John Quincy Adams: Reluctant Abolitionist
Diplomat, U.S. President, member of Congress, and attorney before the Supreme Court, John Quincy Adams had a unique relationship with slavery. Prickly and curmudgeonly, he danced with abolitionists, but never became one himself. However, Adams did harbor an intense hatred for the arguments of Southern slaveholders, and eventually found himself in the center of one of America’s greatest struggles. Speaker Jeffrey Denman will use diary and narrative accounts of Adams’ battle with slavery, while exploring the many fault lines in American society that led to the Civil War.
This talk was recorded by DedhamTV. To watch the presentation, click here.
About the Author
Jeff Denman is a retired US History and World Geography teacher from the
Brookline Public Schools in Brookline, MA, as well as an author and
historian. He is the author of seven journal and magazine articles
with subjects ranging from the American Revolution to World
War II, as well as co-author of Greene and Cornwallis in the Carolinas:
The Pivotal Struggle of the American Revolution, 1780-1781. He is the
author of his most recently released book, John Quincy Adams,
Reluctant Abolitionist (2013). He is currently working on his third book, about
the brutal suppression of the Philadelphia Quakers during the American
Revolution.