John Adams is best known as the second president of the United States (1797–1801). His youth fell on British rule. After the revolution, he became a famous public figure and official. With the resignation of the president, Adams ceased to engage in politics and for many years lived quietly in retirement.
Childhood and youth
The future second president of the United States was born in 1735 in Quincy. By American standards, he had deep migration roots. Adams's great-grandfather went west, receiving 40 acres of land by decree of King Charles I Stuart himself.
John was born into a farming family. Already an old man, he left a huge memoir and epistolary legacy. In his memoirs, the second US president proudly spoke about his father, calling him "the most honest of the most honest people." According to the colonial tradition, the whole family saved up money to send the eldest son to college. In 1755, Adams graduated from Harvard. Languages became his favorite science, and especially Latin. He was read by such freethinking authors of the Enlightenment, such as Milton and Voltaire, as well as by the classics Plutarch and Virgil. Education did its job - Adam abandoned the career of a clergyman, which could shine after college.
Teacher and lawyer
In his youth, John Adams worked as a school teacher. He did not want to stop there and began to study law. In 1758, Adams became a lawyer and on this earned himself a big name. The future second president of the United States lived in Boston - one of the largest American cities of that time. Life was seething here, which meant that there was a lot of work for a diligent lawyer.
Adams became a career jerk in his defense of British soldiers, convicted after the riots, which in historiography was called the Boston massacre. This trial took place in 1770. The lawyer ideally built a defense and saved several people from imprisonment.
Political participation
Adams' political career began in 1765, when he expressed his dissatisfaction in the press with the Stamp Act passed by the British government . This law imposed an additional fee on all transactions in the American colonies. In fact, the UK once again profited from its overseas subjects. The act was adopted in order to close the hole in the budget of the kingdom, formed during the Seven Years War in Europe. The future second president of the United States also criticized this decision. The photo of the original Declaration of Independence stored in the museum also contains his signature.
Then, in 1776, Adams was already a prominent politician, well versed in the legal intricacies. This professional talent was very useful to the future president at the Continental Congresses, where the English-speaking colonies decided to break with their metropolis.
Diplomat
During the years of the US War of Independence, Adams was not at the front, but he did a lot in the legal and diplomatic fields. He became one of the co-authors of the constitution of the newly formed state of Massachusetts. This land was the native land of politics, and, of course, he could not stay away from local affairs.
In the years 1777-1779. Adams was the first US ambassador to France. The Bourbon Monarchy has already recognized the independence of the colonies in order to weaken the position of Great Britain. The kingdom helped the Americans and the army. When the war ended with the defeat of the British, a peace treaty was signed not elsewhere, but in Paris. There, in 1783, John Adams was also present, who took an active part in drafting the clauses of the agreement. This was not the end of his diplomatic career. The lawyer was ambassador to the UK for several years, after which he finally returned to his homeland in 1788.
Vice President
Adams chose the most successful time on the American domestic political scene. Just then, the country was undergoing legislative changes necessary to create a clear state system. As a result of these reforms, in 1789, the United States had its first president, George Washington.
Adams was his closest assistant and supporter. Therefore, it is not surprising that all the time Washington was in power, he took the place of vice president - the second position in the bureaucracy.
Head of state
John Adams (who was the second president of the United States) was elected head of state in 1797, after the end of George Washington's term of office. It was a turbulent era, full of bright events. The young American state continued to seek global recognition, developed its internal infrastructure, and grew rich.
Before Adams, the capital was in Philadelphia, where, in particular, the Continental Congresses were held. However, at the end of the 18th century, it was decided to build a new city, which would become a convenient state center. The famous White House appeared at a time when the second president of the United States held the post. The biography of this politician was full of difficult decisions.
Under Adams, a diplomatic war began with France, expressed in clashes between the fleets of the two countries in the Atlantic Ocean. This historical episode is called XYZ Cases. The incident seriously affected the atmosphere in Washington.
The reason for the conflict with France was Adams' criticism of the tyrannical revolutionary order in Paris. At this time, the Jacobites overthrew the monarchy and even executed the king. In addition, the eternal opponent of France, Great Britain, went to rapprochement with the United States. This happened, despite the past tensions between the former metropolis and the colonies.
The Americans and the British signed the Jay Treaty, initiated by the second US President John Adams. The two countries have established trade and since then have continuously cooperated in every way. The conflict with France was worth the tainted relationship between Washington and Paris.
Last years
Adams was a principal rival to another pioneer of American politics, Thomas Jefferson. In 1801, he became the third president of the United States. Adams left politics and no longer held any positions. Nevertheless, he continued to actively speak out in public space already as a private person. As a young man, Adams made a habit of keeping a diary. By old age, he had accumulated huge and invaluable material. His memoirs (later published) became an important storehouse of knowledge about the early years of the United States and the mechanisms for making crucial decisions.
Adams died peacefully in 1826 in his native Massachusetts. He was 90 years old. Descendants remembered him as one of the founding fathers of the United States, who became the creators of American statehood.