A new negotiation was opened with the Indians, by direction of the President, which resulted in declaring the M'Intosh treaty null and void, and in obtaining, at length, a cession of all the lands of the Creeks within the limits of Georgia, to the General Government.
As the friend and promoter of internal improvements, Mr.Adams was invited to be present at the interesting ceremony of "breaking ground," on the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, then about to be commenced, which took place on the 4th of July, 1828.

On the morning of that day, the President, the Heads of Departments, the Foreign Ministers, the Corporations of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, the President and Directors of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, with a large concourse of citizens, embarked on board of steamboats and ascended the Potomac, to the place selected for the ceremony.

On reaching the ground, a procession was formed, which moved around it so as to leave a hollow space, in the midst of a mass of people, in the centre of which was the spot marked out by Judge Wright, the Engineer of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, for the commencement of the work.

A moment's pause here occurred, while the spade, destined to commence the work, was selected by the committee of arrangements, and the spot for breaking ground was precisely denoted.
At that moment the sun shone out from behind a cloud, giving an appearance of the highest animation to the scene.

Amidst an intense silence, the Mayor of Georgetown handed to Gen.