John Adams
A brief overview
“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
John Adams
Fun Fact
John Adams was the first president to live in the white house.
Timeline
Timeline (continued)
Before his presidency
John's Father, John Adams Sr., was a farmer, a Congregationalist deacon, and a town councilman. He insisted that his son got a formal education, and made him attend a dame school for boys and girls, then Braintree Latin School, which he hated. Young John wished that he could stay home and hunt, but his father made him stay in school. At age sixteen he entered Harvard College, and graduated in 1755 . He decided to become a Lawyer, despite his father's wishes for him to become a minister. He got married in 1764, and started writing about different political things, siding with the patriots. In 1770, he represented the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre, and only two of the eight were found guilty. He then was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly, and nominated George Washington as commander-in-chief. In 1777, he became head of the Board of War and Ordinance, which oversaw the Continental army. In 1779, he was sent to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which brought an end to the Revolutionary War. After the war, he stayed in Europe for another year, and in 1785, he became the first U.S. minister to England. He almost became president twice, but George Washington won both times, and Adams became vice president, both times. He was not very happy about being vice president, because he didn't have much say in anything.
During his presidency
Adams barely defeated Thomas Jefferson, in the 1796 election, becoming the second president of the United States. During his presidency, a war between the French and the British was causing political difficulties for the United States. Adams sent three commissioners to France, but the French would not negotiate, until the United States paid what was essentially, a bribe. Adams refused to pay the bribe, but did not declare war, even though, when this became public knowledge, the nation called for war. In 1798, Adams signed off on a couple very controversial laws, called the Alien and Sedition acts. The Alien Act, said that if a war has been declared, all male citizens of an enemy nation could be arrested, detained, and deported. it also stated that the president could deport any non-citizen suspected of plotting against the government, during peacetime, or wartime. The Sedition Act made it illegal for anyone to express "any false, scandalous and malicious writing" against Congress or the president. And it was up to the jury to decide whether or not the defendant was scandalous or malicious. Adams' party, the Federalists, argued that this was not a violation of the constitution, because the constitution only protected the freedom to express ideas, and the government could not censor or stop someone from expressing ideas. But after the words had been spoken or printed, the government could punish people if they had maliciously defamed the government. The Alien and Sedition acts probably played a large role in Adams not being re-elected for a second term.
After his presidency
After his presidency, Adams lived with Abigail on their family farm in Quincy, where he continued to write and to correspond with his friend Thomas Jefferson. He lived to see his son become the sixth president in 1824. Both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of American independence. Adam's last words were, "Thomas Jefferson survives." although Jefferson died earlier that day.
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