John Adams, the oldest son of John and Susanna Boylston Adams’ three sons, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts on October 30, 1735. Being born with a father who was a farmer and local officeholder, Adams had the passion to attend Harvard to become a law student. While studying law, he contributed to writing essays in the Boston newspapers and also participated in town affairs. Receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1764, he taught a year of school in Worcester, Massachusetts.
When John was around the age of 26, he met Abigail Smith, a minister’s daughter from Weymouth, Massachusetts. She and John could spend hours together talking about their favorite subjects. The couple was eager to get married, but John’s work made it difficult to set a wedding date. They exchanged letters while he was away in Europe for long periods of time, and finally, when the time came, they got married on October 25, 1764.
When the Stamp Act was passed in 1765, John Adams published an essay in the Boston Gazette. This piece of writing wasn’t meant to incriminate the British, and the subject was not about the newly passed act. Instead, this article “discussed British law and how certain liberties and freedom Americans enjoyed was God-given and earned by many generations of Americans.” Adams believed that this act was unconstitutional but had to remain cautious
…show more content…
John Adams was not a soldier, but he played a leading role in the success of the American War of Independence. His war experience was mostly in diplomatic power where the competition was nearly as fierce and crucial as the battlefield. In 1783, John Adams played a leading role in negotiations with the British that led to the Treaty of Paris, officially ending the Revolutionary War and establishing a reasonably friendly trade relationship between Britain and the newly founded United States of