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John Adams was born in Massachusetts, the son of a farmer. He
enjoyed farming and hunting while he was growing up.
His father taught him to read when he was very young, then he
attended school and entered Harvard on a scholarship when he
was fifteen years old and graduated when he was twenty.
Harvard at that time consisted of four buildings and a faculty
of twelve. While he was in college he began to keep a diary.
It was very small, about the size of your hand. His
handwriting was so tiny you would need a magnifying glass to
read the words.
After graduation he became a schoolmaster. Sometimes he would
select a bright student to teach the class, and he would sit
back and read or write. He soon tired of teaching and decided
to start studying to become a lawyer.
Abigail Adams
When he was twenty-eight he married Abigail Smith, who was his
third cousin. She was nineteen years old. They had a long and
successful marriage. They had four children. One of their
sons, John Quincy Adams, would later become President. Abigail
was the first First Lady to live in the White House.
John suffered from ill health and at one point moved from
Boston back to Braintree (Quincy), Masssachusetts, his
birthplace. He then began to commute* to work and spent the
rest of his time in the country with his family. What a
commute it was! Just think how difficult it would be to ride
400 miles on horseback in the middle of winter. Abigail was
left at home to take care of things. The couple was separated
a total of about ten years while he served his country.
At one time when he was a lawyer, he defended the British
soldiers who were put on trial after what was called the
Boston Massacre. Some citizens had been killed when the
soldiers fired into the crowd. No other lawyer would defend
them, but John thought they should have a defender. He risked
his career to do it, but it didn't seem to hurt his
reputation* .
John Adams accomplished a lot. He served in the Continental
Congress. He nominated* George Washington to become
commander-in-chief of the Army. He also was the one who chose
Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence.
Significantly, he also got Congress to vote for the
Declaration. He was very influential* in the early days of
America.
John Adams was a brave person. When he was asked to go to
France to enlist their support for the Revolution, he accepted
the challenge. He and his 10-year-old son, John Quincy, braved
the ocean on the ship "Boston" in the dead of winter. During
the voyage they encounted a hurricane, an enemy ship which
engaged them in a battle, and a period of calm waters where
the ship could not move. They finally made it, and father and
son remained in France for about a year.
John Adams served as vice-president to George Washington.
During this time he got the Dutch* government to provide large
sums of money to finance the Revolution. He wished to be
remembered for this act above his other accomplishments.
He served one term as President, then went home to Quincy and
remained there for twenty-five years until his death. During
this time his wife and his daughter both died.
When he was eighty years old he began writing a 16-volume
history of France in the French language. He had taught
himself French during the times he was sailing across the
Atlantic.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had become rivals and his
friend became his enemy. John made the first move to
reconcile* , and they became friends again. They wrote letters
to each other until their deaths which curiously occurred on
the same day, July 4, 1826. John Adams was ninety-one years
old.
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