Happy Birthday John Adams (original) (raw)

October 30 2024, 02:39

Listens: 1776 Soundtrack-"Sit Down John"

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 (289 years ago today.) On the day he was born the calendar read October 19, 1735 because, like the entire British Empire, the colony of Massachusetts was using the Julian calendar at the time. People much smarter that I assure me that according to the modern Gregorian calendar which is in use today, his birthday is October 30th.

Adams was born in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts (but then was called the "north precinct" of Braintree, Massachusetts). He was the eldest of three sons born to John Adams, Sr., and Susanna Boylston Adams. Summarizing his life in a few paragraphs seems unfair to a man who accomplished so much in his 90 years. He was of course the second President of the United States from 1797 to 1801. He was also the first Vice President of the United States. An American Founding Father, he was a lawyer, statesman, diplomat, and a leader of the movement for American independence from Great Britain.

Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution. In 1770 as a lawyer, he defended five British soldiers who were charged as a result of an incident which became known as "the Boston Massacre." Despite the unpopularity of the defendants, this raised his profile as a lawyer. He became a public figure in Boston, and later was selected as a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, where he played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and was its primary advocate in the Congress. Later, as a diplomat in Europe, he helped negotiate loans from Holland which were able to help finance the struggle for independence. Later he would be a negotiator of the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain.

Adams was the principal author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780. But perhaps his greatest contribution was as a judge of character because in 1775, he nominated George Washington to be commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, and 25 years later he nominated John Marshall to be Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Adams' revolutionary credentials secured him two terms as George Washington's vice president and his own election in 1796 as president. His only term in office was a rocky one. He encountered attacks by the Jeffersonian Republicans, as well as the dominant faction in his own Federalist Party led by Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army and navy especially in the face of an undeclared naval war (called the "Quasi-War") with France. The major accomplishment of his presidency was his peaceful resolution of the conflict with France in the face of Hamilton's opposition.

In 1800, Adams was defeated for re-election by Thomas Jefferson in one of the nastiest election campaigns in the history of the young nation. He retired to Massachusetts. In his latter years he was able to resume his friendship with Jefferson.

He and his wife, Abigail Adams, created an accomplished family line of politicians, diplomats, and historians now referred to as the Adams political family. In an era where gender equality was an unknown concept, John and Abigail Adams had a remarkable and enlightened partnership. Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States.

Adams lived to the ago of 90. He died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the same day that Thomas Jefferson died.

The following video is from the HBO miniseries John Adams, which was based on the biography of Adams written by David McCullough. In the video, which is from the final scene in the series, Paul Giamatti as John Adams and Laura Linney as Abigail Adams read portions of actual correspondence between the couple: