Editing John Quincy Adams (section)

== Early life, education, and early career ==

John Quincy Adams was born on July 11, 1767, to [[John Adams|John]] and [[Abigail Adams|Abigail Adams (née Smith)]] in a part of [[Braintree, Massachusetts]], that is now [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Rettig|first=Polly M.|title=John Quincy Adams Birthplace|url={{NHLS url|id=66000128}}|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=November 1, 2011|date=April 3, 1978}}</ref> He was named after his mother's maternal grandfather, Colonel [[John Quincy]], after whom Quincy, Massachusetts, is also named. Colonel Quincy died two days after his great-grandson's birth.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Herring|first1=James|last2=Longacre|first2=James Barton|title=The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans|publisher=D. Rice & A.N. Hart|year=1853|page=1|isbn=978-0-405-02500-6}}</ref> Young Adams was educated by tutors – his cousin James Thaxter and his father's law clerk, Nathan Rice.<ref>{{harvnb|Remini|2002|p=4}}</ref> He soon exhibited literary skills, and in 1779 he started a diary that he kept until just before he died in 1848.<ref name="Masshist.org">{{cite web|title=The Diaries of John Quincy Adams: A Digital Collection|url=http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/|publisher=Massachusetts Historical Society|access-date=October 30, 2011|archive-date=February 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218231526/http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Until the age of ten, Adams grew up on the family farm in Braintree, largely in the care of his mother. Though frequently absent because of his participation in the [[American Revolution]], John Adams maintained a correspondence with his son, encouraging him to read works by authors such as [[Thucydides]] and [[Hugo Grotius]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=5–8}}.</ref> With his father's encouragement, Adams would also translate [[Classical antiquity|classical]] authors such as [[Virgil]], [[Horace]], [[Plutarch]], and [[Aristotle]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Richard|first=Carl|title=The Golden Age of the Classics in America: Greece Rome and the Antebellum United States |url=https://archive.org/details/goldenageclassic00rich|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-03264-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/goldenageclassic00rich/page/n37 23]}}</ref>

In 1778, Adams and his father departed for Europe, where John Adams would serve as part of American diplomatic missions in [[Kingdom of France|France]] and the [[Dutch Republic|Netherlands]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=8–9, 16}}.</ref> During this period, Adams studied [[law]], [[French language|French]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Latin language|Latin]], and attended several schools, including [[Leiden University]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017 |pages=9, 14–16}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=January 11, 2017|title=American presidents and their special relationship with Leiden|url=https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2017/01/american-presidents-and-their-special-relationship-with-leiden|access-date=October 4, 2020|website=universiteitleiden.nl}}</ref> In 1781, Adams traveled to [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia, where he served as the secretary to the American diplomat, [[Francis Dana]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=17–18}}.</ref> He returned to the Netherlands in 1783 and accompanied his father to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] in 1784.<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=21–22}}</ref> Though Adams enjoyed Europe, he and his family decided he needed to return to the United States to complete his education and eventually launch a political career.<ref>{{harvnb|Edel|2014|pages=36–37}}</ref>

Adams returned to the United States in 1785 and earned admission as a member of the [[Junior (education year)|junior]] class of [[Harvard College]] the following year. He joined [[Phi Beta Kappa]] and excelled academically, graduating second in his class in 1787.<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=24–27}}</ref> After graduating from Harvard, he [[reading law|studied law]] with [[Theophilus Parsons]] in [[Newburyport, Massachusetts]], from 1787 to 1789.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Musto|first=David F.|date=April 20, 1968|title=The Youth of John Quincy Adams|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=113|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|publisher=American Philosophical Society|page=273|pmid=11615552}}</ref> Adams initially opposed the ratification of the [[United States Constitution]], but he ultimately came to accept the document, and in [[1789 United States presidential election|1789]] his father was elected as the first [[vice president of the United States]].<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=29–30}}</ref> In 1790, Adams opened his own legal practice in [[Boston]]. Despite some early struggles, he was successful as an attorney and established financial independence from his parents.<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|2017|pages=32–33}}</ref>