions revoked June–July 1781. |
| 1779 |
Nov.–Dec.: |
Sails with JQA and CA from Boston aboard La Sensible to Ferrol, Spain. |
| 1779 |
Dec.–Jan.: |
Travels across northern Spain. |
| 1780 |
Jan.–Feb.: |
Travels from Bayonne to Paris and takes up residence at the Hôtel de Valois in Rue de Richelieu. |
| 1780 |
June: |
Commissioned an agent by Congress to negotiate a Dutch loan. |
| 1780 |
July–Aug.: |
Travels from Paris to Amsterdam, before learning of his commission, to explore the possibility of Dutch financial aid to the United States. Remains in the Netherlands until July 1781. |
| 1780 |
Dec.–Jan.: |
Elected minister by Congress to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce with the Netherlands. |
| 1781 |
March–May: |
Drafts, submits, and prints a memorial to the States General urging Dutch recognition of American sovereignty. |
| 1781 |
June: |
Elected by Congress first among five joint commissioners (JA, Franklin, Jay, Laurens, and Jefferson) to treat for peace with Great Britain. |
| 1781 |
July: |
Returns to Paris to discuss with Vergennes the proposed peace mediation of the Russian and Austrian courts; rejects Vergennes' proposals and returns to Amsterdam, where he remains until Oct. 1782. |
| 264 |
| 1781 |
July–Aug.: |
JQA leaves Amsterdam for St. Petersburg as private secretary to Francis Dana; CA begins his return voyage to America. |
| 1781 |
Aug.: |
JA awarded in absentia LL.D. by Harvard College. |
| 1782 |
Jan.–March: |
Presses for recognition at The Hague. |
| 1782 |
April: |
Recognized by the States General as minister plenipotentiary to the Netherlands and granted an audience by the Stadholder, Willem V. |
| 1782 |
May: |
Takes up residence at the Hotel des Etats-Unis at The Hague, purchased as the first American legation building in Europe. |
| 1782 |
June: |
Contracts with a syndicate of Amsterdam bankers for the first Dutch loan to the United States, 5,000,000 guilders. |
| 1782 |
Oct. 8: |
Signs at The Hague a treaty of amity and commerce with the Netherlands. |
| 1782 |
Oct.: |
Travels from The Hague to Paris. |
| 1782 |
Oct.–Nov.: |
Assists in negotiating and with his fellow commissioners signs at Versailles, 30 Nov., the Preliminary Treaty between the United States and Great Britain. Remains in Paris. |
| 1783 |
April: |
JA, Franklin, and Jay begin conferences with David Hartley on terms of the Definitive Treaty. |
| 1783 |
July: |
Travels to The Hague to meet JQA, recently returned from St. Petersburg. |
| 1783 |
Aug.: |
Returns to Paris with JQA. |
| 1783 |
Sept. 3: |
Signs with his fellow commissioners the Definitive Treaty with Great Britain in Paris. |
| 1783 |
Sept.: |
Moves to Thomas Barclay's residence at Auteuil with a serious fever. |
| 1783 |
Oct.: |
Travels with JQA from Auteuil to London. |
| 1783 |
Nov.–Dec.: |
Visits Parliament and the sights of London, and journeys to Bath. |
| 1784 |
Jan.: |
Crosses the North Sea to Amsterdam and executes a contract for a second Dutch loan as an emergency measure to save the credit of the United States. |
| 1784 |
May–June: |
Elected by Congress a joint commissioner, with Franklin and Jefferson, to negotiate treaties of amity and commerce with twenty-three European and African powers. |
| 265 |
| 1784 |
June–July: |
AA and AA2 sail from Boston to England aboard the Active and meet JQA in London. |
| 1784 |
Aug.: |
JA arrives in London from the Netherlands and joins his family; they travel to Paris and settle in Auteuil. The commissioners begin their deliberations, which continue until JA returns to London in May and Franklin leaves for America in July 1785. |
| 1785 |
Feb.: |
Elected by Congress first American minister to the Court of St. James's; in March, Jefferson is named minister to Versailles in succession to Franklin. |
| 1785 |
May: |
JQA leaves France for America and Harvard College; JA, AA, and AA2 leave Auteuil for London. |
| 1785 |
June 1: |
JA is granted an audience with George III, and a dramatic conversation takes place. |
| 1785 |
June: |
Leases first United States legation in London, now No. 9 Grosvenor Square. |
| 1785 |
Aug.: |
Signs in London a treaty of amity and commerce with Prussia, Franklin having earlier signed at Passy and Jefferson at Paris. |
| 1786 |
March–April: |
Visited by Jefferson in London to negotiate commercial treaties with Tripoli, Portugal, and Great Britain. JA and Jefferson tour English countryseats together. |
| 1786 |
June 11: |
AA2 marries William Stephens Smith (WSS) at the London legation. |
| 1786 |
July: |
JA takes an excursion to The Hyde and Braintree in Essex with AA, AA2, and WSS. |
| 1786 |
Aug.–Sept.: |
Visits the Netherlands with AA to exchange ratifications of the treaty with Prussia and to observe the constitutional reforms of the Dutch Patriots. |
| 1787 |
Jan.: |
Publishes in London the first volume of A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America; a second follows in September and a third in 1788. |
| 1787 |
May–June: |
Journeys to Amsterdam and executes a contract for a third Dutch loan to the United States. |
| 1787 |
July–Aug.: |
Takes excursion to the west of England with his family. |
| 266 |
| 1787 |
July–Sept.: |
Arranges for the purchase of the Vassall-Borland house in Braintree in preparation for his return from Europe. |
| 1787 |
Oct.: |
At his own request is recalled by Congress from London, his mission to the Netherlands, and his joint mission (with Jefferson) to the Barbary Powers; recall effective in Feb. 1788. |
| 1788 |
Feb. 20: |
Granted final audience with George III. |
| 1788 |
Feb.–March: |
Travels from London to The Hague to take leave of the Stadholder and the States General. At Jefferson's request JA contracts for a fourth Dutch loan to the United States. |
| 1788 |
March–April: |
Returns to London and sets off with AA for the Isle of Wight. |
| 1788 |
April–June: |
Sails with AA from Portland Harbor aboard the Lucretia to Boston. |
| 1788 |
June: |
Elected a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the
First Congress
last sitting of the Continental Congress
; did not serve. |
| 1788 |
June–Dec.: |
Stays in Braintree unpacking books, settling his new residence, and looking after his fields. |
| 1789 |
March–April: |
Elected Vice President by 34 out of 69 votes. |
| 1789 |
April: |
Travels from Braintree to New York City, the seat of government, and establishes his residence at Richmond Hill. |
| 1789 |
April–Sept.: |
Presides over the Senate in 1st session of First Congress. |
| 1789 |
Oct.–Nov.: |
Returns from New York to Braintree between sessions of Congress. |
| 1789 |
Nov.–Dec.: |
Travels from Braintree to New York. |
| 1790 |
Jan.–Aug.: |
Presides over the Senate in 2d session of First Congress. |
| 1790 |
April: |
Begins publication of his “Discourses on Davila” in Fenno's Gazette of the United States; continued until April 1791. |
| 1790 |
Sept.: |
Travels from New York to Philadelphia and back; leases Bush Hill for his new residence. |
| 1790 |
Nov.: |
Moves with AA to Philadelphia, the new seat of government. |
| 1790 |
Dec–March: |
Presides over the Senate in 3d session of First Congress. |
| 1791 |
May: |
Elected president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; serves until 1813. |
| 267 |
| 1791 |
May–Aug.: |
Becomes involved in a dispute with Jefferson growing out of the latter's endorsement of Paine's Rights of Man and subsequent attacks on Paine and Jefferson by JQA in his “Publicola” papers printed in the Columbian Centinel.
|
| 1791 |
May–Oct.: |
Returns to Braintree with AA between sessions of Congress. |
| 1791 |
Oct.–April: |
Presides over the Senate in 1st session of Second Congress. |
| 1792 |
April–May: |
Travels with AA from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1792 |
Nov.–Dec.: |
Returns to Philadelphia alone. |
| 1792 |
Dec–March: |
Presides over the Senate in 2d session of Second Congress. |
| 1793 |
Feb.: |
Reelected Vice President by 77 out of 132 votes. |
| 1793 |
March: |
Travels from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1793 |
Nov.: |
Returns to Philadelphia alone. |
| 1793 |
Dec–May: |
Presides over the Senate in 1st session of Third Congress. |
| 1794 |
May: |
JQA appointed by Washington minister resident to the Netherlands. |
| 1794 |
May–June: |
JA travels from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1794 |
Nov.: |
Returns to Philadelphia. |
| 1794 |
Nov.–Feb.: |
Presides over the Senate in 2d session of Third Congress. |
| 1795 |
Feb.: |
Travels from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1795 |
May–June: |
Returns to Philadelphia, AA accompanying him as far as New York. |
| 1795 |
June: |
Presides over a special session of the Senate called to ratify Jay's Treaty. |
| 1795 |
June–July: |
Travels from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1795 |
Aug. 29: |
CA marries Sarah Smith (sister of WSS) in New York. |
| 1795 |
Nov.–Dec: |
JA returns to Philadelphia. |
| 1795 |
Dec–May: |
Presides over the Senate in 1st session of Fourth Congress. |
| 1796 |
May: |
Travels from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1796 |
May–Nov.: |
Spends the summer at the Old House in Quincy making farm improvements recorded in a renewed diary. |
| 268 |
| 1796 |
Nov.–Dec.: |
Returns to Philadelphia. |
| 1796 |
Dec: |
Elected President of the United States with 71 out of 139 votes, running against Thomas Jefferson, who became Vice President. |
| 1796 |
Dec.–Feb.: |
Presides over the Senate in id session of Fourth Congress. |
| 1797 |
March 4: |
Delivers his Inaugural Address and takes office as President. |
| 1797 |
April 17: |
His mother, Susanna (Boylston) Adams Hall, dies. |
| 1797 |
April–May: |
AA travels from Quincy to Philadelphia to join JA; they occupy the executive mansion (the former house of Richard Penn). |
| 1797 |
May–July: |
Calls a special session of Congress to deal with the French crisis; appoints the 1st peace mission to France (Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry). |
| 1797 |
June: |
Appoints JQA minister plenipotentiary to Prussia. |
| 1797 |
July: |
Travels with AA from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1797 |
July 26: |
JQA marries Louisa Catherine Johnson (LCA) in London. |
| 1797 |
Oct–Nov.: |
JA returns with AA from Quincy to Philadelphia. |
| 1797 |
Nov.: |
Delivers his First Annual Message to Congress, which is largely devoted to the crisis in Franco-American relations. |
| 1798 |
March: |
Delivers message to Congress on the dispatches from the American envoys to France; declares the existence of a state of quasi-war. |
| 1798 |
April: |
Releases and publishes the XYZ dispatches at the request of the House of Representatives. |
| 1798 |
Spring–Fall: |
Receives and answers scores of petitions and resolutions of loyalty; a number of them are published as A Selection of the Patriotic Addresses, to the President of the United States.
|
| 1798 |
May–June: |
Recommends and oversees the adoption of measures for establishing the Navy Department and creating a “provisional army” of ten thousand men. |
| 1798 |
June: |
Appoints George Washington commander in chief. |
| 1798 |
June–July: |
Signs into law the Alien and Sedition Acts. |
| 1798 |
July–Aug.: |
Travels with AA from Philadelphia to Quincy; AA is taken seriously ill. |
| 1798 |
Nov.: |
Returns to Philadelphia alone. |
| 1798 |
Dec.: |
Delivers Second Annual Message to Congress revealing a more conciliatory disposition, and suggests the appointment of a new mission to France. |
| 269 |
| 1799 |
Feb.: |
Appoints the 2d peace mission to France (William Vans Murray, Oliver Ellsworth, and Patrick Henry, the last being replaced by William Davie). |
| 1799 |
March: |
Travels from Philadelphia to Quincy. |
| 1799 |
Oct.: |
Travels to Trenton to meet his cabinet; precipitates a cabinet crisis by his order of 16 Oct. dispatching the commissioners to France. |
| 1799 |
Oct.–Nov.: |
AA travels from Quincy to Philadelphia and joins JA there. |
| 1799 |
Dec.: |
Delivers Third Annual Message to Congress urging peace and reconstruction and an end of civil disturbances. Federalist caucus supports JA for reelection. |
| 1800 |
May: |
Dismisses James McHenry and Timothy Pickering from his cabinet. A second Federalist caucus reaffirms the choice of JA and C. C. Pinckney as the party's Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. AA returns to Quincy. |
| 1800 |
May–June: |
Travels from Philadelphia to Washington to inspect the new seat of government. |
| 1800 |
June: |
Returns to Quincy, where, under AA's orders, the east wing has recently been added to the Old House. |
| 1800 |
Aug.–Sept: |
Alexander Hamilton attacks JA's administration in his Letter ... concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq.
|
| 1800 |
Sept.–Oct: |
Convention with France concluded at Mortefontaine by JA's 2d mission to France, ending the quasi-war and the Franco-American alliance of 1778; news of this arrives too late to affect the national election. |
| 1800 |
Oct.–Nov.: |
Travels from Quincy to Washington; AA follows; and they are the first occupants of the still unfinished President's House. |
| 1800 |
Nov. 30: |
His son CA dies in New York City. |
| 1800 |
Dec: |
Defeated for reelection to the Presidency, winning only 65 votes against 73 won by both Jefferson and Burr. |
| 1801 |
Jan.: |
Extends the influence of the federal judiciary through the appointment of many new judges. Appoints John Marshall chief justice of the Supreme Court. Reports the successful conclusion of the Convention with France. |
| 270 |
| 1801 |
Feb.: |
Instructs John Marshall to prepare letters recalling JQA from Prussia. |
| 1801 |
March: |
Travels from Washington to Quincy, leaving early on the morning of Jefferson's inauguration. |
| 1801 |
Sept.–Nov.: |
JQA and LCA return from Berlin to Quincy. |
| 1802 |
Oct.: |
JA begins writing his Autobiography, Part One, “John Adams”; completed in June 1805. |
| 1803 |
|
JQA elected United States senator; serves until 1808. |
| 1805 |
Feb.: |
JA resumes his correspondence with Benjamin Rush. |
| 1805 |
May 16: |
TBA marries Ann Harrod of Haverhill, Mass. |
| 1805 |
|
JA publishes collected edition of Discourses on Davila.
|
| 1806 |
Dec.: |
Begins Part Two of his Autobiography, “Travels, and Negotiations”; completed early in 1807. |
| 1807 |
|
Writes Part Three of his Autobiography, “Peac”; breaks it off when he begins his controversy with Mercy Otis Warren about her History in July. |
| 1809 |
April: |
Begins his documented letters of reminiscence in the Boston Patriot (his “second autobiography”), continued until May 1812. |
| 1809 |
April–May: |
Publishes four letters in the Boston Patriot, soon afterward issued in pamphlet form under the title The Inadmissible Principles, of the King of England's Proclamation, of October 16, 1 1807 Considered.
|
| 1809 |
June: |
JQA appointed by Madison minister plenipotentiary to Russia, and sails in August with LCA and their son Charles Francis (CFA). |
| 1812 |
Jan.: |
JA resumes, through the intercession of Benjamin Rush, his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson. |
| 271 |
| 1813 |
Aug. 14: |
His daughter AA2 dies at the Old House. |
| 1814 |
April: |
JQA leaves St. Petersburg for Ghent to join other American commissioners in negotiations for peace with Great Britain, concluded in December. |
| 1815 |
Feb.: |
JQA appointed by Madison minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain; serves in London from May 1815 to June 1817. |
| 1817 |
March: |
JQA appointed by Monroe secretary of state. |
| 1817 |
Aug.: |
JQA and his family return to the Old House in Quincy before going into residence in Washington. |
| 1818 |
Oct. 28: |
AA dies at the Old House. |
| 1819 |
|
JA publishes collected edition of Novanglus and Massachusettensis.
|
| 1820 |
Nov.–Dec.: |
Attends sessions of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention as Quincy delegate; proposes that the Bill of Rights be amended so as to remove all religious restrictions. |
| 1822 |
June–Aug.: |
Gives to the town of Quincy various tracts of granitebearing land, profits from which are to be used to build a church and an academy, and also his library, to be placed in the academy. |
| 1824 |
Dec: |
In the national election JQA receives 84 electoral votes, a minority, and in the House vote-off, 9 Feb. 1825, he is elected President of the United States. |
| 1826 |
July 4: |
JA dies at the Old House during the jubilee celebration of national independence, a few hours after Thomas Jefferson's death at Monticello in Virginia. |
