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John Adams was born October 30, 1735, in Braintree, MA. He secured a scholarship to Harvard & graduated at the age of 20. Later he to a lawyer in Worchester and was admitted to the Bar in 1761. Adams became a prominent public figure in his activities against the Stamp Act, in response to which he wrote and published a popular article, Essay on the Canon and Feudal Law. Adams married in 1766 and moved to Boston, assuming a prominent position in the patriot movement. He was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly in 1770, and was chosen one of five to represent the colony at the First Continental Congress in 1774. He signed the Declaration of Independence, 1776 and then left for France as the appointed Diplomat to France from 1776 to 1779. He participated with Franklin, Jay, and Laurens in development of the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain and was a signer of that treaty, which in 1783 ended the Revolutionary War. He then was the U.S. Minister to the British court from 1783 to 1788. When the United States of America Constitution was adopted, he was elected Vice President of the United States under Geo. Washington in 1789, and was elected President in 1796. Adams was a Federalist & this made him an arch-rival of Thos. Jefferson and his Republican party. The discord between Adams and Jefferson surfaced many times during Adams' (and, later, Jefferson's) presidency. This was not a mere party contest. The struggle was over the nature of the office and on the limits of Federal power over the state governments and individual citizens. He died on July 4, 1826 (incidentally, within hours of the death of Thos. Jefferson.) His final toast to the Fourth of July was "Independence Forever!" |
