Birthplace of Presidents

In Quincy, Massachussets, there sit two houses from the colonial era, right next to each other. The painted one is older than the unpainted, weathered one but both have an important place in American history. It was in these houses that the second and sixth US Presidents were born. 

Photo: Boston.com

John Adams, the second President, was born in 1735 to John Adams, Sr., a deacon in the Puritan church.  John Adams had two brothers who became farmers while John Adams was sent to Harvard in order to be a minister. But, John Adams was uninterested in becoming a minister and instead, turned to law. In 1770, he was asked to represent the soldiers who fired on a Boston crowd in what became known as the Boston Massacre. John Adams took their case not because he sided with the soldiers but because he wanted to demonstrate to England that the colonies were civilized and upheld just laws. 

Photo: whitehouse.gov

John Adams and Abigail Adams moved into the house next door to the house in which John Adams was born and it was in this house that John Quincy Adams, the future sixth President, was born. Before he was elected President, he served as a diplomat and helped to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. John Quincy Adams lost his bid for a second term to his Vice President, Andrew Jackson, but he returned to public office by being elected to the House of Representatives for Massachussets. He became staunchly anti-slavery and predicted a dissolution of the Union over slavery and he predicted that in the event of a civil war, the President would be able to use his presidential powers to abolish slavery. 

Photo: whitehouse.gov