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and was soon afterward admitted to the bar. In 1770 he was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, and between 1774 and 1777 he served in the Continental Congress. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In 1777 he went to France as Minister of the United States; he was one of the commissioners that negotiated the treaty that closed the Revolution. In 1785 he went to England as representative of our country. He returned to America in 1788, and was elected Vice-President under Washington. On Washington's retirement in 1797, he was elected President by a majority of three electoral votes over Jefferson. During his administration trouble arose with France, and war was imminent, several naval engagements actually taking place. (See X. Y. Z. Mission.) The alien and sedition laws passed during his administration tended to make it unpopular, while his policy toward France, which averted the war, alienated a portion of his party, and the end of his administration saw his party thoroughly divided and defeated at the polls. He was the first and only Federalist President. His party in Congress had, just before the expiration of his term, created a number of new judgeships to be filled with Federalists, and Adams, after signing their commissions until late at night of the last day of his term, withdrew from Washington early the next day without participating in Jefferson's inauguration. (See Midnight Judges.)

Adams, John Quincy, was born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, and died in Washington, February 23, 1848. He was the eldest son of John Adams and a graduate of Harvard. He was admitted to the bar in 1791, and in 1794 he became Minister at The Hague. In 1803 he became a Federalist Senator. As Senator he supported the embargo, for which course the State Legislature censured him. He at once resigned and joined the Republican (DemocraticRepublican) party, and by his new friends he was sent as Minister, first to Russia, and then to Great Britain. He became Secretary of State under Monroe in 1817, and in 1825 was elected to succeed him. His election

was by the House of Representatives. His election, his enemies claimed, was the result of a corrupt bargain with Henry Clay, but this charge, although frequently repeated, has always been denied, and it has never been proved. He served but one term. During his administration the anti-Masonic feeling first arose. In 1831, Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, in which he served until his death, seventeen years later. He was stricken with apoplexy in the House, and died two days thereafter. While a member of the House he was a law unto himself-no party claiming his allegiance -and he was the principal champion of free speech against the Gag Laws (which see).

Administration, The, Should be Conducted Behind Glass Doors.—President Cleveland used this metaphor to express his views as to the publicity that should surround the acts of public servants.

Administrations of the United States. For the officers of the different administrations see under the heads of their respective functions, as follows: President; Vice-President; State, Department of; Treasury Department; War Department; Justice, Department of; PostOffice Department; Navy, Department of the; Interior, Department of the.

Agriculture, Commissioner of.-The Department of Agriculture was established by Act of May 15, 1862. Its object is to disseminate useful information about agriculture to the classes interested therein and to distribute among them seeds of rare or new plants. In February, 1889, this Bureau was made a Department, and the Commissioner of Agriculture, a Secretary and a member of the Cabinet. Norman J. Colman, who had been Commissioner from 1885, was made Secretary by President Cleveland, and held the position until the advent of the new administration, when Jeremiah M. Rusk succeeded him. The salary is the same as that of the other Cabinet officers, $8,000.

Admission of States to the Union.-The following table shows the dates on which the first thirteen States ratified the Constitution, the dates on which the

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remainder were admitted to the Union and the dates on which the Southern States were re-admitted after the Civil War:

No.

STATES.

DATE OF RATIFICATION

OR ADMISSION.

DATE OF RE-ADMISSION.

1.. Delaware...
2.. Pennsylvania..
8.. New Jersey.
4.. Georgia...
5.. Connecticut..
6.. Massachusetts.
7.. Maryland...

8.. South Carolina..

9.. New Hampshire.. 10.. Virginia 11.. New York..

12.. North Carolina.
13.. Rhode Island.
14.. Vermont..
15.. Kentucky..
16.. Tennessee..
17.. Ohio...
18.. Louisiana.
19.. Indiana..
20.. Mississippi.
21.. Illinois......
22.. Alabama..
23.. Maine.
24.. Missouri
25.. Arkansas..
26.. Michigan..
27.. Florida..
28..Texas...
29.. Iowa....
30.. Wisconsin.

31.. California...
32.. Minnesota.
33.. Oregon..
34. Kansas.

85.. West Virginia..

36.. Nevada....
37.. Nebraska
38.. Colorado....

39.. Wyoming...
40.. North Dakota..
41.. South Dakota..
42.. Montana.
43.. Washington..

December 7, 1787
December 12, 1787.
December 18, 1787..
January 2, 1788.
January 9, 1788.
February 6, 1788.
April 28, 1788.
May 23, 1788.
June 21, 1788.
June 26, 1788..
July 26, 1788.

November 21, 1789.
May 29, 1790...
March 4, 1791.
June 1, 1792.
June 1, 1796.
November 29, 1802.
April 30, 1812..
December 11, 1816...
December 10, 1817..
December 3, 1818.
December 14, 1819..
March 15, 1820
August 10, 1821
June 15, 1836...
January 26, 1837..
March 3, 1845..
December 29, 1845..
December 28, 1846..
May 29, 1848.
September 9, 1850..
May 11, 1858
February 14, 1859.
January 29, 1861.
June 19, 1863.
October 31, 1864.
March 1, 1867..
August 1, 1876.
July 10, 1889.
November 2, 1889.
November 2, 1889.
November 2, 1889.
November 2, 1889..

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Alabama was separated from Mississippi Territory (see Territories) in 1817, and made into Alabama Territory with the capital at St. Stephens. It was admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819. On January 11, 1861, an ordinance of secession was adopted in a State

convention and by Act of June 25, 1868, the State was readmitted to the Union. The capital is Montgomery. The population in 1880 was 1,262,505, and in the last census (1890) 1,513,017. Alabama has eight representatives in Congress and ten electoral votes. It is a Democratic State. The name is of Indian derivation, and was once supposed to mean "Here we rest," though it is now said to have no known meaning. (See Governors; Legislatures.)

Alabama Claims.-During the Civil War several Confederate cruisers were built in England, and some were equipped in the ports of that nation and her colonies. This was all in violation of Great Britain's avowedly neutral position, of her own statutes and of international law, and in spite of the fact that our minister to England, Charles Francis Adams, repeatedly protested and called the attention of the English government to what was being done. Moreover, while neutrality was strictly enforced against United States. vessels in British ports, even to the extent of prohibiting their taking on board coal which had been deposited by our government, Confederate vessels found no difficulty, through the connivance of officials, in coaling and even arming in such ports. Chief among the cruisers which were built or equipped in England were the Florida, the Georgia, the Shenandoah and the Alabama; the last named because of her especially destructive career gave her name to the claims which arose from the depredations of all such vessels on the commerce of the United States. As a result of Great Britain's action in these matters the United States claimed damages from her for "direct losses in the capture and destruction of a large number of vessels, with their cargoes, and in the heavy national expenditures in the pursuit of the cruisers; and indirect injury in the transfer of a large part of the American commercial marine to the British flag, in the enhanced payment of insurance, in the prolongation of the war, and in the addition of a large sum to the cost of the war and the suppression of the rebellion." The dispute between the two governments stood unsettled

till after the war. In 1866 the United States offered to submit the question to arbitration, but would not agree to a proposition made by Great Britain to limit the discussion to the damage done by the cruisers, since this would be an abandonment of our position that the granting of the rights of belligerents to the Confederate States (by the Queen's proclamation of May 13, 1861) was unjustified by necessity, morals, treaties or international law. In 1871, however, England proposed a joint commission to settle various disputes which existed between the two governments; the United States consented with the proviso that the Alabama claims should be considered and disposed of by the commission; England agreed and the result was the Treaty of Washington (which see). By this treaty the Alabama claims were referred to arbitrators who afterward met at Geneva, Switzerland, and on September 14, 1872, awarded to the United States $15,500,000 to be paid by Great Britain in satisfaction of all the Alabama claims. This was duly paid within the year. The United States Court of Claims has jurisdiction of cases brought by those who claim a share in this indemnity. (See Geneva Award.)

Alabama Territory. (See Territories.)

Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 (see Annexations VI). It is an unorganized territory of the United States and remained without the forms of civil government till 1884, when the Act of May 17th provided for the appointment of a governor and other officers, and also a district court. Sitka is the capital. The population in 1880 was estimated at 30,178, and in the fast census (1890) 30,329. (See Governers.)

Albany Regency.-A name applied to the combination of politicians that from 1820 to 1855 managed the Democratic party in the State of New York. The name

arose from the fact that most of them lived in Albany, N. Y. Prominent among them were Martin Van Buren, Wm. L. Marcy, John A. Dix and Silas Wright. Their success was due mainly to their thorough organization.

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