The Kingdom of Prussia was near and dear to John Quincy Adams heart. In 1785, Thomas Jefferson with much help from Benjamin Franklin negotiated the a commercial alliance with the Kingdom of Prussia and became the first European power to recognized the United States of America. In 1793, George Washington appointed John Quincy Adams as minister to the Netherlands. John Quincy Adams was then 26 years old, and the son of Vice President John Adams. When elder John Adams became president, he then appointed his son as Minister to Prussia at the former President George Washington's urging.
After John Adams lost his bid for a second term in 1800, he recalled his son John Quincy Adams from his appointment as Minister to Prussia, but not after he had successfully renewed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the King of Prussia. The treaty was originally negotiated by Thomas Jefferson in 1785 and signed by George Washington. The treaty established a commercial alliance with the Kingdom of Prussia and the United States. The Kingdom of Prussia held a special place in many American's hearts as it was one of the first nations to recognize the new nation of the United States of America. So it must have brought President John Adams a good deal of pride to report to Congress, that the Treaty was renewed in 1799 after successful negotiations by his John Quincy Adams with the King of Prussia. Yet perhaps with humility, the president gave it only a brief mention.
"A treaty of amity and commerce with the King of Prussia has been concluded and ratified. The ratifications have been exchanged, and I have directed the treaty to be promulgated by proclamation."
The treaty established a mutual status of Most Favored Nation, mutual protection of all vessels and cargo, reciprocal trade and the right for citizens to hold land in the other's territory. The author of the original treaty is believed to be Benjamin Franklin, and at the time, it was acclaimed as having set a new standard of international policies regarding humanitarian affairs.
In the late 1820s, as the United States and the kingdom of Prussia sat down to negotiate a renewal, the world was a much different place. The Napoleonic Wars had ended, the United States was becoming a world power and the rise of the Royal British Navy helped to usher in a 40 year period of peace. In 1825, the new Prussian charge, Niederstetter was sent to the United States to begin negotiations with the US Secretary of State, Henry Clay. Back in 1799, the elder Adams was reluctant to sign the renewal because it change many of the principle provisions of the 1785 treaty, so it is no wonder that his son John Quincy Adams was then pushing to have the new treaty based upon the original 1785 provisions. Clay proposed to revive articles 12 through 24 of the 1799 treaty and article 12 of the 1785 treaty, to which Niederstetter completely obliged. In addition, Clay pushed for a prohibition on privateering, while Niderstetter proposed an article on provisions related to blockades. The remaining articles were based upon the recent treaty with Norway and Sweden and the treaty was signed on May 1, 1829.
In 1800 the career of John Quincy Adams was just beginning. In 1803 while Thomas Jefferson was president, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, then appointed by James Madison as the first ever United States Minister to Russia, U.S. Secretary of State from 1817 to 1825 under James Monroe, and finally, John Quincy Adams served as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. So before John Quincy Adams became president, he had served in one form or fashion under the first five presidents. And after his presidency, John Quincy Adams served an additional nine terms in Congress where in 1847 he served with our future 16th president Abraham Lincoln. John Quincy Adams was known as a "living bridge" between the revolutionary war and the civil war.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29442
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amity_and_Commerce_(Prussia%E2%80%93United_States)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2188021?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/John_Quincy_Adams_by_Gilbert_Stuart%2C_1818.jpg
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