![]() ![]() After decades and decades of being relatively overlooked in comparison to his contemporaries such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and other Founding Fathers, John Adams has finally been getting his due for the role he played in our nation’s independence and early survival. ![]() John Quincy Adams was, of course, the eldest son of John and Abigail Adams, America’s original power couple. After some words of advice from his father, John Quincy Adams embarked upon the long trip to Russia and one of the most remarkable careers of any American public servant. Before leaving for Saint Petersburg, Dana found himself a secretary who was fluent in French – John Quincy Adams, who had accompanied his father, John Adams, when the Continental Congress sent the elder Adams to France. As if his mission wasn’t difficult enough, Dana faced a major obstacle: the lingua franca of international diplomacy – and the Russian court – was French, a language that Dana did not speak. ![]() The Continental Congress dispatched Francis Dana of Massachusetts, who had been serving as secretary to the American delegation in France, to the court of Russian Empress Catherine the Great in Saint Petersburg, well over 4,000 miles from Dana’s comfortable law office in Boston. In 1781, as the United States battled for its independence, a handful of Americans traveled to European capitals and royal courts to battle for diplomatic recognition and financial support from the established powers of the world. REVIEW: “John Quincy Adams” by Harlow Giles Unger ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |