|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Quincy Adams’s “gag-rule” cane
|
In April 1844, John Quincy Adams received this ivory cane
from Julius Pratt & Company of Meriden, Connecticut.
It was given to him for his efforts to end the gag rule,
which prevented discussions in the House of Representatives
about the abolition of slavery. Adams noted in his diary:
“There is in the top of the cane a golden eagle inlaid,
bearing a scroll, with the motto ‘Right of Petition
Triumphant’ engraved upon it. The donors requested
of me that when the gag-rule should be rescinded I would
cause the date to be added to the motto.”
Meanwhile, Adams deposited the ivory cane “made from
a single tooth” with the commissioner of patents
at the Patent Office. On December 3, 1844, the gag rule
was repealed, and Adams had that date engraved on the
top of the cane. Adams willed the cane to the American
people, and it was later transferred from the Patent Office
to the Smithsonian Institution. |
|
Division of Social History, Political History
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Behring Center
|
|
|
|
