John Adams

John Adams

1735-1826

by Patricia Franco

John Adams was the second president of the United States (1797-1801) and one of the great figures in American History. Before the American Revolution(1775-1783) he joined with other patriots interested in British rule. John Adams served on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence and then helped persuade the Second Continental Congress to adopt the declaration. When George Washington became the new nations first president in 1789,John Adams became the first vice president John Adams was one of the greatest political philosophers In addition to his former works, Adams wrote letters and papers that provide a vivid account on his life and the event that led to the founding of the United States.

John Adams was born and raised in Braintee (now Quincy), Massachusetts, on the farm land his great-grand father had cleared 100 years earlier. Throughout John Adams life, he felt a deep attachment for the Adams farm for the town of Braintee. John Adams attended school in Briantee, and at age 16, he entered Harvard College. After John Adams graduated in 1755, ha took teaching position in Worcester, Massachusetts, and continued to study. His favorite subjects were Latin, and History, and law, but he soon abandon his early plans to become a clergyman. In 1758 Adams began to practice law in Briantree.

In1764 after a courtship of three years Adams married Abigail Smith, daughter of a minister from Weymouth, Massachusetts. John Adams and Abigail Adams had five children, one of them was John Quincy Adams, became the sixth president of the United States. John and Abigail marriage lasted 54 years, until the death of Abigail Adams in 1818. They saw very little of each other, because John Adams was continuously serving the young nation.

John Adams had a many accomplishments. Adams approved the Boston Tea Party in the late 1700's.On July 4,1776,congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. In a letter Adams wrote to his wife " will be celebrated by succeeding generation, as the great anniversary festival, it ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance... guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of his continent to the other..." John Adams said the same speech before signing the Declaration of Independence. Everything John Adams said came true. John Adams was also involved in signing the Treaty of Paris on September 3,1783.

During the Revolutionary War Adams served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the Treaty of Peace. In 1785 he was a minister to the court of St. James , returning to be elected Vice President under George Washington. When Adams became president the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the United States on the high seas and intense partisanship among contending nations. John Adams saved his nation from war with France. During the Stamp Act the American colonist were loyal subjects of Great Britain. There were laws regulating trade and imposing duties to America, but they were rarely enforced. The Stamp Act required on all legal documents, licenses, contracts, newspapers, pamphlets and other papers, would be paid tax with a stamp. John Adams drew up a set of resolution protesting the stamp tax. John Adams reputation as a patriot was such however, that his defense of the British soldiers seems not to have damaged his political career. On December 1773, Adams supported what became known as the Boston Tea party, where patriots dumped British tea into Boston harbor to protest tea tax and the monopoly on the importation of tea Britain had given to the East India company. In 1774, John Adams attend the First Continental Congress, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a member of the Massachusetts delegation. When John Adams set out in May 1775 for Philadelphia and the opening of the Second Continent Congress, the American Revolution had begun with battles at Lexington on Concord, Massachusetts. John Adams took office on April 30,1789. He served as vice president under Washington for eight years. During his presidency, Adams was part of the beginning of the political party system in the United states. In 1797-1801 John Adams became the Second President of the United States.

John Adams spent his last 25 years on his farm in Massachusetts. The career of his son John Quincy Adams gave him great pleasure, and he lived to see his son elected Sixth President of the United States in 1824. John Adams died on July 4,1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams last words were "Jefferson still lives." But Jefferson himself died a few hours before.

John Adams was an important man not only because he was the Second President of the United States, but also for doing a lot in his community, and always thinking of his peers. John Adams had a few accomplishments throughout his life. He was well remembered throughout United States.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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John Adams

Encarta

Douglas W. Downey, M. S

Encyclopedia, Volume One

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Englewood Cliffs

The American Nations

Fourth Edition

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Prentice-Hall INC

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4. Ferling John

John Adams: A Life

First Edition

Tennessee

University of Tennessee

Pages 2-83

5. The Founding of Fathers

John Adams: In His Own Words

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News Week

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John Adams

First Edition Library of Congress

United States Of America

Pages-888-915

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