The Story of John Qunicy Adams

Story of John Quincy Adams

Slavery has had big impacts on the life of black people. During that era, they were captured by other blacks who were conspiring with white people from Europe and America and then sent them to a new world. According to Carson, those blacks did not think that they were trading their African brothers and sisters, but in their opinion, they were trading captured enemies for goods, such as clothes and fire guns. Unlike many slaves, John Quincy Adams, a former slave, inherited slavery from his parents who were also slaves. Even though he had some common points with other slaves, his life style was slightly different.

Unlike some slaves, John Quincy Adams was born in a big family in the United States of America, and that is why he states in his narration, “I was born in Federick county, Virginia, in 1845(Adams, p.5)”. Furthermore, since he was already a slave at birth, he was among the property of the owner of his parents whose name was Mr. George F. Calomese. Also, he had a difficult childhood because he was sick most of the time. Moreover, when he gets older, he was separated from his twin brother, and used as a servant by the family of Mr. George F. Calomese. At the young age, he had not enjoyed freedom as his parents did before they become slaves.

The parents of John Quincy Adams were slaves, and he loved the members of his family. At his young age, he was separated from his twin brother and his sister. That was one of the darkest parts of his life, he did not think he would ever see them again. However, since he was a believer, he kept seeking help from God until one day he was contacted by his parents so that they got a writing from his twin brother. Additionally, he decided to go see his parents in order to know the content of the letter. Since they were separated, it is only that day he heard from him. That was a big relief, so he praised God for his kindness. After that, he had been hopeful until “On the 28th of July 1868, he came to see me (Adams, p.31)”. Unfortunately, he did not have the opportunity to see his sister again.

In addition to his family, he was very passionate about learning, but unfortunately, white people did not want blacks to learn how to read and write. Surprisingly, John Quincy Adams and his brother developed their own strategies. According to John Quincy Adams, as his father did, he learned to read by listening to people while they are reading. On the other hand, his brother, Robert tricked white children by asking them to listen to his reading, and then he would give them apples. As a writer says, “Education is power”, so John Quincy Adams knew that after learning how to read and write, he would know a lot about conspiracies of their masters. Additionally, after he recovered his freedom and employed at the hotel, he desired to get a better education. Therefore, he started taking actions toward his education. For instance, he bought some study materials which would help him to improve his reading comprehension. That is the reason why he states, “I bought myself some books, and when my work was done I would study my book (Adams, p.40)”. All in all, John Quincy Adams was eager to learn in order to be totally free.

Furthermore, although John Quincy Adams was slave, he appreciated the family of his owner. He considered the family of his owner as the richest slave owner in the area. In fact, he points out, “Mrs. Calomese was very kind lady indeed, and would have been more so if she had not had so many in charge (Adams, p.9)”. He also acknowledged, “They were very good and kind to me, and would have taught me to read if they could have had their way (Adams, p.9)”. All these show that he had a good relationship with the white family.

Moreover, as most slaves, the father of John Quincy Adams worked in a big farm which he considered as one of the best farm in the state of Virginia. He basically knew everything about the farm since he was raised there. In addition, in his opinion, his father was a role model, and he had been the best farmer ever. In fact, “He was considered one of the best farmers in the county, and is the same to-day (Adams, p.11)”. During the era of slavery, having the skill of farming was very important because most of the slaves were used in plantations; as a result, John Quincy Adams was proud of his father because of the skill he had acquired. Furthermore, after he recovered his freedom, he got his first job as servant at the hotel thanks to the relationship of his father with Mr. Herr. Finally, freedom and having a job open door of opportunities to him.

John Quincy Adams was introduced to Christianity since he was young. He was raised by Christian parents; as a result, he was not allowed to do certain things, such as smoking and drinking during his childhood. After slavery, he was so glad to have the opportunity to learn how to read especially the words of God. Moreover, he thought that he could not serve God appropriately if he did not know how to read and interpret the words of God. Therefore, once he learned how to read the Bible, he was grateful to God for the work he has done for him and the black community. Religion has played an important role in his life. During slavery, having faith in God was not easy at all, but he believed in God, and he got the reward from it by getting his freedom. Instead white people used to leave their slaves in the farm and go to Church, but John Quincy Adams was wondering if they really believe in God. He states, “He brought the husband and wife together that had been parted for years, the sister and brother, and the mother and children that had not been seen nor hear from for twenty and twenty-five years (Adams, p.17)”. Therefore, he assumed that all these had been done by the blessing of God to whom he was grateful.

It is known all over the world that African American worked hard to make this country flourish. After John Quincy Adams became free, he praised God as usual. Then most blacks started enjoying freedom and made their way toward success. Even though he believed that white people thought blacks were lazy and could not do anything for themselves, he was thankful for being able to work for himself. Moreover, working and getting paid were some of the privileges he could ever imagine having. To finish, he considered being free and having a good education was a blessing from God.

After reading this story from the narration of John Quincy Adams, I have learned about some similarities that I have read in the text book “The Struggle for Freedom”. For instance, in terms of religion, as Equiano