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Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams: the Price of Ambition

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Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams: the Price of Ambition INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image of the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of “sectioning” the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand comer o f a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. For illustrations that cannot be satisfactorily reproduced by xerographic means, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and inserted into your xerographic copy. These prints are available upon request from the Dissertations Customer Services Department. 5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. UniversiV Micrxxilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8224077 Challinor, Joan Bidder LOUISA CATHERINE JOHNSON ADAMS: THE PRICE OF AMBITION The American University PH.D. 1982 University Microfilms I nte rn âti 0 n ai300 N. Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Copyright 1982 by Chaliinor, Joan Ridder Aii Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LOUISA CATHERINE JOHNSON ADAMS: THE PRICE OF AMBITION by Joan Ridder Challinor Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in H isto ry Signatures of Committee: Chairman: Dean of the College 71 ( / ] ^ Date (I ~ ^ 1982 The American University W ashington, D.C. 20016 T O AKERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LOUISA CATHERINE JOHNSON ADAMS: THE PRICE OF AMBITION by Joan R. C h allin o r ABSTRACT This biography rescues from obscurity one of the least-known members of the Adams family, Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (1775-1852). M arried in 1797 to John Quincy Adams, her th ree long memoirs, letters, and other writings are virtually unknown. Yet from her life we can leam much: about the lives of women whose personalities were at variance with dictates of the culture; about the dynamics of the Adams family; about the distaff side of the United States diplomatic corps; and about the strains placed upon politicians' fa m ilie s . This work examines the first half of Louisa's life from 1775 to 1817. Raised in London in an Anglo-American mercantile family, she served with her husband at three courts: Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain. Four of her eight years in America from 1801 to 1809, she was the wife of a United States Senator. By 1817 she was probably the most travelled and sophisticated woman in America, and John Quincy's appointment as Secretary of State put within reach his , and her, ultimate goal—the Presidency. i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Louisa's psychological life was bounded by ambition, denial, and guilt. She denied a strong ambition because her times prohibited assertive women. Wracked by guilt because she thought the world assumed she and her parents had lured John Quincy into marriage with an impoverished g irl, she denied what was essentially her own accusation. She disclaimed her delight in social events in conformity to her husband's stern republicanism. Angry because his career forced her to choose between her husband and children, she felt guilty at either choice. Louisa could never pay with grace the exactions her goal demanded. Forced by the culture to deflect her strivings on to her husband, Louisa could not face herself honestly. So insecure was Louisa that she wrote one memoir to let the world know that she existed. Since many women of her era also failed to find outlets for strong, yet prohibited, feelings, historians may find important clues to women's tensions in nineteenth-century America. Unheeded in her own lifetim e, overlooked by modern historians, Louisa is here given the attention she deserves. i i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. We are . double in ourselves, so that we believe what we disbelieve and cannot rid ourselves of what we condemn. Montaigne Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Unlike most- books, dissertations are joint efforts. When finished, it is the pleasant duty of the author to acknowledge publicly those who have helped. I particularly relish this task because I needed an unusual amount of assistance with the writing process. My first debt is intellectual. Above all others, Roger H. Brown deserves ray gratitude. A kind and steady mentor throughout ray graduate career, he supervised this dissertation with unflagging in d u s try and helped me bring form and th ru s t to an immense amount of m aterial. Janet Oppenheim's careful comments on my drafts led me to understand that writing and logic were inseparable and that I had often disconnected the two. Charles McLaughlin read the entire manuscript with attention. David F. Musto suggested to me that Louisa Adams's life was crucial to understanding Adams family history and has been a very generous colleague. He deserves ray special thanks. Valerie French, with whom I studied Ancient History, taught me that hard thinking could be one of life's great pleasures. David Brandenberg, Chairman of The American University's History Department when I arrived in the early 1970s, welcomed me to a department with which I have been proud to be associated. Thomas Hietala, of Dartmouth College, sharpened the focus and prose of two chapters. Others, outside academia, have also assisted me. Esther M. Ridder read the entire manuscript and made very incisive suggestions, iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. almost all of which I incorporated into this biography. At a most c ru c ia l tim e, Nancy A. W illing came to type the many d ra fts and stayed to help check footnotes and perform other administrative chores. Without her, this dissertation would have been six. more months in preparation. Shirley Simpson typed the final version under a deadline not of her making and worked with great speed and competence. Celeste Walker, Assistant Editor of the Adams Papers, answered my questions w ith u n fa ilin g good humor and was of in estim ab le h elp . The knowledgeable staff of The American University's library cheerfully handled my requests for books and information, as did the staff of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. For the support of my family I am infinitely grateful. My children, Julia, Mary, Sarah, and D. Thompson, learned to be independent at an early age and to cope with a mother whose career changed in mid-life from domesticity to academics. Without their generous acceptance of a student-mother, this dissertation could not have been written. Mary E. Challinor designed the title page. The person who has lived most closely with Louisa Adams for the past three years is, of course, my husband, David Challinor. His continual, yet gentle, prodding kept me at a task I might not have finished but for his unstinting support. He wanted this dissertation for me as much as I wanted it for myself. He generously gave up uncounted hours of my company so that I could achieve my goal. He deserves all my gratitude, and to him this dissertation is lovingly dedicated. Lastly, I wish to thank those members of the Adams family who, in 1956, made the Adams Papers available to scholars. Their gift of these papers to the nation merits recognition from those who have V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. benefited from the incredibly rich store of public and private historical documents. I have been ever mindful of my responsibility to use these papers and letters, some of them very private, with care and re s p e c t. V i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. table of contents ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. i i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................................................................................... iv LIST OF MAPS...................................................................................................................... v i i i FAMILY CODE NAM ES.....................................................................................................
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