1808 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

June 2, 1808

462 Members of the Massachusetts General Court
232 votes needed to win


Nominee	James Lloyd	John Quincy Adams
Party	Federalist	Federalist
Electoral vote	248	213
Percentage	53.68%	46.10%

Senator before election

John Quincy Adams
Federalist

Elected Senator

James Lloyd
Federalist

The 1808 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held on June 2, 1808.

This unusually early election was called after incumbent Federalist John Quincy Adams broke with his party over the Embargo Act of 1807. The Federalist legislature elected State Senator James Lloyd, Jr. to the term beginning in March 1809.

Background

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John Quincy Adams, son of former Federalist president John Adams, was elected senator by the Massachusetts legislature as a Federalist in 1803. His six-year term was scheduled to expire in March 1809.

However, Adams supported President Thomas Jefferson's foreign policy during the Napoleonic Wars, including the Louisiana Purchase and Embargo Act of 1807. Adams was the lone Federalist in Congress to vote for the Non-importation Act of 1806.^[1] In response to Adams's continued distance from Federalist orthodoxy, the Federalist legislature in Massachusetts held this early election for the United States Senate term beginning in March 1809.

Election

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June 1808 Senate election^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Federalist	James Lloyd, Jr.	248	53.68%
	Federalist	John Quincy Adams (incumbent)	213	46.10%
	Federalist	Laban Wheaton	1	0.22%
Total votes			462	100.00%

Aftermath

[edit]

Adams resigned immediately following his defeat, triggering a special election for the remainder of his term on June 9. Lloyd won the special election as well.

Adams soon formally joined the Democratic-Republicans and was appointed Minister to Russia by President James Madison. Adams was later Secretary of State in the Cabinet of James Monroe and was elected President of the United States in 1824.

References

[edit]

^ Thompson, Robert R. (1991). "John Quincy Adams, Apostate: From "Outrageous Federalist" to "Republican Exile," 1801- 1809". Journal of the Early Republic. 11 (2): 161–183. doi:10.2307/3123239. JSTOR 3123239.
^ "Massachusetts 1808 U.S. Senate". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on December 25, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2018., citing The Pittsfield Sun (Pittsfield, Massachusetts). June 11, 1808.

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v t e John Quincy Adams
U.S. Representative for MA–8 (1843–1848) U.S. Representative for MA–12 (1833–1843) U.S. Representative for MA–11 (1831–1833) 6th President of the United States (1825–1829) 8th United States Secretary of State (1817–1825) U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom (1814–1817) U.S. Minister to Russia (1809–1814) U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (1803–1808) U.S. Minister to Prussia (1797–1801) U.S. Minister to the Netherlands (1794–1797)
Presidency	Inauguration American System Internal improvements Tariff of 1828 First Treaty of Prairie du Chien Treaty of Fond du Lac Treaty of Limits United States Naval Observatory State of the Union Address, 1825 1827 1828 Federal judiciary appointments
Other events	Monroe Doctrine, author Treaty of Ghent Adams–Onís Treaty Treaty of 1818 Tariff of 1832 Smithsonian Institution United States v. The Amistad Mendi Bible President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences President, Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences
Writings	Lifelong diary Massachusetts Historical Society holdings Adams Papers Editorial Project
Life and homes	Early life Abigail Adams Cairn John Quincy Adams and abolitionism Adams National Historical Park Birthplace and family home Peacefield Stone Library United First Parish Church and gravesite
Electoral history	Senate 1803 1808 Presidential runs 1824 Corrupt Bargain 1828
Legacy	Bibliography Adams Memorial Adams House at Harvard University U.S. Postage stamps Monroe Doctrine Centennial half dollar Mount Quincy Adams USS President Adams (1941) USS John Adams (1963) Oyster-Adams Bilingual School
Popular culture	Profiles in Courage (1957 book) 1965 television series) The Adams Chronicles (1976 miniseries) Mutiny on the Amistad (1987 book) Amistad (1997 film) John Adams (2001 book 2008 miniseries)
Adams political family Quincy family	Louisa Adams (wife) George Washington Adams (son) Charles Francis Adams Sr. (son) John Adams II (son) Henry Adams (grandson) Brooks Adams (grandson) John Quincy Adams II (grandson) John Adams father presidency Abigail Adams mother First Lady Quincy political family Abigail Adams Smith (sister) Charles Adams (brother) Thomas Boylston Adams (brother) John Adams Sr. (grandfather) Susanna Boylston (grandmother) John Quincy (great-grandfather)
Related	National Republican Party Republicanism Quincy Patriot John Quincy Adams (Bingham)
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Background

Election

Aftermath

See also

References