EARLY LIFE
John Adams, the second president of the United States, was born on October 30, 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts (now Quincy, Massachusetts).
His father John Adams Sr. (1691–1761) worked as a farmer and cobbler
John's mother came from a prominent family of scientists and medical doctors.
He had two younger brothers, Peter and Elihu.
John Adams started smoking at the age of eight.
CAREER
His father wanted him to be a minister, but John Adams instead opted to become a lawyer.
Adams rose to fame as a vehement critic of the 1765 Stamp Act. The Act was imposed by the British Parliament without consulting the American legislatures. It required payment of a direct tax by the colonies for stamped documents, and was designed to pay for the costs of Britain's war with France.
As an attorney, John Adams successfully defended the British soldiers who killed five colonists in the "Boston Massacre" of 1770.
On September 27, 1779, Continental Congress appointed John Adams to negotiate peace and commerce with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. Adams was a skilled diplomat and a strong advocate for American independence. He was also a close friend of Benjamin Franklin, who was already in France negotiating an alliance with France.
Adams arrived in France in November 1779 and began meeting with British representatives. The negotiations were difficult and protracted, but Adams eventually succeeded in negotiating the Treaty of Paris, which was signed in 1783. The treaty officially ended the Revolutionary War and recognized the United States as an independent nation.
Adams was the primary author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which influenced the United States Constitution.
The first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times took place in 1797, when John Adams was sworn in as President of the United States, succeeding George Washington.
Politicians mocked John Adams, nicknaming him "His Rotundity" after he had suggested that the president should be titled like royalty, suggesting titles such as, "His Majesty the President" and “His Highness, the President of the United States of America, and Protector of the Rights of the Same."
On October 25, 1764 the daughter of a Congregational minister, Abigail, married John, who was the son of a farmer. The minister was so enraged that she was marrying beneath her that the lesson he read was from Luke 7 v33 "John came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine and some say he has a devil in him." John Adams (1735-1826) later became the second president of the United States.
During the American Revolution, Abigail kept the family farm from ruin as war raged around her, contributing to the cause by housing the local militia and even melting down utensils to make bullets.
Their children were named Nabby, John Quincy, Susanna, Charles, Thomas, and Elizabeth.
During most of his administration, John Adams lived at the Presidential mansion in Philadelphia. Located at the intersection of 6th and Market Streets, it served as the headquarters of the government’s executive branch until May 1800.
The first residents of the White House were John Adams, Abigail and their family. Only six rooms were finished when they arrived on November 1, 1800. At the time it was known as the “Presidential Building.”
One of the Adams first additions to the White House was a vegetable garden.
John and Abigail Adams owned several dogs through the years including two pooches whom they named Juno and Satan. While the devilishly-named canine was regarded as John’s dog, Juno really took a shine to Abigail. After leaving the White House, she could often be seen with the mutt padding along at her side.
John Adams's daughter Nabby was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1810. The following year she had a mastectomy without anesthesia in an upstairs room of the Adams home.
Abigail Adams died on October 28, 1818 of typhoid fever. She is buried beside her husband in a crypt located in the United First Parish Church (also known as the Church of the Presidents) in Quincy, Massachusetts. Her last words were, "Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long."
Adams was the primary author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which influenced the United States Constitution.
The first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times took place in 1797, when John Adams was sworn in as President of the United States, succeeding George Washington.
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| President John Adams by Asher B. Durand (1767-1845).Wikipedia commons |
Politicians mocked John Adams, nicknaming him "His Rotundity" after he had suggested that the president should be titled like royalty, suggesting titles such as, "His Majesty the President" and “His Highness, the President of the United States of America, and Protector of the Rights of the Same."
MARRIAGE
On October 25, 1764 the daughter of a Congregational minister, Abigail, married John, who was the son of a farmer. The minister was so enraged that she was marrying beneath her that the lesson he read was from Luke 7 v33 "John came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine and some say he has a devil in him." John Adams (1735-1826) later became the second president of the United States.
During the American Revolution, Abigail kept the family farm from ruin as war raged around her, contributing to the cause by housing the local militia and even melting down utensils to make bullets.
Their children were named Nabby, John Quincy, Susanna, Charles, Thomas, and Elizabeth.
During most of his administration, John Adams lived at the Presidential mansion in Philadelphia. Located at the intersection of 6th and Market Streets, it served as the headquarters of the government’s executive branch until May 1800.
One of the Adams first additions to the White House was a vegetable garden.
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| Abigail Adams |
John and Abigail Adams owned several dogs through the years including two pooches whom they named Juno and Satan. While the devilishly-named canine was regarded as John’s dog, Juno really took a shine to Abigail. After leaving the White House, she could often be seen with the mutt padding along at her side.
John Adams's daughter Nabby was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1810. The following year she had a mastectomy without anesthesia in an upstairs room of the Adams home.
Abigail Adams died on October 28, 1818 of typhoid fever. She is buried beside her husband in a crypt located in the United First Parish Church (also known as the Church of the Presidents) in Quincy, Massachusetts. Her last words were, "Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long."
RELATIONSHIP WITH THOMAS JEFFERSON
John Adams once traveled with Thomas Jefferson to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit Shakespeare’s birthplace. While there, they took a knife to one of Shakespeare’s chairs so they could take home some wood chips as souvenirs.
Years later, Adams was embroiled in an election battle against his Vice President Jefferson. Adams warned of the consequences of a potential Jefferson presidency in an attack advert: "Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced, the air will be rent with the cries of the distressed, the soil will be soaked with blood and the nation black with crimes."
DEATH
John Adams died on July 4, 1826. Ironically, his last words were "Thomas Jefferson still survives." He was mistaken: Jefferson had died five hours earlier at Monticello.
John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams are buried together in a basement crypt in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Sources Mentalfloss, Pennlive.com
Sources Mentalfloss, Pennlive.com
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