John Adams

John Adams was a Massachusetts farmer's son who studied at Harvard and became a lawyer. In 1770 he defended the British soldiers accused of murder in the Boston Massacre, believing everyone deserved a fair trial; most were acquitted. In the Continental Congress he argued tirelessly for independence and helped choose Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration. During the Revolution he served as a diplomat in France and the Netherlands, won Dutch loans, and helped negotiate the peace treaty with Britain in 1783. He drafted the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, still in use today. He was the first vice president under Washington and became the second president in 1797. As president he avoided a full war with France but signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were widely criticized. He lost the election of 1800 to Jefferson. His letters with his wife Abigail are one of the great records of the era. Adams and Jefferson later renewed their friendship by letter, and both died on 4 July 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration.

John Adams is also an author in the library: author page and works.

Faith: Sometimes called a Unitarian later in life; his beliefs were not dogmatic. Source: Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography (via Wikisource)

See also: Signers of the Declaration · John Hancock · Samuel Adams · Robert Treat Paine · Elbridge Gerry · Thomas Jefferson · Benjamin Franklin