President John Quincy Adams (President Mini Episodes)

In this mini-episode of the "Check This Out!" podcast, hosts Amy and Cece delve into the life and presidency of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. They explore his unique background as the son of former President John Adams. Adams had a lengthy and impactful political career. His impressive roles included U.S. minister to Russia, Secretary of State, and serving on congress for almost 17 years.  

Listeners will discover fascinating details about Adams' formative years, including his travels in Europe and his early diplomatic roles. The episode outlines significant achievements during his time as secretary of state in addition to his presidency. Notably, Adams' post-presidential career in Congress saw him emerge as a leading voice against slavery, notably defending the individuals involved in the Amistad case. 

As this mini-episode wraps up, Amy and Cece encourage young listeners to further explore the legacy of John Quincy Adams and his contributions to American history.

Transcript

Cece Welcome to Check this out! Podcast for kids 

Amy And their grownups.  Where we explore interesting people, places, ponderings and past moments from history that shape the world around us.  

My name is Amy Contreras, and I’m Cece.  

Today’s episode is another mini-episode on….

Cece: The first 7 presidents of the united states! 

Today is on President #6 John Quincy Adams.  

John Quincy Adams is an interesting president because he only served 1 term as president and it was a pretty unremarkable 4 years.  

BUT his political career and service to the United States was longer than most because it started when he was a child.  

Cece: What do you mean mama? 

John Quincy Adams was the first President who was the son of a former President.   John Quincy was groomed by his parents for public service and diplomacy.  

Cece: Wow  

He might not be the most successful or influential president the US ever had but he was…

A diplomat

He was the first U.S. minister to Russia.

A writer 

Potentially the best Secretary of state in the history of the US 

A one term president 

The only president to serve in congress after being president 

Cece: Oh thats important 

Yea, and all throughout he fought for anti slavery.   

Cece: How mama? 

I’ll tell you more about it.  First, let’s learn about how John Quincy adams came to be the 6th president of the United States.  

John Quincy Adams was born July 11, 1767, in Braintree, Massachusetts.  

Cece: Heres a fun fact 

Braintree is now called Quincy, Massachusetts 

He was the oldest son of John and Abigail adams and grew up during the revolutionary war. When he was a kid he watched the famous Battle of Bunker Hill and heard the cannons across the Bay in Boston.

Cece: What an amazing story 

His parents groomed him for politics. In 1778 he traveled with President John Adams to Europe.  He attended private school in Paris and the Netherlands.  He spent the next eight years living with his father in Paris, Amsterdam, and London. 

At 14, he had his first diplomatic role when he served as secretary and translator to emissary Francis Dana, the United States envoy to Russia.  After his time in Europe he attended Harvard College then attended law school. In 1790 he became a lawyer in Boston but wasn’t excited to practice law.  

Cece: What did he do instead? 

John Quincy Adams was a talented writer. He published some essays that supported the neutrality policy of George Washington. When Washington was president there was a war between France and England and he chose not to involve the US, and some people disagreed because they wanted to help France. 

Cece: I remember hearing about that 

John Quincy’s articles of support were seen by President Washington’s and resulted in him becoming the U.S. minister to the Netherlands in 1794.

In  1797  he became the minister to Prussia, and married his wife, Louisa that same year. 

He returned to the United States in 1801 and was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. 

Cece: He had a lot of jobs

He did!  He was an effective diplomat but he was an even more skilled Secretary of State to James Monroe.  

Cece: Tell me everything

When Adams was secretary of state, he played the leading role in the acquisition of Florida- which was a highlight of Monroe’s presidency. 

He helped create the Monroe Doctrine, which shaped American foreign policy.

As secretary of state he established the present-day U.S.-Canadian border;  stopped Spanish and Russian claims to Oregon; and created a policy for the recognition of new Latin American nations.

Cece: He was a busy guy! 

Yes and if his time as secretary of state was impressive his presidency was the opposite. 

Cece: Spill the tea 

His election in 1824 as president was contentious, which is a fancy word for saying lots of people weren’t happy with it.  When John Quincy Adams ran for president there were 4 candidates.  

Andrew Jackson received 99 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37; but in the electoral college there needs to be a majority to win the presidency.  Because no one had a majority, the decision had to be made by the House of Representatives.  They selected John Quincy Adams which enraged Jackson and his followers.  

 Cece: That must have been hard 

It was. As president Adams tried to drive forward projects with the goal to improve society.  He proposed things like: road construction, river widening, educational institutions, and a national observatory.  All of these were blocked by congress or supporters of Andrew Jackson.  

During his presidency the Erie Canal was completed.  This linked the Atlantic and trans-Atlantic marketplaces with increased farming resources in the Northwest states. 

He also finalized a settlement with the British over payback for damages incurred during the War of 1812, which had been left unresolved by the Treaty of Ghent. 

As president Adams attempted to protect the Native Americans of Georgia from land grabs from white settlers. He also tried to stop their forced relocation to reservations. But his efforts weren’t effective. 

He lost reelection to 7th president Andrew Jackson.  But his presidency was just a piece of his longer career. 

Cece: Let’s recap some of his achievements.  

In 1831 John Quincy was elected to the House of Representatives -- a first for any former president.  As a congressman he fought hard for the antislavery cause.  

John Quincy Adams presented anti-slavery petitions in the House for years.  Southern Congressmen passed a rule that stopped the house from debating anti-slavery petitions.  Adams tirelessly fought against the rule for 8 years- he was able to get the law repealed.

Cece: Thats amazing

One of John Quincy Adams biggest contributions to antislavery was how he defended and fought for the Africans who were arrested on the slave ship Amistad.  The African people who had been captured fought back and escaped from their Spanish enslavers off the coast of Cuba.  They ended up bringing the ship into United States waters and were arrested. People wanted to send them back to their enslavers but Adams defended them and he won their freedom.

Cece: I want to check out more about that 

He served in congress for almost 17 years before dying in February of 1848.  And while we would love to explore more of his impacts we promised you a mini episode! So with that we say

Cece: Thanks for listening, see you next episode

Our sources for this week are: UVA miller center, encyclopedia britannia, history.com, pbs, the smithsonian 

https://millercenter.org/president/jqadams 

https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Quincy-Adams 

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-quincy-adams 

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography-john-quincy/ 

https://www.si.edu/spotlight/knowing-the-presidents-john-quincy-adams