John Adams

ADAMS, John, second president of the United States, born in Braintree, Mass., 30 Oct., 1735; died in Quincy, Mass., 4 July, 1826.

He was descended from Henry Adams, who emigrated from Devonshire, England, and settled in Braintree about 1640. John Adams entered Harvard College in 1751, and graduated in 1755. He taught school for a time, studied law with James Putnam of Worcester, and was admitted to the bar in 1758. He began practice in Braintree, and soon attained success.

In 1765 he wrote and published in the Boston “Gazette” four articles, signed “Humphrey Ploughjogger,” ridiculing the Stamp Act, and in 1768 he removed to Boston. In 1770 he was chosen a representative to the general court, and in 1774 was elected one of the delegates from Massachusetts to the first Continental Congress. He was active in the debates, and served on many important committees.

In the second Congress he was one of the five appointed to prepare the Declaration of Independence, and earnestly supported its adoption. He was chairman of the board of war, and in 1777 was appointed commissioner to France, where he served with Franklin and Lee. In 1779 he was sent to negotiate peace with Great Britain, and in 1780 was appointed minister to Holland. In 1785 he was made minister to Great Britain.

In 1789 he was elected vice-president of the United States. He was re-elected in 1792, and in 1796 was chosen president. His administration was marked by the passage of the Alien and Sedition laws, and by the difficulty with France, which led to the creation of a navy and the appointment of Washington as commander-in-chief.

In 1800 he was defeated by Jefferson, and retired to private life. He spent his last years in literary and agricultural pursuits. He died on the same day as Jefferson, 4 July, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

Source:
Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske, eds. Appleton’s Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1887. Patriot Echoes Archive