FFQF: Mother Made Me

See what’s up with today’s FFQF at Meet the Founders blog

With the onset of a new month, there’s a new theme for the FFQF! This month, it’s “the importance of mother.” I’m not very knowledgeable of what the Founding Fathers said about mothers, so this may prove to be a trying month for me! But I do know one! And whn I think of mothers, I think of what John Quincy Adams said of his mother, Abigail Adams:

“All that I am my mother made me.”

I believe JQA meant that in a good way, lol.

JQA was basically raised by his mother. His father, John Adams, was away from home for years at a time, serving as delegate for the Continental Congress, as ambassador to France, then England, and then as vice-president and our second president. John Adams was essentially one of our nation’s fathers, while JQA was trained and developed by his wise mother. I think it’s really neat that Abigail has been recognized as a successful mother and patriot. It is the utmost honor for her children to have risen up and call her blessed.

FFQF: John Quincy Adams

“America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.”

John Quincy Adams said that. What a lesson to be remembered!

I’ve always admired John Quincy Adams. I just love the Adamses– John and Abigail and Samuel. Their writings are witty, insightful, delightful, and very thought-provoking. John Quincy Adams was the son of president John Adams and Abigail. To me, he is the quintessential child of the Revolution. He was born in Massachusetts in 1767, and grew up with the Revolution raging at his heels. He was homeschooled by his mother, and when older, accompanied his father to serve as his aide in Europe. John Quincy left his father at the age of 14 to become secretary for an American ambassador to Russia. He traveled Europe, serving various functions for the new American government. Age 14!

This whiz kid grew up to serve under George Washington, his father and second president John Adams, James Monroe, and Andrew Jackson. John Quincy became our sixth president, and after his term he served as U.S. Congressman. His life’s accomplishments are absolutely stellar, and through it all, he never lost sight of the greatness of American liberty. This man did so much for posterity that it is impossible to list it all. I think he is a marvelous example of the young American and student. He was a wonderful student: homeschooled by his mother, he attended Harvard and became a lawyer. He could speak at least eight languages, wrote numerous books and pamplets and letters, and held many different political offices. One of the last things he did was serve as lawyer for the Amistad slave ship case– a case he won.

So as a bonus, I’ll leave you with another of his quotes, one of his life’s mottos. This no doubt sums up why John Quincy Adams was such the man that he was:

“Idleness is sweet, …[but] its consequences are cruel.”