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Top 10 Facts About John Adams

John Adams was born on the 30^th of October, 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts in the United States. He was the eldest son of Deacon Johnson Adams and Susanna Boylston. His father was a farmer and a shoemaker.

John Adams attended and graduated from Harvard College and later taught for 3 years in a grammar school at Worcester.

He moved back to Braintree where he began practicing law in Boston. He began his law career in his early age whereby he grew to be a prominent attorney in Boston.

He married Abigail Smith and were both blessed with six kids, four surviving infancy. Their firstborn known as Abigail Amelia, John Quincy as second born followed by Thomas Boylston, and Charles Adams.

A great  member of the continental congress as well as a diplomat in France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain.

He was elected the first vice president of the United States before being the second president of the United States of America.

After retiring from the office of President, he moved with his family to Peace field, where they resided on their family farm in Quincy, Massachusetts. During his stay home, he did writing. He died on July 4, 1826, at the age of ninety years.

1.  A Great Writer

He was a prolific writer of letters to friends and family.

He exchanged more than a thousand correspondences with his wife when he was away on duty tasks and assignments. One of his most influential writing was the book on the Thoughts on Government.

The book consisted politics is the science of human happiness and the felicity of societies depends on the constitution of government under which they live.

2. Adams defended British soldiers after the Boston Massacre

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During this time of the Boston Massacre, John Adams was grieving the loss of his child. He however risked his safety and that of his family and volunteered to represent the British soldiers in court.

Adams believed in upholding the law and defending the innocent. He represented the nine British soldiers who were charged with manslaughter.

He argued that they solely acted in self defense. He won the case and the soldiers were fairly charged.

3. He drafted the world’s oldest functioning written constitution

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John Adams drafted the Massachusetts constitution which was approved by voters which is still in use to date. The constitution structure has served as a model for the United States Constitution which was written in 1787 and got used in 1789 and also in various other countries such as Germany.

4. The first President to Reside in the White House

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John Adams became the first president in history to be the first occupant in the white house. The construction of the White House started in 1792. When the president finally moved into the White House on November 1, 1800, the mansion still reeked of wet plaster and paint fumes. Fireplaces roared in every room to combat the cold and dampness, and the first lady used the East Room, even though it was not plastered to hang the presidential laundry.

5. He held the most Dirty Presidential Political Campaigns in the History of America?

It was the elections of 1800 where the then-current president Adams engaged in a nasty political exchange of dirty words with his opponent Thomas Jefferson.

They established a tradition of negative campaigns where they involved surrogates to do the exchange of dirty words.

During this period, an influential surrogate, the president of Yale University and John Adam’s supporter. They suggested in public that if Jefferson would become president, the wives and daughters of the American people, would become the victims of legal prostitution.

This later was deepened by a publication made by a highly influential newspaper that warned that electing Jefferson would create a nation where murder, robbery, rape, and incest would openly be taught and practiced.

In return, Jefferson’s supporter James Callender,  an influential journalist of the time, secretly funded by Thomas, wrote and published that, Adams was a lying, warmongering fellow, a repulsive pendant and a gross hypocrite who behaved like a man nor like a woman but instead possessed a hideous character.

This as a result set standards as one of the dirtiest campaigns in America.

6. He lamed a day of fasting for his re-election defeat

John Adams during his Presidency declared two days of fasting and thanksgiving in May of 1798 and April of 1799.

He ordered citizens to abstain from their secular occupations and to devote themselves to sacred duties. However in 1800 after his defeat by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams concluded that his beliefs about religion and his thanksgiving proclamation saw him out of office.

This was through the letter he wrote to Benjamin Rush. He argued that people connected the holiday with the Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, which he had nothing to do with.

7. John Adams and his opponent Thomas Jefferson died the same day

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams renewed their friendship on January 1, 1812, when John Adams sent Thomas a letter wishing him a happy new year which was responded with a note by Jefferson.

On July 4, 1826, Jefferson died five hours before John Adams. They both died on the same day, Thomas Jefferson dying at the age of 83 while John died at the age of 90.

John’s last words on his death bed were that Thomas Jefferson still survives of which he had no idea that his friend Thomas had died 5 hours ago.

8. He Proposed for Presidents to be addressed as His Highness

John Adams argued that the name President was common as even companies and cricket clubs had a senior staff whom they addressed as President.

He argued this at the senate as the vice president. He felt that President George Washington deserved to be addressed as “his majesty”, or “his highness” the president of the United States of America.

However, the Americans have just gotten rid of a monarchy system felt this was too royal and they agreed that the title the president of the United States of America was enough.

9. He was the founder of one of America’s top scientific societies

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John Adams, a graduate from Harvard highly valued education. As a result of his devotion, he wrote public support of science and arts into the Massachusetts constitution.

He proposed the establishment of the American Academy for Arts and Sciences in 1779 which still exists even today.

10. Why John Adams has no Monument in Washington D.C.

John Adams has no monument of him in the national capital as compared to the first president of America, George Washington, and the third president Thomas Jefferson.

John Adams was the second president of America who was a devoted family man, a patriot, writer, and an enthusiast law practitioner who believed in upholding the law defending the innocent.

He treasured friendship and would go the extra mile to ensure the friendship lasted longer. He was the founder of ‘His Highness’ instead of the ‘President’ as a formal address to the President.