John adams biography summary example

Finally 1nAdams returned home. He was re-elected as Vice President in During those eight years, President Washington rarely asked Adams for his input on policy. This left Adams to his primary role of overseeing the Senate, which he found a frustrating task.

John adams biography summary example: Adams was the primary author

After Washington decided to leave office after two terms, Adams, a Federalistwas considered for President in the Election of Adams won by three electoral votes over Jefferson, 71 to The inauguration was held on Saturday, March 4,and is marked in history as the last time Washington, Jefferson, and Adams would stand together in front of their constituents.

They were also staunchly anti-French and pro-British. On the eve of the inauguration, Adams and Jefferson met. However, the day after the inauguration the High Federalists in his cabinet objected staunchly to the inclusion of Madison in the group. When Wolcott threatened to resign, Adams gave in. To Jefferson, this signaled that his old friend could not rise above the politics and work across party lines.

Adams and Jefferson, close friends since they met at the First Continental Congress innow parted ways, separated by the politics of their parties. Jefferson would lament later that from that point on, Adams would no longer seek his advice on how to deal with France. The friendship between Adams and Jefferson dissolved over party politics.

The French did not take kindly to the Jay Treaty and saw it as an alliance between the United States and England that was unfair to French trade. France began to seize American ships and refused to receive minister Charles C. Pinckney was threatened with prison and fled to safety in the Netherlands. Eventually, Pinckney returned to France with John Marshall and Elbridge Gerry, where they were met with three French agents that demanded concessions from the United States in return for continuing the peace negotiations.

Adams dubbed these agents X, Y, and Z to the press. The American emissaries refused, and Marshall and Pinckney were deported. Gerry stayed behind in France, but was not able to make any headway towards peace, and the French continued to raid American ships. The administration was embarrassed by the XYZ affair, which led to an increase in public sentiment against France and embarrassed Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans.

In the middle ofthe Quasi-War broke out. It ended in with the Treaty of Mortefontaine. During these negotiations, the United States began to build up its navy, and the threat of war led Adams to support the idea of the formulation of an army as well. Adams is perhaps best known for signing the Alien and Sedition Acts in These four Acts put laws in place that restricted the freedoms of political immigrants and opponents of domestic policy.

The Acts were:. These Acts were highly controversial and stirred up opposition from Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans. In andthe Virginia and Kentucky Resolves were passed by the respective state legislatures in protest of the Alien and Sedition Acts. These documents were written secretly by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Although Jefferson was Vice President, the Kentucky Resolves essentially under-minded the authority of the Federal government.

Within his own party, the Federalists, Adams found himself at odds with the High Federalists over the new army. When Washington was named commander, he insisted that Alexander Hamilton be named his second in command, to which Adams reluctantly agreed. However, the stay was short, as he lost the election of to Thomas Jefferson. The close friendship between Adams and Thomas Jefferson began in when they met at the First Constitutional Convention.

His mother, Susanna Boylston Adams, was a descendant of the Boylstons of Brookline, a prominent family in colonial Massachusetts. At age 16, Adams earned a scholarship to attend Harvard University. After graduating inat age 20, Adams studied law in the office of James Putnam, a prominent lawyer, despite his father's wish for him to enter the ministry.

Inhe earned a master's john adams biography summary example from Harvard and was admitted to the bar. Adams quickly became identified with the patriot cause, initially as the result of his opposition to the Stamp Act of He wrote a response to the imposition of the act by the British Parliament titled "Essay on the Canon and Feudal Law," which was published as a series of four articles in the Boston Gazette.

In it, Adams argued that the Stamp Act deprived American colonists of the basic rights to be taxed by consent and to be tried by a jury of peers. Two months later, Adams also publicly denounced the act as invalid in a speech delivered to the Massachusetts governor and his council. InAdams agreed to represent the British soldiers on trial for killing five civilians in what became known as the Boston Massacre.

He justified defending the soldiers on the grounds that the facts of a case were more important to him than the passionate inclinations of the people. He believed that every person deserved a defense, and he took the case without hesitation. During the trial, Adams presented evidence that suggested blame also lay with the mob that had gathered, and that the first soldier who fired upon the crowd was simply responding the way anyone would when faced with a similar life-threatening situation.

The jury acquitted six of the eight soldiers, while two were convicted of manslaughter. Reaction to Adams's defense of the soldiers was hostile, and his law practice suffered greatly. However, his actions later enhanced his reputation as a courageous, generous and fair man. That same year, Adams was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly and was one of five to represent the colony at the First Continental Congress in In MayCongress approved Adams's resolution proposing that the colonies each adopt independent governments.

He wrote the preamble to this resolution, which was approved on May 15, setting the stage for the formal passage of the Declaration of Independence. On June 7,Adams seconded Richard Henry Lee's resolution of independence and backed it passionately until it was adopted by Congress on July 2, Livingston and Roger Sherman, to draft the declaration.

Jefferson would write the first draft, which was approved on July 4. Adams was soon serving on as many as 90 committees in the fledgling government, more than any other Congressman, and inhe became head of the Board of War and Ordnance, which oversaw the Continental army. InAdams was one of the American diplomats sent to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which brought an end to the Revolutionary War.

No lawyer would take their case; such was the resentment against the British. By now, Adams was the most high profile lawyer in Boston. Because he believed passionately in the right of everyone to have representation and a fair trial, he agreed to represent the British soldiers, even though it made him unpopular with public opinion.

The case became an important exposition of Adams skill as a lawyer and even more importantly, certain principles of justice and fairness. Adams was skilful in selecting a jury which included many more sympathetic to loyalist sympathies and challenging those john adams biography summary example more anti-British feeling. In the case, he powerfully laid out an argument that the soldiers could not be found guilty of murder because they cornered by an angry mob, throwing objects at them.

Adams also made a passionate plea that:. Adams argued if we lose the right to a presumption of innocence, then it will lead to a loss of belief in natural justice. The officer and most men were acquitted, two soldiers who fired directly into the crowd were found guilty of manslaughter. Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced.

The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. The defence of the British soldiers found Adams favour with the British authorities in the Americas, but Adams became increasingly concerned at the growth of British misrule. Inthe British Crown began paying the judiciary directly, rather than the colonial government.

Adams felt this was a direct challenge to judicial independence.

John adams biography summary example: Adams was born in the Massachusetts

Adams was an influential figure at the Continental Congress helping to broker a compromise between conservatives who wished to placate the British Crown and the radicals who wanted to declare independence. After the first hostilities between Americans and the British at the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Adams privately moved towards hoping for complete independence.

InAdams became friendly with Thomas Jeffersonand it was Adams who persuaded Jefferson he should be the one to draft a Declaration of Independence. Initially, Jefferson wanted Adams to write the document, But Adams replied that he had personally created many enemies, and it would be better for Jefferson, a Virginian and skilled writer with few personal enemies to draft it.

After Jefferson wrote the first draft, Adams helped revise the document before it was presented to the Continental Congress. On the floor of Congress, the declaration received opposition from conservative members such as Dickinson, Adams was the main speaker in favour of getting the Declaration passed. Jefferson later paid tribute to Adams saying.

Every measure of prudence, therefore, ought to be assumed for the eventual total extirpation of slavery from the United States. During the war, Adams was at the heart of the government — working up to eighteen-hour days and sitting on innumerable committees. After American military defeats, he had to work even harder writing to officers throughout the army, asking about munitions, supplies and encouraging the army to maintain discipline.

InAdams travelled with his wife and family to France, to assist Benjamin Franklin with securing a trade agreement and assistance from the French. Part 1, Chapter 3. Part 1, Chapter 4.

John adams biography summary example: John Adams was the first

Part 2, Chapter 5. Part 2, Chapter 6. Part 2, Chapter 7. Part 3, Chapter 8. Part 3, Chapter 9. Part 3, Chapter Free Quiz. Topics for Discussion. The Pioneers. Print Word PDF.