A Brief History of John Adams

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Discussion3

Background3

Struggle for Career3

Family Life Ups and Downs4

The Stamp Act5

Boston Massacre5

Election to Legislature and to the Congress5

Declaration of Independence6

Diplomacy6

French Revolution7

Vice Presidency8

Presidency8

Losing Elections8

Last Days9

Conclusion9

A Brief History of John Adams

Introduction

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 in Quincy, Massachusetts. His family had been in Massachusetts for four generations before his birth. He was the eldest son, and his father was a small farmer and the village cobbler. The Adams homes in Quincy were built about 1675, and were bought by John's father and remained in possession of his descendants until 1940 when they were deeded to the city of Quincy. At 15, John entered Harvard. Upon graduating, he went to Worcester, Mass. Where he taught school and studied Law for two years, then came home to work as a part-time farmer and lawyer.

Discussion

Background

Adams was first schooled in a Dame School and later sent to a tiny school house, where he did not like the teacher. Eventually John's father took him out of the tiny school house and sent him to a private school to study under Joseph Marsh. When he was deemed ready, he proceeded on to Harvard College at 15 years old. John's father always presumed he would become a minister, but while at Harvard John was praised for his public speaking abilities and encouraged to use this talent as a lawyer, rather than a minister (Archives, 2012).

Struggle for Career

In order to, officially, become a lawyer, John had to work in the office of an already barred lawyer. Getting this position cost money, which John's family could not provide. In order to earn this money, John took on a job as school master in Worcester in 1755. As a school master John believed that his job should be to encourage students, unlike his first teacher had done for him. John also spent much of the day writing in his journal. He wrote about mundane topics, like the weather, but also wrote about social issues and his observations of what was going on around him. John also became introspective and wrote about himself. At 20 years, John Adams was creating a document that would help future readers know what life was like for him.

Even though, he was teaching by day, John was always dreaming about what would come next in his life. In 1756, he signed an agreement with John Putnam, an attorney in Worcester, to learn under him for 2 years. John continued to be a school master by day, but in the evening, and often times during the school day, he was reading as much as he could do from Putnam's library. In the fall of 1758, John completed his service with Putnam, and moved back to Braintree to work the family farm. He continued to read and study for the bar, and in November 1759 he was admitted to the bar at the age of 24 (Miller Center, 2006).

Family Life Ups and Downs

In May 1761, John's father passed away, and he inherited ...