Charles Francis Adams grew up in Europe, accompanying his father, John Quincy Adams, to various diplomatic posts. At two years of age, he traveled to Russia where his father was serving as U.S. Minister to Russia. French was his first language, with English being a little used second language for him. He then lived in England, where his father served next as the U.S. Minister. At the age of ten, he returned to the United States, which seemed more foreign to him than had Europe.
After several years of study, he entered Harvard at the age of fourteen, in spite of a less than stellar academic record. He never liked schoolwork, and never made outstanding grades. He graduated from Harvard just as his father was starting his term as President. Charles and his brother served as Presidential secretaries for their father.
In the last year of his father's term, Charles married Abigail Everett, daughter of Edward Everett who was also a future vice presidential candidate who lost. After studying law, Charles opened a law office in Boston, but did not enjoy being a lawyer. He managed his family's business affairs, and began writing. Several times, he was offered the nomination for his district's seat in the state legislature but declined.
In 1840, he finally accepted the nomination for the State House of Representatives, and won his race. At the end of his two-year term, he ran for and won a seat in the State Senate. It was in the state legislature that he made his political reputation by presenting various anti-slavery petitions. One notable petition contained over sixty thousand signatures. He also tried to have the legislature instruct the state's senators to vote against Texas' admission as a slave state, and continued to write articles on the Texas question. He also called for the formation of a northern free soil party.
In 1848, the Whig Party nominated a slave owner, Zachary Taylor, for the Presidency. Charles Francis Adams refused to support him, calling instead for support of the Free Soil Movement. In June, the Free Soil Party was formed, and nominated Martin Van Buren for President and Charles Adams for Vice President. They lost, winning no electoral votes. But they did win enough popular votes in New York to deny Cass, the Democratic candidate, a victory there, giving New York and with it the election to Zachary Taylor.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to John S. Cooper's American Presidents topic, please visit the Discussions page.