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

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. 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

June 1808 Senate election
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

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

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.

v t e (1807←) 1808 United States elections (→1809)
U.S. President	1808 United States presidential election
U.S. Senate	Maryland Massachusetts Massachusetts (special) New Jersey Ohio Ohio (special) Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (special) Rhode Island Vermont Virginia
U.S. House	Connecticut Delaware Georgia Indiana Territory At-large sp Kentucky Maryland Massachusetts 2nd sp New Hampshire New Jersey At-large sp New York 12th sp North Carolina 7th sp Ohio Pennsylvania 1st sp Rhode Island At-large sp South Carolina Vermont 1st sp Virginia 17th sp
Governors	Connecticut Kentucky Massachusetts New Hampshire Ohio (special) Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Virginia
States and territories	Connecticut Delaware Georgia Kentucky Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Vermont Virginia

v t e Federal elections in Massachusetts
U.S. President	1788 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
U.S. Senate Class 1	1803 1808 1839 1851 1857 1863 1869 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 s/1926 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1958 s/1962 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 s/2010 2012 2018 2024
U.S. Senate Class 2	s/1855 1859 1865 1871 s/1873 1877 1883 1889 1895 1901 1907 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1942 s/1944 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 s/2013 2014 2020
U.S. House	1788–89 1790–92 1792-93 1794–95 1796–97 1798–99 1800–01 1802–03 1804 1806 1808 1810–11 1812–13 1814–15 1816–17 1818–19 1820–21 1822–23 1824–25 1826–27 1828 1830–1970 1972 1974–2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
U.S. House Special Elections	1796–1797 s/1st s/10th s/11th 1800–1801 s/3rd s/4th s/10th s/4th s/12th s/14th 1804 s/12th 1807 s/12th 1808 s/2nd 1810–1811 s/10th s/11th s/4th 1812 s/17th 1814–1815 s/4th s/12th s/3rd 1816–1817 s/11th s/1st 1818 s/20th 1820 s/1st s/8th s/13th 1823 s/10th 1824 s/10th 1827 s/1st 1834–1991 listed here 2001 s/9th 2007 s/5th 2013 s/5th
"s/" = Special election See also: Political party strength in Massachusetts For statewide elections, see Template:State elections in Massachusetts footer.

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)
← James Monroe Andrew Jackson → Category

Categories:

Background

Election

Aftermath

See also

References