John Adams as a Revolutionary War Leader
The revolutionary war was a very important war. It had a lot of important and influential people during it. One of these people was John Adams. He was the 2nd US president, went to France and Holland as a diplomat, and he also helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris. He did this to attempt to end the war, and was successful in doing so. He was born on October 30th, 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts. He died of a heart attack July 4th, 1826 at the age of 90 in Quincy, Massachusetts. His last words were “Thomas Jefferson still survives.” However, he was incorrect, and Jefferson had died 5 hours earlier.
He lived in a middle - class home. It was not overly wealthy, however it was not poor, either. His birthplace, Braintree, Massachusetts, about 15 miles away from Boston. John’s father, who was a deacon, made a living as a farmer as well as a shoe maker in Braintree. According to millercenter.org, John loved the outdoors, and often skipped school to go fishing. His father had hoped that John would become a clergyman. According to a book called John Adams Speaks for Freedom by Deborah Hopkinson, John loved books. When he was 15, he took a test to get into Harvard University, in Boston. Surprisingly, he passed! His father sold 10 acres of land to help him pay for his college tuition.
According to millercenter.org, John Adams was the first one in his family to go to Harvard. There were 25 students in his class and he ranked 15, so he was about in the middle. Some of the classes he took were Greek, Latin, natural science, rhetoric and logic, moral philosophy and natural philosophy. He was praised by teachers, and at Harvard he had a change in his interest from outdoors to school. He learned to love studying, learning, and reading books. This overtook his enjoyment of the outdoors and sports, and from that time on he was almost never seen without a book. When he went into his senior year, he started a career in law and politics. When he graduated, most students were choosing a job either in law or medicine. His professors and friends advised him to do this because they saw him having a talent of public speaking. The legal career was greatly respected among New England families.
After graduation, John got a job as a teacher at Central School of Worcester mostly to get just enough money to start and pay for the start of his law career. It took about a year for John Adams to decide that law was for sure what he wanted and that he wanted to overcome the problems of being in a legal career. A man named James Putman took John Adams as an apprentice and he taught John about law. They did this for 2 years, and for that time, John actually moved in with the Putmans. After that time, he went back to his own home, and he officially did it on his own.
John Adams ran against Thomas Jefferson. John Adams got 71 votes, and Thomas Jefferson got 65 votes, so it was a pretty close result. Since it was only the second presidential election, not that many people voted. But still, John Adams clearly won, making him the second US president, and the first president to live in the white house. As time went on, more and more people started voting for the president.
He was elected president in 1797 and continued as president until 1801. After his presidency, he lived with his wife, Abigail, and his younger daughters. For the next 26 years of his life, he rarely left his house. His son, Thomas Adams, also lived nearby. He was the vice president of George Washington from 1789, all the way to 1797. In 1798, he made the 11th amendment. According to constitutioncenter.org, “The Eleventh Amendment’s text prohibits the federal courts from hearing certain lawsuits against states. The Amendment has also been interpreted to mean that state courts do not have to hear certain suits against the state, if those suits are based on federal law”
John Adams and George Washingon were good friends. He first met George Washington in 1774. They first met while serving as delegates to the First continental Congress. They dined together several times. John talked quite often and Washington was an attentive listener. John Adams respected Washington and in 1775 urged the congress to make him the head of the army. Adams believed that, with Washington as the leader, the colonies would be safe and secure. While they stayed great friends, Adams eventually grew jealous of Washington, because he started gaining quite a bit of fame, and it was all because of him. He was nervous that Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin would make him seem not as important in various books and magazines.
Another important relationship that John Adams had was with his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson. They had somewhat of a love/hate relationship. Thomas Jefferson, was a very good friend of his at first, despite having very different political views. Then they ended up running against each other for president. Things got heated during the race and their friendship started to crumble because of this. . Back in 1796 a weird rule made the person who lost the presidency become Vice President. After this their friendship took many years to recover. They did not become friends again until 1812. After this, they wrote 185 letters to each other over the rest of their lives. They still were opposite politically, but had learned to respect each other. Ironically, John Adams last words were about Thomas Jefferson and they died 5 hours apart on July 4th of all days!
The Revolutionary War, also known as the American Revolution, was a war for America’s Freedom. It lasted from April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783 Before this war, the United States was owned by the British Empire, and the colonists did not like this. This is because the British had unfair rules and taxes. The war started when a shot rang out at the battles of Lexington and Concord. One of the redcoats or one of the minutemen shot first. No one knows who shot it , and it is described as “the shot heard round the world.” The fighting ended in 1781 when General Cornwallis was surrounded by American troops and forced to surrender at Yorktown, Virginia. Two years later, John Adams signed the Treaty of Paris, and it was official, America was free.
John Adams was not a fan of the Revolutionary War. This is because John believed that the British rules were unfair. The physical fighting stopped in 1781, when General Cornwallis was surrounded and forced to surrender. Two years later, John Adams helped sign the Treaty of Paris, and it was official: The war had ended, and America was officially free.
John Adams went to France and Holland to help negotiate the Treaty of Paris. This was a treaty which set the boundaries between the British Empire in North America, and the US. A treaty is essentially a formal document between countries who are agreeing to some important decision. According to pbs.org, going to sign this reunited him with Benjamin Franklin, who he had not seen in a while. John wrote to congress almost daily, sometimes up to multiple times a day. He was writing about British politics, British and French naval activities, and his perspective of the European affairs. Like John Adams, John Jay, who was the third delegate, would not negotiate until England recognized American Independence. On September 3rd, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, and the United States was officially independent.
John Adams was 5’7, so he was a pretty normal height for his time. He weighed 175 pounds. One of the biggest problems that he had is that he did not get along with very many people, except for George Washington. He also strengthened the army and navy. He was very honest, however he had a quite limited imagination, so his ideas were fairly boring. This made lots of people not listen to what he had to say.
Some interesting facts about John Adams are that he was actually a good pen pal, and often wrote letters to friends and family. He was also the first president to live in the White House. However, when he moved in, it had just been finished, so the entire interior smelled like plaster and paint. To solve this, each and every room had a fireplace, to reduce the smell of the paint. His son, John Quincy Adams, went on to be the sixth president, coming after James Munroe. However, by this time, John Adams was quite old and weak, so he could not go to his son’s inauguration. His Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, was a very good friend of his, despite having very different political views. However, in the 1800s, this all changed. Jefferson's supporters called John Adams a “hideous hermaphroditical character”. This means that John Adams was a person that didn't agree with a lot of things. John’s supporters called Thomas “a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow” Interestingly none of John’s family members were present for his Inauguration. This is a ceremony to mark that the last person has been president for the last 4 years.
Overall, John Adams was an alright president. He has some pretty mixed opinions. Some people didn’t like him at all, while others thought he was one of the best. John Adams is among the top 20 best and most popular presidents. And it isn’t hard to tell why - with all the contributions to American History, he had a lot to be remembered.
