As the second president of the United States and the first vice president, John Adams had experienced various kinds of lives of different social positions. Adams, in his early years, tried diverse professions like writer, lawyer, public speaker, and congressman. Later, he became one of the leaders of several political fields, such as the American Revolution and foreign relationships, whose contributions had influenced the United States Constitution. "People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity," said by him, John Adams was more admirable to be a political philosopher than a politician. ("John Adams")
John Adams was born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, on October 30, 1735, and he is the first of three children in his family. Adams' father Deacon John Adams was a humble farmer, who is also successful in career as a local public worker. Although Adams considered the choice of entering the ministry, which his father highly supported, he still decided to study law instead, then he entered Harvard and received his bachelor's degree at the age of twenty. In order to develop his legal practice as a lawyer, Adams participated in the town government, and learned to deal with the town affairs. Meanwhile, he was also contributing essays to newspapers offices, which did great benefits for Adams' following life as well. (Shaw 23-24)
When Adams was twenty-nine years old, he married Abigail Smith, who was born into a family of great prestige, and the daughter of a minister. Although most of her education was gained from her grandmother, she was knowledgeable and as politically smart as her husband. Hundreds of the letters between the couple showed that Abigail did provide Adams with significant assistan...
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...dent of the United States later as well. (Shaw 221)
President Adams' final resting place is a crypt beneath the United First Parish Church, which located in his hometown, Quincy. Before passing away, he whispered his last words:" Thomas Jefferson survives." However, Jefferson actually had died a few hours earlier than him. (Shaw, 246)
Works Cited
"John Adams". The White House. Web. 4 May. 2011.
John Adams. Dir. Tom Hooper. Prod. David Coatsworth and Steve Shareshian.
Playtone and HBO Films, 2008. Film.
Kloppenberg, James. "The Journal of American History." Rev. of John Adams. Dir.
Tom Hooper. Prod. David Coatsworth and Steve Shareshian. Playtone and HBO
Films, 2008. Film. (HBO, http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/)
Shaw, Peter. The Character of John Adams. New York: University of North Carolina
Press, 1977. Print
John Adams virtually eradicated his chances of easily winning the election of 1800 by defying the hardcore patriotic attitude of many Americans. Through his continued acts, regardless if they were what was best for the country at that particular time or is he believed morally that it was the correct decision, such as approving the Alien and Sedition Acts and helping the British soldiers that were involved in the Boston Massacre, he left no room for himself to take an easy path to the presidency much less any path to the presidency.
Adams was a Federalist which meant he was upper class and wanted a strong central government and this showed when he led his country. He had to keep the nation stable amidst the French’s dislike for him that lead to the X, Y, Z Affair. The X, Y, Z Affair with France led to a three year long Quazi War that Adams had to keep the government stabile during. This led to him passing the Alien and Sedition Acts which were highly controversial and went against the first amendment. This was the first act of Adam’s presidency that went against the stability of the US government.
JOHN ADAMS – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY HISTORY 1301 – U.S. HISTORY TO 1877 WHEN SEARCHING FOR THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON DURING THE EARLY U.S. HISTORY, GEORGE WASHINGTON COMES TO THE FOREFRONT. INCIDENTLY, DUE TO THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE RESEARCH, THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION ON PEOPLE OR EVENTS ON HISTORY BEFORE 1877. TO MY SURPRISE, INFORMATION WAS LOCATED ON JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS. JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS SUPPOSIVELY HAD A WONDERFUL LIFE AND MARRIAGE TOGETHER. JOHN ADAMS SOMETIMES SEEMED TO BE A CONTRADICTING, RUDE AND OUTSPOKEN MAN, BUT AT OTHER TIMES PLAYFUL AND TENDER. ABIGAIL’S INTELLIGENT, CARING AND WITTY CHARACTER MADE UP FOR JOHN’S MANNERS, THEIR MARRIAGE SIGNIFIES THE POSITION IN WHICH A WOMAN WAS INVOLVED IN THE EVOLVING OF A GREAT MAN, FOR HER IMPORTANT FAMILY CONNECTIONS PROBABLY BENEFITED HIS CAREER. JOHN ADAMS WAS BORN IN 1735, BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS TO JOHN ADAMS AND SUSANNA BOYLSTON. JOHN ADAMS WAS THE ELDEST OF THREE SONS. MR ADAMS WAS A DEACON AND FARMER (WHICH MEANT THE FAMILY WAS NOT WEALTHY). MRS ADAMS WAS BORN FROM ONE OF THE FIRST FAMILIES OF MASSACHUSETTS (THE BOYLSTON’S OWNED A LOT OF PROPERTY). JOHN ADAMS GRADUATED FROM HARVARD IN 1755. UPON GRADUATING, HE WAS OFFERED A JOB TO TEACH IN WORCHESTER. LIKE MOST BACHELORS, JOHN HAD NO INTEREST IN CHILDREN OR THE SLIGHTEST UNDERSTANDING OF THEM. BUT LIKE ANYONE HE ADAPTED TO THE SITUATION, PROBABLY BECAUSE HE HAD TWO YOUNGER BROTHERS. JOHN MARRIED ABIGAIL SMITH IN 1764. ABIGAIL WAS THE SECOND OF FOUR CHILDREN, BORN IN 1744.
Before Andrew Jackson became president, John Quincy Adams was president. Both of them have many differences such as life and political ideology. First, Adams came from an aristocratic family and had good political connection because of his father's, John Adams, who was a former president and also one of the founding fathers. Andrew Jackson was born as a commoner. Unlike Adams, Jackson did not receive education but instead joined the military life, fought in wars and became a national hero. John Q. Adam became president first before Jackson did. However, Adam only served one term during his presidency. Jackson served two during his. Both of their political views are different but both wanted to lead the country. Adams focused more on the country's
The early lives of John Adams and John Quincy Adams are different. John Adams?s father, who also named John, sent his son ? young Adams to Harvard College at age fifteen, and he expected him to become a minister. His father was working hard to make young Adams?s life different than his own which was to become an educated person. However, John Adams did not want to become a minister. After he graduated in 1755, he taught school for few years in Worcester, and that allowed him to think about his career choice. After much reflection, he decided to become a lawyer, and studied law in the office of James Putnam, a prominent lawyer in Worcester. In 1758, he was admitted to the bar. He put the skill to good use as a lawyer, often recording cases he observed so that he could study and reflect upon them. His report of the 1761 argument of James Otis in the superior court of Massachusetts as to the legality of Writs of Assistance is a good example. On the other hand, John Quincy?s father which is John Adams did not push him to become a minister. Moreover, John Adams brought young Adams to France (1778 ? 1779) and to the Netherlands (1780 ? 1782) to acquire his early education at institutions at the University of Leiden. John Adams let his son explored the world more than his own father did. At age fourteen, young Adams accompanied Francis Dana on a mission to St. Petersburg, Russia, to gain recognition to the new republic. He also spent time in Finland, Sweden, Den...
In the Revolutionary period, John Adams was a leader who was one of the founding fathers and advocate for the independence of America. He was a member of the Continental Congress. During the Revolutionary war, Adams served in France and Holland as a diplomatic role. After George Washington was elected as the President, he was put under Washington as the first Vice President. After Washington’s presidency, Adams, who was apart of the Federalists, got elected as President on March 4th, 1797 with Thomas Jefferson, his friend and rival as Vice President. John Adams was well known for his aloofness, and demonstrated passionate patriotism for America, he was also an independent man who did not care for the opinion of the public; except his wife
First and foremost, some basic knowledge on the early years and the foundation of Adam’s life are imperative to the understanding of Abigail Adams and how she grew into becoming the women she did. Abigail Adams was born Abigail Smith in a church in Weymouth, Massachusetts on November 11, 1744. Adams’s parents were William Smith, a liberal Congregational minister and her mother Elizabeth Quincy was of a prominent political family at the time. Abigail was the second born of four siblings, one brother and three sisters, their family faith was Congregational. The Adams’s were an active family in throughout the community and involved in the politics of the time. A majority of Adams’s younger days consisted of corresponding with family and friends and reading. Her childhood and young adult life didn’t involve much singing, dancing or card playing as young women typically participated in...
Although his merchant father lack a gentleman education he had a knack for making money. Samuel adams also signed the Declaration of Independence. He married a women by the name of Elizabeth Checkley in 1749 unfortunately she died in 1757. A couple of years later Samuel Adams married Elizabeth Wells in 1764. It is a little strange two women both with the name Elizabeth I think. Samuel adams was was lieutenant governor and governor of Massachusetts. John Adams his second cousin was the second president of the United States. Samuel Adams took an active and influential part in local politics. Samuel Adams played an important part in instigating the Stamp Act. His influence was only second to James Otis, the lawyer and politician who gained prominence by his resistance to to the revenue
John Adams, by David McCullough, tells the life story of the second president of the United States of America, from his Puritan ancestors first setting foot in New England, to his eventual death in 1826. David McCullough has been called “one of America’s greatest living writers”, by the Washington Post, and “the citizen chronicler”, by Librarian of Congress, James Billington. He has written many other books on a variety of different historical subjects and figures including, but not limited to, the Wright brothers, the Johnstown flood, and Harry S. Truman. He has won two Pulitzer prizes, one for John Adams, the other for The Johnstown Flood. He has also given lectures at notable places, including the White House. John Adams was originally published back in 2001, and was met with almost universal critical acclaim by critics. Originally John Adams was actually meant to be a joint biography of the lives of both John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but McCullough feared that if he were to dedicate the book to both, then Jefferson would naturally trump Adams. On Goodreads, John Adams currently holds a 4 ½ out of 5 star rating. The text is written in a third person narrative chronicling the life and accomplishments of John Adams, and persuades the reader to look at him from a different point of view.
Alexander Hamilton was born as an illegitimate child on the Island of Nevis on January 11, 1757. Alexander Hamilton was educated at what is now Columbia University. Hamilton served as a soldier and Washington’s personal secretary during the Revolutionary War. After the Revolutionary War, he studied law in New York and served in the Continental Congress from 1782-1783(Onager CD-ROM). In 1787 Hamilton...
THOMAS JEFFERSON, author of the Declaration of Independence, was born on April 13, 1743 and grew up on the family plantation at Shadwell in Albermarle County, Virginia. His father was Peter Jefferson, who, with the aid of thirty slaves, tilled a tobacco and wheat farm of 1,900 acres and like his fathers before him, was a justice of the peace, a vestryman of his parish and a member of the colonial legislature. The first of the Virginia Jefferson's of Welsh extraction, Peter in 1738 married Jane Randolph. Of their ten children, Thomas was the third. Thomas inherited a full measure of his father's bodily strength and stature, both having been esteemed in their prime as the strongest men of their county. He also inherited his father's inclination to liberal politics, his taste for literature and his aptitude for mathematics. The Jefferson's were a musical family; the girls sang the songs of the time, and Thomas, practicing the violin assiduously from boyhood, became an excellent performer.
In the early 1700’s Abigail Adams decided to write a letter to her son, John Quincy Adams, explaining why she was so insistent on him going to the voyage to France. She only knew that this trip would be beneficial for him as he already had an advantage for knowing the French language. In Abigail Adams’ Letter to Her Son, (1780) she argues that pushing him into going on this journey also made herself feel guilty, but knows that it will only give J.Q. Adams the great experience needed to grow and mature. She advises him on going by using her ‘motherly tone,’ comparing him to past authorities, such as great Cicero, as well as using his great nationalism to convince him even more that this trip is necessary for him.
Abigail Adams was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts at the North Parish congregational church (The World of Abigail Adams). She came from a well-rounded family. Her great grandfather was a reverend named John Norton, so religion was an important part of her up bringing. Her father, William Smith was a liberal Congregationalist. Her mother Elizabeth Quincy Smith had four children; two daughters, a son who eventually died from alcoholism and Abigail. Abigail was born as a sickly child. Her mother did not believe that she was healthy enough for schooling so she did not live a usual child’s life. She then met with people who believed she was healthy enough and ready to be taught around the age of 11, and she started to further her education from there. Abigail Adams once said, “Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence” (Brainy Quotes). In order to gain wisdom you must work. She learned in her life that things do not come by chance and that in order to receive you must giv...
Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 on his family’s plantation in Shadwell, Virginia. The third of six children his parents raised him modestly and his father schooled him to be a gentleman. The young Jefferson suffered an emotional shock, when at the age of 14 his father Peter Jefferson died. The young Jefferson was the first male of the family and so he received the bulk of his father’s assets, leaving him with a sizable fortune.
...Master degree in political science, he was ready to become a successful man. As life went on, he created a group named "Sons of Liberty", a group made by founding fathers who protected their rights in every way possible. Being the leader of this group, they made a strong offense to repeal the Stamp Act. This mission was successful, as the Stamp Act was only put into place for a year because of the Sons of Liberty. Since he was a tax collector for 12 years, he really had time to think about Parliament and all of their decisions and choices and his input on them. He was an amazing spokesman. He was very distinguished in his telling as well as the complete details on his ideas. Samuel Adams lived a long and successful life of helping his fellow friends and family to earn and keep the rights that they deserve. His family was very honorable to have such an amazing man.