Portrait by George Peter Alexander Healy
John Quincy Adams, the son of John
Adams (second president) inherits half formed events that are
destined to become colossal messes precipitating the first great
Constitutional crisis over federalism, Indian sovereignty, and
states' rights.
(for more on John Quincy Adams, click here)
At the same time, the new
Mexican Constitution stipulated that Indians were citizens, a
threshold that would not be crossed by the United States government
for another century. Until the 1920s, Indians would be denied the
basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.