John Adams Essay, Research Paper

JOHN ADAMS

Adams, John (1735-1826) , second president (1797-1801) and

first vice-president (1789-97) of the United States, and leader in the movement for independence. His presidency was marked by rivalry with Alexander Hamilton, controversy over government measures taken to curb political opposition, and a crisis in U. S. relations with France.

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree

(now Quincy) , Massachusetts, a town in which Adamses had lived since 1638. His father had married into a wealthy Boston family, the Boylstons, and was able to send his son to Harvard College, in which young Adams graduated from in 1755. He selected law and he then became a powerful speaker. At the age of 29, John Adams married Abigail Smith, a woman who had the same great qualities as himself.

The Coming of the Revolution

The controversy that preceded the American Revolution catapulted Adams into a position of political leadership. Chosen as a lawyer for several British soldiers charged with the death of five colonists in the Boston Massacre (1170), Adams successfully defended his clients by justifying their use of force out of fear for their lives. In his essays Novanglus (1774-75),he defended colonial resistance and argued that the British Empire was in reality a league of nearly independent existence.

In the First and Second Continental Congresses, Adams emerged as a powerful exponent of the historic rights of the English and the natural rights of humankind. Adams served on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, but when Thomas Jefferson later claimed that Adams had given him a free hand in composing it, Adams responded that the document was a theatrical show in which Jefferson ran away with the state effect and all the glory of it. This began a rivalry that continued for more than a decade.

More clearly than any leading patriot of his time, Adams expressed the fear that he might fail in summoning forth the virtue and objectivity required to avoid loss of nerve. His thoughts on Government (1776), became a handbook on the writing of early state constitutions and influenced the preparation of those documents in Virginia, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

Diplomatic Service and Vice-Presidency

In 1770 Congress sent Adams and John Jay to join Benjamin Franklin as diplomatic representatives in Europe. Adams went to the Dutch Republic and had the responsibility for opening negotiations with Britain; Jay traveled to Spain. In 1782 and 1783, the three men together negotiated the Treaty of Paris, ending the 8-year war with Great Britain.

In 1785 Adams was appointed diplomatic messenger to Great Britain, a position he held until 1788. His duties in England caused him to miss the Constitutional Convention. While in London he wrote the three-volume Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America.

Because he ran second to Washington in electoral-college balloting in both 1788 and 1792, Adams became the nation’s first vice-president. In that ability, he limited himself to presiding over the Senate.

The Presidency

In 1796 Adams was chosen to succeed Washington as president winning over Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Pinckney. The threat of war with France dominated the politics. The war scare was sparked by American indignation over French attempts to extort money from U.S. representatives in the so-called XYZ affair. A conflict arose over the measures to be taken in preparation. Adams favored strengthening the navy, but an opposing group led by Alexander Hamilton persuaded Congress to create a large standing army, with Hamilton as inspector general.

Agreement with France

Adams did demonstrate the power of the presidency to confront challenges to executive leadership. In February 1799, he appointed new peace commissioners to go to France and reopen negotiations. Adam’s timing and judgment were exact; the French foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand had sent a diplomatic signal that he wanted peace with the U.S. Then when the secretary of state Timothy Pickering, tried to sabotage the peace mission, Adams fired him; the two nations quickly came to peace.

Retirement

Adams lived for a quarter century after he left the presidency, during which time he wrote extensively. His guiding principles were embodied in a Whig philosophy to which he clung stubbornly. Ill-suited to adapt to the transition to 19th-century romantic culture, he was nevertheless a magnificent exponent of the pessimistic view of human society. He died in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1826.

Summary

The thing that interested me the most about John Adams was how he being a lawyer, stood up for what he believed in and how he stood up for the other people in need. Such as the British soldiers. Another thing that interested me was how Adams had so much free time to write and be President at the same time. He wrote essays such as Nevanglus. John Adams drafted the Declaration of Independence, wrote documents, and last but not least, the three-volume Defence of the Constitutions of Government he wrote. John Adams was and still is a spectacular man.

Bibliography: Adams, John (Picture) from Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia; Map of Massachusetts from Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia; General information about John Adams from pg.. 94-95 in Academic American Encyclopedia; Quotations from John Adams from pg. 39 of Compton’s Britannica; Important dates in Adams life from pg. 35 of The World Book Encyclopedia; John Adams’ Administration from pg. 32 of Compton’s Britannica; Time Line taken from pg. 32 of Compton’s Britannica; The World of Pres. John Adams from pg. 35 of the World Encyclopedia; Major World Events from pg. 33 of Compton’s Britannica; Report on John Adams taken from Packard Bell Computer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pg. 1… Adams, John

The Coming of the Revolution

Pg. 2… Diplomatic Service and Vice- Presidency

The Presidency

Pg. 3… Agreement with France

Retirement

Pg. 4… General Information About John Adams

Pg. 5… Important Dates in Adam’s Life

Pg. 6… Quotations from John Adams

Pg. 7… Time Line

Pg. 8… The World of Pres. John Adams

Pg. 9… Major Events in John Adams’ Administration

Pg. 10… Map of Massachusetts

Pg. 11… Summary

Pg. 12… Bibliography

JOHN ADAMS

Adams, John (1735-1826) , second president (1797-1801) and

first vice-president (1789-97) of the United States, and leader in the movement for independence. His presidency was marked by rivalry with Alexander Hamilton, controversy over government measures taken to curb political opposition, and a crisis in U. S. relations with France.

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree

(now Quincy) , Massachusetts, a town in which Adamses had lived since 1638. His father had married into a wealthy Boston family, the Boylstons, and was able to send his son to Harvard College, in which young Adams graduated from in 1755. He selected law and he then became a powerful speaker. At the age of 29, John Adams married Abigail Smith, a woman who had the same great qualities as himself.

The Coming of the Revolution

The controversy that preceded the American Revolution catapulted Adams into a position of political leadership. Chosen as a lawyer for several British soldiers charged with the death of five colonists in the Boston Massacre (1170), Adams successfully defended his clients by justifying their use of force out of fear for their lives. In his essays Novanglus (1774-75),he defended colonial resistance and argued that the British Empire was in reality a league of nearly independent existence.

In the First and Second Continental Congresses, Adams emerged as a powerful exponent of the historic rights of the English and the natural rights of humankind. Adams served on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, but when Thomas Jefferson later claimed that Adams had given him a free hand in composing it, Adams responded that the document was a theatrical show in which Jefferson ran away with the state effect and all the glory of it. This began a rivalry that continued for more than a decade.

More clearly than any leading patriot of his time, Adams expressed the fear that he might fail in summoning forth the virtue and objectivity required to avoid loss of nerve. His thoughts on Government (1776), became a handbook on the writing of early state constitutions and influenced the preparation of those documents in Virginia, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

Diplomatic Service and Vice-Presidency

In 1770 Congress sent Adams and John Jay to join Benjamin Franklin as diplomatic representatives in Europe. Adams went to the Dutch Republic and had the responsibility for opening negotiations with Britain; Jay traveled to Spain. In 1782 and 1783, the three men together negotiated the Treaty of Paris, ending the 8-year war with Great Britain.

In 1785 Adams was appointed diplomatic messenger to Great Britain, a position he held until 1788. His duties in England caused him to miss the Constitutional Convention. While in London he wrote the three-volume Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America.

Because he ran second to Washington in electoral-college balloting in both 1788 and 1792, Adams became the nation’s first vice-president. In that ability, he limited himself to presiding over the Senate.

The Presidency

In 1796 Adams was chosen to succeed Washington as president winning over Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Pinckney. The threat of war with France dominated the politics. The war scare was sparked by American indignation over French attempts to extort money from U.S. representatives in the so-called XYZ affair. A conflict arose over the measures to be taken in preparation. Adams favored strengthening the navy, but an opposing group led by Alexander Hamilton persuaded Congress to create a large standing army, with Hamilton as inspector general.

Agreement with France

Adams did demonstrate the power of the presidency to confront challenges to executive leadership. In February 1799, he appointed new peace commissioners to go to France and reopen negotiations. Adam’s timing and judgment were exact; the French foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand had sent a diplomatic signal that he wanted peace with the U.S. Then when the secretary of state Timothy Pickering, tried to sabotage the peace mission, Adams fired him; the two nations quickly came to peace.

Retirement

Adams lived for a quarter century after he left the presidency, during which time he wrote extensively. His guiding principles were embodied in a Whig philosophy to which he clung stubbornly. Ill-suited to adapt to the transition to 19th-century romantic culture, he was nevertheless a magnificent exponent of the pessimistic view of human society. He died in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1826.

Summary

The thing that interested me the most about John Adams was how he being a lawyer, stood up for what he believed in and how he stood up for the other people in need. Such as the British soldiers. Another thing that interested me was how Adams had so much free time to write and be President at the same time. He wrote essays such as Nevanglus. John Adams drafted the Declaration of Independence, wrote documents, and last but not least, the three-volume Defence of the Constitutions of Government he wrote. John Adams was and still is a spectacular man.

Bibliography: Adams, John (Picture) from Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia; Map of Massachusetts from Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia; General information about John Adams from pg.. 94-95 in Academic American Encyclopedia; Quotations from John Adams from pg. 39 of Compton’s Britannica; Important dates in Adams life from pg. 35 of The World Book Encyclopedia; John Adams’ Administration from pg. 32 of Compton’s Britannica; Time Line taken from pg. 32 of Compton’s Britannica; The World of Pres. John Adams from pg. 35 of the World Encyclopedia; Major World Events from pg. 33 of Compton’s Britannica; Report on John Adams taken from Packard Bell Computer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pg. 1… Adams, John

The Coming of the Revolution

Pg. 2… Diplomatic Service and Vice- Presidency

The Presidency

Pg. 3… Agreement with France

Retirement

Pg. 4… General Information About John Adams

Pg. 5… Important Dates in Adam’s Life

Pg. 6… Quotations from John Adams

Pg. 7… Time Line

Pg. 8… The World of Pres. John Adams

Pg. 9… Major Events in John Adams’ Administration

Pg. 10… Map of Massachusetts

Pg. 11… Summary

Pg. 12… Bibliography

JOHN ADAMS

Adams, John (1735-1826) , second president (1797-1801) and

first vice-president (1789-97) of the United States, and leader in the movement for independence. His presidency was marked by rivalry with Alexander Hamilton, controversy over government measures taken to curb political opposition, and a crisis in U. S. relations with France.

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree

(now Quincy) , Massachusetts, a town in which Adamses had lived since 1638. His father had married into a wealthy Boston family, the Boylstons, and was able to send his son to Harvard College, in which young Adams graduated from in 1755. He selected law and he then became a powerful speaker. At the age of 29, John Adams married Abigail Smith, a woman who had the same great qualities as himself.

The Coming of the Revolution

The controversy that preceded the American Revolution catapulted Adams into a position of political leadership. Chosen as a lawyer for several British soldiers charged with the death of five colonists in the Boston Massacre (1170), Adams successfully defended his clients by justifying their use of force out of fear for their lives. In his essays Novanglus (1774-75),he defended colonial resistance and argued that the British Empire was in reality a league of nearly independent existence.

In the First and Second Continental Congresses, Adams emerged as a powerful exponent of the historic rights of the English and the natural rights of humankind. Adams served on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, but when Thomas Jefferson later claimed that Adams had given him a free hand in composing it, Adams responded that the document was a theatrical show in which Jefferson ran away with the state effect and all the glory of it. This began a rivalry that continued for more than a decade.

More clearly than any leading patriot of his time, Adams expressed the fear that he might fail in summoning forth the virtue and objectivity required to avoid loss of nerve. His thoughts on Government (1776), became a handbook on the writing of early state constitutions and influenced the preparation of those documents in Virginia, North Carolina, and Massachusetts.

Diplomatic Service and Vice-Presidency

In 1770 Congress sent Adams and John Jay to join Benjamin Franklin as diplomatic representatives in Europe. Adams went to the Dutch Republic and had the responsibility for opening negotiations with Britain; Jay traveled to Spain. In 1782 and 1783, the three men together negotiated the Treaty of Paris, ending the 8-year war with Great Britain.

In 1785 Adams was appointed diplomatic messenger to Great Britain, a position he held until 1788. His duties in England caused him to miss the Constitutional Convention. While in London he wrote the three-volume Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America.

Because he ran second to Washington in electoral-college balloting in both 1788 and 1792, Adams became the nation’s first vice-president. In that ability, he limited himself to presiding over the Senate.

The Presidency

In 1796 Adams was chosen to succeed Washington as president winning over Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Pinckney. The threat of war with France dominated the politics. The war scare was sparked by American indignation over French attempts to extort money from U.S. representatives in the so-called XYZ affair. A conflict arose over the measures to be taken in preparation. Adams favored strengthening the navy, but an opposing group led by Alexander Hamilton persuaded Congress to create a large standing army, with Hamilton as inspector general.

Agreement with France

Adams did demonstrate the power of the presidency to confront challenges to executive leadership. In February 1799, he appointed new peace commissioners to go to France and reopen negotiations. Adam’s timing and judgment were exact; the French foreign minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand had sent a diplomatic signal that he wanted peace with the U.S. Then when the secretary of state Timothy Pickering, tried to sabotage the peace mission, Adams fired him; the two nations quickly came to peace.

Retirement

Adams lived for a quarter century after he left the presidency, during which time he wrote extensively. His guiding principles were embodied in a Whig philosophy to which he clung stubbornly. Ill-suited to adapt to the transition to 19th-century romantic culture, he was nevertheless a magnificent exponent of the pessimistic view of human society. He died in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1826.

Summary

The thing that interested me the most about John Adams was how he being a lawyer, stood up for what he believed in and how he stood up for the other people in need. Such as the British soldiers. Another thing that interested me was how Adams had so much free time to write and be President at the same time. He wrote essays such as Nevanglus. John Adams drafted the Declaration of Independence, wrote documents, and last but not least, the three-volume Defence of the Constitutions of Government he wrote. John Adams was and still is a spectacular man.

Bibliography: Adams, John (Picture) from Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia; Map of Massachusetts from Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia; General information about John Adams from pg.. 94-95 in Academic American Encyclopedia; Quotations from John Adams from pg. 39 of Compton’s Britannica; Important dates in Adams life from pg. 35 of The World Book Encyclopedia; John Adams’ Administration from pg. 32 of Compton’s Britannica; Time Line taken from pg. 32 of Compton’s Britannica; The World of Pres. John Adams from pg. 35 of the World Encyclopedia; Major World Events from pg. 33 of Compton’s Britannica; Report on John Adams taken from Packard Bell Computer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pg. 1… Adams, John

The Coming of the Revolution

Pg. 2… Diplomatic Service and Vice- Presidency

The Presidency

Pg. 3… Agreement with France

Retirement

Pg. 4… General Information About John Adams

Pg. 5… Important Dates in Adam’s Life

Pg. 6… Quotations from John Adams

Pg. 7… Time Line

Pg. 8… The World of Pres. John Adams

Pg. 9… Major Events in John Adams’ Administration

Pg. 10… Map of Massachusetts

Pg. 11… Summary

Pg. 12…