As our country celebrates Juneteenth, we should recognize those who worked tirelessly from the founding of our nation to end the cruel institution of slavery. John Quincy Adams, an outspoken antislavery advocate, was one of those leaders. He fought tirelessly for the rights of enslaved people across America. From his time on the House floor to his hours spent arguing in front of the Supreme Court, John Quincy’s contributions to ending slavery need to be recognized and honored.

John Quincy Adams’s antislavery beliefs stemmed from his parents’ teachings. John and Abigail Adams viewed slavery as a moral evil that contradicted the principles of liberty upon which the United States is based. On Oct. 25, 1775, Abigail wrote to John (who went on to become the nation’s second president), “We have done Evil or our Enimies would be at peace with us. The Sin of Slavery as well as many others is not washed away.”

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These views were adopted by their son, John Quincy (who went on to become the nation’s sixth president). He was steadfast in his beliefs from his time as ambassador, president, and then as a member of Congress.

He spent much of his time in Congress campaigning against the “gag rule,” which banned representatives from proposing legislation or even speaking about slavery in committees. In May 1836, when the motion for the rule passed, John Quincy stood up to speak against it and, amidst the heckling from other members of Congress, exclaimed, “Am I gagged?”

John Quincy argued that the rule was a “direct violation of the Constitution of the United States, the rules of this House, and the rights of my constituents.” He went on to earn his nickname, the “Hellhound of Slavery” by submitting a series of petitions, including those from women, free African Americans, and enslaved people, that opposed the gag rule. His efforts paid off in December 1844, when the House voted to repeal it.

“Old Man Eloquent” (another nickname given to John Quincy, by other congressmen) didn’t stop at petitions and protests. He went as far as to argue the immorality of slavery in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Schooner Amistad. Fifty-three Africans who had been kidnapped into slavery in 1839 in Sierra Leone were being transported on the Amistad to be sold in Cuba. En route, the slaves revolted, killed the captain and crew, and ordered the two Spanish plantation owners who had bought them from Portuguese slave hunters to sail them back to Africa.

Instead, the Spaniards sailed north, and the ship was seized off Long Island. The Africans were arrested for murder and kept in confinement, even after the murder charges were eventually dropped. After a complicated legal battle in the Federal District Court of Connecticut, the case was sent in 1841 to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the Africans’ fate. They were represented by none other than John Quincy Adams, who was still serving in Congress at the time.

For eight and a half hours, John Quincy argued passionately that the Africans had a legal and moral right to freedom and that they should not be taken to Cuba for trial.

If that were to happen, John Quincy said, they would be handed over “not as slaves, but as assassins — not as merchandise, but as men — as infant females, with flesh, and blood, and nerves, and sinews, to be tortured, and with lives to be forfeited and consumed by fire, to appease the public vengeance of the lawless slave‑traders in Cuba.”

In the district court, the argument had been over who deserved ownership of and possibly compensation for the Africans. In the Supreme Court, John Quincy made clear that this was a question of humanity, not property.

He based the bulk of his case on the very rights upon which the United States was founded. “The moment you come, to the Declaration of Independence, that every man has a right to life and liberty, an inalienable right, this case is decided,” he told the justices.

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The court ruled in favor of the Africans, stating that “it was the ultimate right of all human beings in extreme cases to resist oppression, and to apply force against ruinous injustice.” The enslaved people were immediately released and returned to their home in Sierra Leone.

John Quincy Adams understood that “slavery is the great and foul stain on the North American union.” His actions contributed not only to the fight for human rights, but to upholding the rights on which our nation was founded and fully realizing them for all individuals. Let us be inspired by John Quincy, who showed the courage necessary to fight to guarantee liberty and justice for all.

Jackie Gingrich Cushman is president of the Adams Memorial Foundation.