Jeff Denman, MA
John Quincy Adams, Reluctant Abolitionist
This presentation is an examination of John Quincy Adams’s life through the lens of slavery, covering his interactions with the institution of slavery throughout his life, including his great successes and his missteps, and, in some cases, his inactions. Events include intense scenes on the floor of the House of Representatives in which Adams excoriated Southern slaveholders, and the two times the House tried to censure him. Historical context will provide the social and political conditions under which Adams operated and some of the key movers and shakers of the time with which Adams interacted.
Jeff Denman, MA (jeffreyadenman.com, Instagram: @jeffreyadenman, X: @JeffDenman3), is the author of John Quincy Adams, Reluctant Abolitionist and co-author of Greene and Cornwallis in the Carolinas: The Pivotal Struggle of the American Revolution, 1780–1781. He is a retired US History and World Geography teacher from the Brookline Public Schools as well as a historian and the author of seven journal articles dealing with subjects ranging from the American Revolution to World War II.
