John Quincy Adams: Congressional Debate over Motion for Censure

Glossary

• Albemarle [Thomas Gilmer] a native of Albemarle County, Virginia, Gilmer (1802–1844), served in Congress from 1841 to 1844
• besieging, not beseeching a play on words, meaning “attacking, not begging”
• censuring reprimanding
• habeas corpus Latin for “present the body”; the legal right of an accused person not to be held or detained without the opportunity of being formally charged for specific crimes
• “peculiar institution” a term often used for the practice of slavery, “peculiar” meaning unusual, distinct, or individual
• sublime great, beautiful, and pure
• Thomas Marshall nephew of John Marshall, chief justice of the United States; represented his Kentucky district in Congress from 1841 to 1843