John Adams Essay

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John Adams Biography

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 and died on July 4, 1826. He was the second president of the United States. He served from 1797 to 1801. Earlier, he served as the first vice president of the United States. John Adams was a statesman, a diplomat, and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain. He was an Enlightenment political theorist who promoted republicanism. He also promoted a strong central government and wrote about his seminal ideas.
John Adams was also against slavery and never owned a slave. He provided a successful legal defense to British soldiers who were accused in the Boston Massacre because he believed in the right to counsel and the protection of innocence in 1770. As a lawyer and public figure in Boston, and as a delegate from Mass. to the Continental Congress, he played an important role in persuading Congress to declare independence. In 1776, he helped Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence.

John Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts. He was the eldest of three sons. John Adams felt th...

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