March 4, 1825 - John Quincy Adams inaugurated as 6th president.

August 6, 1825 - Bolivia declared its independence from Peru.

August 25, 1825 - Uruguay declared its independence from Brazil.

October 26, 1825 - The 425-mile Erie Canal opened; connected Great Lakes with Atlantic Ocean via Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, driving force behind the project, led opening ceremonies, rode canal boat Seneca Chief from Buffalo to New York City; August 1923 - work began on "Clinton's Ditch". The effect of the canal was immediate and dramatic. Settlers poured into western New York, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Goods were transported at one-tenth the previous fee in less than half the previous time. Barge loads of farm produce and raw materials traveled east as manufactured goods and supplies flowed west. In nine years, tolls had paid back the cost of construction. Later enlarged and deepened, the canal survived competition from the railroads in the latter part of the 19th century.

August 19, 1826 - Canada Co. chartered to colonize Upper Canada (Ontario).

November 27, 1826 - Jebediah Smith and his expedition reached San Diego, becoming the first Americans to cross the southwestern part of the U.S.

February 27, 1827 - A group of masked and costumed students dance through the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, marking the beginning of the city's famous Mardi Gras celebrations. Spanish governors of the province had banned the celebrations. After Louisiana became part of the United States in 1803, New Orleanians managed to convince the city council to lift the ban on wearing masks and partying in the streets. 1833 - rich plantation owner named Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville raised money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration. 1857 - After rowdy revelers began to get violent during the 1850s, a secret society called the Mistick Krewe of Comus staged the first large-scale, well-organized Mardi Gras parade.

1828 - Nicholas Biddle, director of the Second Bank of the United States, pushed against Andrew Jackson's campaign for the White House; forged an alliance with Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, the Whig Representative who had helped squelch Jackson's bid for the Presidency in 1824;  Jackson stormed to victory and, once in the White House, vowed to extract revenge on his opponents. 

May 19, 1828 - President John Quincy Adams approved the tariff of 1828, a benefit for wool manufacturers; 1832 - Andrew Jackson's allies enact legislation that rolled back rates to their more modest 1824 levels; 1833 - Henry Clay stepped in with a proposal for a "compromise tariff" of 1833. While Clay's bill appeased the competing interests of manufacturers and farmers, it couldn't remove the stigma of the 1828 tariff which, in the intervening years, came to be known as the "tariff of abominations."

December 3, 1828 - Andrew Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States; eceived more than twice as many electoral votes than Adams.  

September 29, 1829 - Metropolitan Police Force, Scotland Yard, British criminal investigation organization, was formed.

December 5, 1831 - Former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

February 24, 1840 - Former President John Quincy Adams begins to argue the Amistad case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court; 1839 - Spanish slave ship named La Amistad appeared off the coast of New York. The "slaves" aboard it, who were free Africans kidnapped in Africa and originally bound for sale in Cuba, had rebelled, killing the Spanish ship’s captain and cook. The African mutineers then promised to spare the lives of the ship’s crew and their captors if they took them back to Africa. The crew agreed, but then duped the slaves by sailing up the coast to New York, where they were taken into custody by the U.S. Navy; complicated series of trials ensued regarding the ownership and outcome of the ship and its human cargo; After two district courts ruled in favor of the abolitionists, President Van Buren immediately instructed the U.S. attorney general to appeal. Abolitionists hired Adams, who some referred to as "Old Man Eloquent," to argue for the Africans’ freedom in the Supreme Court; seven-hour argument that lasted two days, Adams attacked Van Buren’s abuse of executive power. His case deflated the U.S. attorney’s argument that the treaty with Spain should override U.S. principles of individual rights. In appeasing a foreign nation, Adams argued that the president committed the "utter injustice [of interfering] in a suit between parties for their individual rights." In a dramatic moment, Adams faced the judges, pointed to a copy of the Declaration of Independence hanging on the courtroom wall, and said "[I know] no law, statute or constitution, no code, no treaty, except that law…which [is] forever before the eyes of your Honors." Adams’ skillful arguments convinced the court to rule in favor of returning the Africans to their native country, but President William Harrison, who succeeded Van Buren, refused to allocate federal funds to send the Africans back to Africa. Instead, the abolitionists had to raise money to pay for the expense.

Samuel Flagg Bemis (1973). John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy. (New York, NY: Norton, 588 p. (orig. pub. 1949)). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848; United States--Foreign relations--1783-1865.

--- (1980). John Quincy Adams and the Union. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 546 p. [orig. pub. 1956]). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848; Presidents--United States--Biography; United States--Politics and government--1815-1861.

Marie B. Hecht (1972). John Quincy Adams; A Personal History of an Independent Man. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 682 p.). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848.

Paul C. Nagel (1997). John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life. (New York, NY: Knopf, 432 p.). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848; Presidents -- United States -- Biography.

ed. Allan Nevins (1951). Diary, 1794-1845; American Diplomacy and Political, Social, and Intellectual Life from Washington to Polk. (New York, NY: Scribner, 586 p.). United States--History--1783-1865; United States--Politics and government--1783-1865; United States--Foreign relations--1783-1865. "A selection from 'The memoirs of John Quincy Adams, comprising portions of his diary from 1795 to 1848."

Compiled by Lynn H. Parsons (1993). John Quincy Adams: A Bibliography. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 217 p.). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 --Bibliography.

Robert V. Remini (2002). John Quincy Adams. (New York, NY: Times Books, 172 p.). Professor Emeritus of History (University of Illinois, Chicago). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848; Presidents--United States--Biography; United States--Politics and government--1825-1829; United States--Politics and government--1789-1815. 

Leonard L. Richards (1986). The Life and Times of Congressman John Quincy Adams. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 245 p.). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848; Presidents--United States--Biography; Legislators--United States--Biography.

Joseph Wheelan (2008). Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade: John Quincy Adams’s Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress. (New York, NY: PublicAffairs, 336 p.). Former Reporter and Editor (Associated Press). Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848; Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848 --Political and social views; United States. Congress. House--Biography; Legislators--United States--Biography; Presidents--United States--Biography; United States--Politics and government--1815-1861. Following his single term as President of the United States (1825-1829), John Quincy Adams, embittered by his loss to Andrew Jackson, boycotted his successor's inauguration, just as his father John Adams had done (the only two presidents ever to do so). Rather than retire, the sixty-two-year-old former president, U.S. senator, secretary of state, and Harvard professor was elected by his Massachusetts friends and neighbors to the House of Representatives to throw off the "incubus of Jacksonianism." It was the opening chapter in what was arguably the most remarkable post-presidency in American history.

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The Diaries of John Quincy Adams http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/                                          Certainly there are many individuals who start journaling at age 12, but how many of them continue doing so until age 78? John Quincy Adams did just that, and the talented folks at the Massachusetts Historical Society have digitized images from his 51-volume diary and placed them online. The "Getting Started" section is, well, a good place to get started, as visitors will learn about the scope of this online collection, and how they can utilize these unique materials. While the site doesn't offer searchable transcriptions of the diary pages, a detailed timeline does give users information that will help them search for items of interest, such as Adams' recollections of the Treaty of Ghent or his time as minister to the Netherlands. Of course, the "Selected Pages" section affords users the opportunity to look at entries on the Monroe Doctrine, Napoleon, and his beloved mother, Abigail Adams.