QUINCY, MA - As part of its yearlong celebration of John Quincy Adams’s 250th birthday, Adams National Historical Park welcomes authors, David Waldstreicher and Matthew Mason to discuss their latest work, John Quincy Adams and the Politics of Slavery. Professors David Waldstreicher of the CUNY Graduate Center and Matthew Mason of Brigham Young University will present an in-depth look at the former President’s evolving views on slavery. Adams became a leading anti-slavery advocate in his later congressional career, but his hardened position on the institution was one that stemmed from a life of deep consideration on the matter. Adams’s 14,000 page diary is truly a treasure trove of information for early American history, but it has never before been mined specifically for the politician’s observations on slavery.
The two esteemed scholars in early American history have produced numerous formative works, including Waldstreicher’s In the Midst of Perpetual Fetes: The Making of American Nationalism, 1776-1820 (1997) and Mason’s recently published Apostle of Union: A Political Biography of Edward Everett (2016). The two men will share their insights into Adams’s personal reflections on slavery and juxtapose it with what he said-and did not say-publicly on the issue. In this special event, the duo will paint a nuanced portrait of how Adams interacted with prevailing ideologies on slavery during his consequential career and life.
This program is free and open to the public. Limited street parking is available on Adams Street, Quincy, MA 02169. Books will be available for purchase and a book signing will follow the lecture.
For more information, call the Visitor Center at 617-770-1175.
www.nps.gov/adam.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
