He continued to practice law and he had the case of a lifetime when he defended the Africans slaves of the Amistad before the US Supreme Court. In that case, United States vs. The Amistad Africans, Adams argued that the Africans who seized control of a Spanish ship were being transported illegally as slaves and should not be deported to Spanish Cuba but should be considered as freemen and allowed to return to Africa. President Martin Van Buren's Justice Department argued that the Africans should be deported to Cuba for having mutinied and killing officers. John Quincy Adams won the case!
The other former US President to serve in the Congress was President Andrew Johnson who was elected in 1874 by the Tennessee legislature to serve as a senator from the state which he did until his death in 1875.
VOCABULARY
staunch - loyal, fervent
advocate - militant, défenseur, champion
Note: The 1997 Steven Spielberg film Amistad is based on the above court case for which Anthony Hopkins received an Academy nomination for his role as John Quincy Adams.
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