Distractions

Despite the constraints of the gag rule, one lawmaker -- Congressman and former President John Quincy Adams -- set out to establish clearly the ties between slavery and the Florida conflict. Adams, at least initially, did not try to make the connection out of any strong opposition to the war. As president, in fact, he had supported Indian removal. In 1836, his antagonism was focused on the gag rule itself. Adams would devote the next eight years of his life to overturning the rule, which he considered an attack on civil liberties. The Seminole War proved to be one of the best weapons in his rhetorical arsenal.