Coming up in 2027: The John Quincy Adams Lecture (JQAL)
For more than 20 years, the Quincy Club has been the John Adams Institute’s educational outreach program. Each year, the Quincy Club visited high schools across the Netherlands to present topics of American significance, encouraging students to explore issues that shape not only life in the United States, but also in the Netherlands and around the world.
After more than two decades, we are taking our educational mission in a new direction. Beginning in 2027, we will launch the John Quincy Adams Lecture: an annual, interactive, and thought-provoking event that examines America from a Dutch perspective. Hosted at an inspiring venue in Amsterdam, the lecture will bring together leading speakers and our community for engaging conversations about the ideas and challenges shaping both sides of the Atlantic.
While JQAL will be designed with students and young professionals in mind, everyone in our community is warmly invited to attend.
More information will be announced after the summer.
Why John Quincy Adams?
John Quincy Adams was the 6th President of the United States, and the son of John Adams. When John Adams came to the Netherlands on his diplomatic mission to help secure a loan to finance American independence, John Quincy Adams accompanied him, spending those years studying law and language in Leiden. John Quincy Adams is the only foreign-educated president in history. He fostered a lifelong love for learning and education, taking his principled and worldly upbringing all the way to the White House.
Our final Quincy Club lecture for high schools took place in March of this year:
250 years of American Independence: A double edged-sword
On July 4th, 2026, the United States marked 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. While the nation was founded on the idea of freedom, the story of American independence is far more complex. The original struggle was for freedom from British rule—symbolized by events like the Boston Tea Party. But soon after, American colonists expanded westward, displacing Native Americans and stripping them of their own independence, most tragically in events like the Trail of Tears.
At the same time, the country built its economy on slavery, denying enslaved Africans their basic human rights. From the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln to the Civil Rights Movement, the fight for Black freedom has been long and ongoing. In the 21st century, the 9/11 attacks reframed independence in global terms—raising questions about freedom from religious extremism and ideological conflict. These struggles reveal that independence in America has often come at a cost. Even today, the nation continues to wrestle with the meaning of freedom as it strives toward a more perfect union. By presenting these themes we aimed to help students grasp the complexities of American society, today and in the past.