book review: "America's Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, From President to Political Maverick", by Bob Crawford

Okay, all you would-be abolitionists out there, here's a book for you. The book makes clear that slavery in the US was dealt a serious death blow when John Quincy Adams (not widely known as an abolitionist) argued a case before the Supreme Court that would put "the peculiar institution"on the road to extinction in the United Sates.  The date to remember is March 9, 1841.  That's the day the U.S Supreme Court issued its ruling in "United States v. Amistad". To whit, in a 7-1 ruling (a Justice had passed away in the night during proceedings), the Court ordered that 35 Africans were not born as slaves (as the prosecution had argued), but as free men in Africa, and so released them from a lifetime of servitude. This from a court composed mostly of slave owners. The ruling swayed the American public in the northern states that slavery was morally wrong, thus paving the way for Abraham Lincoln's election as president, 20 years later, in 1860.

At the same it was a defining moment for America's founding son, John Quincy Adams. It elevated him from a failed ex-president to a national hero. He based his winning case on the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence.

Mind you, Adam's voice was but one of many that had spoken out against slavery; Adam's voice was note-worthy because it was spoken before the Supreme Court and reported in newspapers in towns and cities throughout the North.

It would be a defining moment for America's founding  son, John Quincy Adams.  It elevated him from failed ex-president to a national hero.  He based his winning case on the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence, of which he was a peerless scholar.

The author, Bob Crawford, is the bass player for The Avett Brothers, a pop music band. He is also the host of "American History Hotline" on iHeartRadio, and cohost of "The Road to Now" on Serius XM"s POTUS channel, where he engages public figures and scholars in conversations that connects the past to the present.

Crawford is a gifted wrter possessed with a strong yet for American history. His book is illustrated with a number of pen-and-ink drawings that had appeared in the newspapers of the day, of various noted people, including Cincque, the articulate leader of the Amistad captives, and Adams' new-best friend.

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