In 1836, Southern Congressmen passed a "gag rule" providing that the House of Representatives automatically table petitions against slavery. The gag rule was focused on the 1st Amendment right of petition, which was frequently utilized by U.S. citizens in the early 19th century. The cause of the furor was a dramatic increase of abolitionist petitions that proposed the abolition of the slave trade within the District of Columbia, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. The Congress of that period was dominated by pro-slavery Southerners and sympathetic Northerners who would rather not stir up too much trouble. However, a small group of Congressmen, led by John Quincy Adams, waged an 8-year against the gag rule. Along the way, Adams and his cohorts, along with an increasingly organized and vocal abolitionist movement, undermined the neutral attitude most Americans had towards the issue of slavery. They finally obtained its repeal in 1844.
Because of his father’s status as the Atlas of the American Revolution, his own services to the nation, and his then-current outspoken support of the Constitution’s freedom of speech, Adams was asked to be the guest of honor at the 1838 4th of July celebrations in the home of liberty and the site of many of his father’s great exploits, Philadelphia. However, as a notable part of his anti-gag rule strategy, between June 16 and July 7, 1838, Adams was delivering a major speech in segments in the House of Representatives both assailing the gag rule and strongly opposing the active efforts being made to annex Texas as a slave-holding state. He could not attend, but instead sent this inspirational message hoping that the 4th of July, with its promise of freedom and equally, will merit remembrance for ages to come.
Autograph Letter Signed, Washington, June 29, 1838, to the Committee of the Whigs of Philadelphia, composed of ten members. “I am honored with your invitation to attend the celebration of the 62nd anniversary of American Independence by the Whigs of the City of Philadelphia. Necessary attendance upon public duties at this City on that day deprives me of the pleasure of accepting this invitation, and leaves me only the fervant prayer that it may prove a day of joyous and unmingled festivity to you all, and equally so to you and your generations for ages unlimited hereafter...”