John Adams :: essays papers

John AdamsThe Revolution was effected before the struggle commenced. The Revolution was in theminds and hearts of the peck... This radical change in the principles, opinions,sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.In three remarkable careers--as a foe of British oppression and champion ofIndependence (1761-77), as an American diplomat in Europe (1778-88), and as the firstvice- chairperson (1789-97) and then the second president (1797-1801) of the UnitedStates--John Adams was a founder of the United States. Perhaps equally important,however, was the life story of his mind and spirit in a pungent diary, vivid letters, knowledgeabletr forms, and patriotic speeches he revealed himself as a quintessential Puritan, patriarch of an noted family, tough-minded philosopher of the republic, sage, and sometimes a vain, stubborn, and vitriolic partisan.John Adams was born in Braintree (now Quincy), Mass., on Oct. 30, 1735, in a smallsaltbox house still stan ding(a) and open to visitors. His father, John Adams, a deacon and afifth-generation Massachusetts farmer, and his m other, the source Suzanna Boylston,were, their son wrote, both fond of reading so they resolved to carry bookishly inclined John a good education. He became the first of his family to go to college when he entered Harvard in 1751. There, and in six further years of intensifier reading while he taught school and studied law in Worcester and Boston, he mastered the technicalities of his profession and the literature and learning of his day. By 1762, when he began 14 years of increasingly successful legal practice, he was hearty informed, ambitious, and public spirited.His most notable good fortune, however, occurred in 1764 when he married AbigailSmith. John Adamss marriage of 54 years to this wise, learned, strong-willed, passionate, and patriotic woman began the excellent phase of Adams family history that produced their son John Quincy, his son Charles Francis, his sons Henry and Brooks, and numerous other distinguished progeny.In 1761, John Adams began to think and write and act against British measures that hebelieved infringed on colonial liberties and the right of Massachusetts and the othercolonies to self-government. A pamphlet entitled A Dissertation on the jurisprudence and theFeudal Law and town instructions denouncing the Stamp Act (1765) mark him as avigorous, patriotic penman, and, holding various local offices, he soon became a leaderamong Massachusetts radicals. Although he never wavered in his devotion to colonialrights and early committed himself to independence as an uninvited last resort,Adamss innate conservatism made him determined in 1770 that the British soldiers