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Who Was President John Quincy Adams?
Adams for for Teachers, Students, & All Who Love to Learn
Looking for great YouTube video clips, books, and free worksheets and lapbooks for teaching and/or learning about President John Quincy Adams? Here you will find my favorite picks we used while studying the individual Presidents of the United States. This is part of a series of lessons I posted on individual Presidents. You can find links to all the lessons at President's Day Unit Study .
Do You Think John Quincy Adams Was a Good President?
Just the Facts on Our 6th President
Presidential Term: 1825 - 1829
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
Vice President: John C. Calhoun
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Occupation: Lawyer
Yearly Salary as President: $25,000
Height: 5'7"
First Lady: Louisa Johnson Adams
Great Worksheets, Lapbooks, Trivia, & Recipes
We found these to be helpful when creating a notebook, lapbook, and cooking project on President John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams for Teachers offers links to lots of free worksheets covering John Quincy Adams. Also included are book suggestions and general information.
John Quincy Adams Lesson offers free links to worksheets, research information, and activities related to John Quincy Adams.
John Quincy Adams' Diet provides a description of Adams' typical simplistic diet of fruit, crackers, and water and suggests a few New England dishes that would have been typical of someone from his time period.
Presidential Statistics and Points of Interest includes an overview of John Quincy Adams's life and some fun points of interest.
Our Favorite Children's Books on President John Quincy Adams
Dangerous Crossing: The Revolutionary Voyage of John Quincy Adams by Stephen Krensky tells the true story of the voyage John Quincy took with his father across the ocean to France to ask them to help America during the War for Independence. It is an exciting picture book that my children enjoyed! How To Draw The Life And Times Of John Quincy Adams (Kid's Guide to Drawing the Presidents of the United States of America) by Betsy Dru Tecco is part of a wonderful series that combines the Presidents of the United States with art. Even my 6 year old could follow the drawing directions and my 9 year old created some impressive drawings while learning more about Adams. John Quincy Adams: Boy Patriot (Childhood of Famous Americans) by Ann Weil was our favorite chapter book. It focuses on his childhood, focusing on events that shaped who he would become. It has black and white illustrations every few pages. First Son and President: A Story about John Quincy Adams by Beverly Gherman is ideal for children in grades 2-4. It has 64 pages and includes plenty of black and white illustrations. Of the children's biography chapter books on Adams that are still being published today, this was the most enjoyable to read.
Timeline of Major Events During Adams's Presidency
Timeline of Major Events
1825
Completion of Erie Canal
1828
Baltimore & Ohio Railroads open to passengers & freight
Webster's Dictionary first published
Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abominations)
No candidate won a majority of the votes in the 1824 election, so the decision was turned over to the House of Representatives. John Quincy Adams won his seat as president after Henry Clay cast the deciding vote. Adams promptly appointed Henry Clay as Secretary of State, which quickly became known as a "corrupt bargain" by Andrew Jackson and his supporters.
John Quincy Adams is well known for swimming naked each morning in the Potomac River while president. Anne Royall became the first female journalist to ever interview a president after she met John Quincy Adams at the river and sat on his clothing until he agreed to grant her an interview. (Info Credit : http://www.potus.com/jqadams.html)
While president, Adams sought to improve the infrastructure of America through modernizing roads, canals, and railroad systems. He also proposed a nationally funded university and arts program. His proposals were largely refuted in the legislature due to the majority of the members favoring Andrew Jackson. He also managed to pay off most of the national debt during his four year term.
After losing his bid for reelection as president, John Quincy Adams ran for and won a position in the House of Representatives, serving for 17 years as a congressman until he died. He tenaciously fought against slavery, and continuously presented petitions to end slavery even though it made him incredibly unpopular. Congress eventually passed a "gag rule," which automatically tabled any discussion of slavery. After fighting for 8 years, Adams finally had the gag rule repealed. While waiting for a chance to speak in the House of Representatives, John Quincy Adams had a stoke and died two days later.
John Quincy Adams was the first president to be photographed. He described himself himself as "a man of reserved, cold, austere, and forbidding manners."
Our Favorite YouTube Video Clip on President John Quincy Adams
Good Overview of John Quincy Adams
Looking for more lessons on Presidents or all of my unit studies and lessons?
- President's Day Unit Study - I posted links to each of my lessons on individual Presidents here. In each lesson I included fun worksheets, children's books, YouTube clips, timelines, and recipe ideas. On this page I also included our favorite books and YouTube video clips that cover all of the Presidents of the United States.
- Fun, FREE Hands-On Unit Studies - I have posted my links to over 35 hands-on unit studies (compromised of over 170 lessons) that focus primarily on science and social studies. In each lesson plan I have listed the activities that we did (and included photos), the books we read, YouTube video clips that we watched, and lapbook links that pair with the lesson.
