John Adams was the second president of the United States of America and the country’s first vice president. He was born to parents John Adams Sr.and Susanna Boylston on the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. His mother was from a prominent medical family, while his dad was a Congregational Church deacon, a farmer, a lieutenant in the militia, and a cordwainer.
Adams ‘ dad’s works and service made him always praise his father for their close relationship and everything that he taught him to live a stable life. His line is originally from England as his great-grand-grandfather immigrated from Essex, England, to Massachusetts.
Life for Adams was pretty average like many others, but he came through by working hard as he worked his way to becoming a lawyer, statesman, founding father, and writer. He worked pretty hard and initially became the second president of the United States of America from 1979 to 1801.
But, before he became the president, he was the leader of the American Revolution that brought about independence for the country from Great Britain. He was also the first-ever vice president of the nation. Adams had a rich journey through life, and with every step, he recorded all his activities in words. He also had close connections with prominent figures back in the days like Thomas Jefferson and his wife and advisor, Abigail Adams.
John Adams Birthday
On October 30, 1735, John Adams was born on his family’s farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. His parents were average and always ensured he was well taken care of. He was the eldest of three children.
John Adams Accomplishments
John Adams has worked his way to achieving a lot, and not only have these accomplishments been good for himself, but they have also set a huge standard for the country we now know as the United States of America. Adams sure has a lot of historic accomplishments such as…
* Being a Great Writer
Adams was always known to record everything he did in words, which led to a passion he found dear to his heart. His words do have power and have been enriching values for everyone. He was a strong political writer who never ceased on a moment to bring everything to light.
Many of his writings were not the most pleasant to some critics, but he made it a duty to reach everyone. But, many of his words have been going through history and are still active to date. Words of wisdom have been a specialty for him.
* The First President to Live in the White House
Even though John Adams was the second president of the United States of America, he was the first president to live in the White House. Construction of the White House started in 1792 and was overseen by the country’s first president, George Washington.
The construction project was completed around 1800, and this allowed John and his wife Abigail to move in as the first residents. This was certainly an amazing accomplishment for Adams.
* America’s First Vice President
We have had some strong and strange vice presidents of the United States of America, but the forefather of this position was John Adams. He served as vice president right before he eventually won the election for the next term. This was a mighty accomplishment as it paved the way for a historical position in America’s political history.
* Leader of the American Revolution That Gained Independence From Great Britain
Before his venture into politics, John Adams played a critical role in the military as he was the team leader who won the American Revolutionary war. It saw the military defeating a stronghold British colony that “held hostage” America’s independence from the British colony. This saw Adams playing a great role in America becoming the first modern constitutional liberal democracy.
* Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris is a powerful part of America’s history. It saw a treaty being signed in Paris between King George III of Great Britain and political representatives of the United States of America. This Treaty signing, of which Adams played a critical role, was the deal to end the American Revolutionary War.
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John Adams Education
Being the eldest child in the family, Adams was pushed to obtain formal education, which initially began at the tender age of six. It was held at a dame school for boys and girls hosted at the teacher’s home. After completing the first stages of his education, he was enrolled at the Braintree Latin School, operated by Joseph Cleverly.
At this school, he learned arithmetic, logic, Latin, and rhetoric. But, history has it that Adams was not too fond of education as he never liked his teacher and instead wanted to become a farmer. Adams’s father was not supporting his decision, so he hired a new principal, which gave John some confidence to stick around in school.
At the age of sixteen, John enrolled in Havard College in 1751 and studied under Joseph Mayhew. John’s father wanted him to become a minister, but John became a temporary teacher after his graduation while still pondering what he wanted to do with his life.
As the years went by, Adams decided that he wanted to become a lawyer as he was studying history writings from prominent members of society at the time. He further pursued a law career that came with a lot of interest, positive and negative feedback.
John Adams Married
John first fell in love with Hannah Quincy in the late 1750s, and while trying to propose to her, he was interrupted by friends. Sadly, he never got the opportunity to repeat this, and the two ended up parting ways. However, by 1759, Adams met Abigail Smith, his 15-year-old third cousin, through a mutual friend, Richard Cranch.
Richard was dating one of Abigail’s older sisters, but interestingly, John was not too cool with developing a relationship with Smith. He noted the Smith sisters were not “candid nor frank,” and he couldn’t work with that. However, this took a different turn than he was experiencing, and he eventually fell in love and got married to Abigail.
John Adams Children
John and his wife, Abigail, produced six children, one died at age one (Susanna, 1768), one was stillborn (Elizabeth,1777), and the other four grew up (Abigail-1765; Charles-1770; Thomas-1772; and John Quincy-1767). One eventually became America’s 6th president and a lawyer (John Quincy), while two of his sons died at a young age (Charles and Thomas) after drinking when their law career failed.
John Adams and the Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre is a really tricky aspect of Adams’s history as many people are still puzzled by the whole event and how it unfolded. The event, which took place on March 5, 1770, saw eight British soldiers, William M’Cauley, James Hartegan, Matthew Killroy, William Wemms, William Warren, Hugh Montgomery, Hugh White, and John Carol, murdered some Boston natives (Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, Patrick Carr, Crispus Attucks, and James Caldwell).
The trial took place on November 27, 1770, and interestingly, John Adams was the lawyer that defended the British soldiers. The Boston Massacre was the initial start of the American Revolution, and even though Adams despised the British government, he noted he believed in fair trial and justice. Being one of Boston’s most respected lawyers, it seemed pretty weird to defend the enemy.
However, looking at it from a deeper angle, we can say Adams was on a mission to connect with the British government to bring about peace and end any tension the two countries would have and secured the ability to gain independence.
John Adams on Money
John Adams had a strong belief in having a strong economy to keep the country’s credit high while keeping the taxes as low as possible. He was always trying to find ways to stabilize the financial operation of the country while he was in office. Aside from that, you might be wondering which of the current currency the second president of the United States is on.
From 2007 to 2011, the United States Mint started a mission is creating $1 coins which featured the first presidents ever to serve the country. The coins did feature Adams, but because they were not in great circulation, the production was discontinued.
John Adams Hobbies
John Adams had many hobbies, but his most profound were reading, writing, and farming. Unlike many other wealthy people of the time and even early day presidents, Adams didn’t have slaves working on his farm, and as such, he did all the work himself. After all, farming had been a passion for him from a tender age.
Also, anything that involves the link or use of a book is something that would attract Adams. He could be referred to as what we know as a “bookworm” as he is always seen with a book in hand.
John Adams Death
John Adams died on July 4, 1826 – the 50th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence – at Peacefield, Massachusetts, around 6:20 pm. At the time of his death, it was reported that his last words were “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
However, it was unaware to Adams that his once best friend and rival had actually died roughly five hours before him. Adams was 90 years old and was the longest living president until Ronald Reagan beat him in 2001.
John Adams Books for Kids
Here are a few interesting books about John Adams to help your kids learn more about him…
* John Adams: Young Revolutionary
* The Revolutionary John Adams
* John Adams: A Life From Beginning to End
* John Adams: Independence Forever
* John Adams: A Life
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