JQA insisted that his sons attend the Congressional debates in order to further their education (JQA, Diary, 6 Feb. 1820). Under consideration in the Senate was the admission of Missouri to the Union. Many Northerners desired to restrict slavery in the area. Senator William Pinckney of Maryland (1764–1822) spoke against such restriction on 21 January, in an unrecorded speech, and again on 15 February, arguing that Congress had no power to limit the sovereignty of a future state because all states in the confederated Union must be equal. See Annals of Congress , 16 Cong., 1 sess., 1:233–234, 389–417, and George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings, N.Y., 1952, p. 217–245.

LCA’s sister, Carolina Virginia Marylanda (Johnson) Buchanan Frye (b. 1776). Her late husband had been Andrew Buchanan (1766–1811), and their son was Robert Christie Buchanan (1811–1878); she was now married to Nathaniel Frye Jr. (d. 1855). See Adams Genealogy.