Their eldest son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth President of the United States.Ībigail was her husband's closest friend and advisor. Four of their children survived to adulthood. Record Book entry, 1761, November Term, admitting Adams to practice before the Superior Court of Judicature.īorn in Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1744, Abigail Smith married John Adams in 1764. In a remarkable coincidence, Jefferson died the same day. Adams retired to private life in 1801 after he failed to win re-election, losing to his Vice President Thomas Jefferson.Īdams died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. After George Washington's retirement, Adams was elected second President of the United States. He helped to conclude the post-war peace treaty with Great Britain, was a Diplomat to Holland and France, and served as the first United States Ambassador to Great Britain.įollowing the adoption and ratification of the United States Constitution, Adams became the first Vice President of the United States and served from 1789 to 1797. In 1779, during a brief visit home, he served as the primary drafter of the Massachusetts State Constitution.Īdams spent much of the years 1780 - 1789 abroad. In 1778, the Continental Congress appointed Adams a commissioner to France to conclude a vital treaty of alliance. He was a leading proponent of independence from Great Britain, and served on the five-man committee (which included Thomas Jefferson) assigned to draft the Declaration of Independence. That year, with great moral courage, he agreed to defend the unpopular British soldiers charged with murder following the "Boston Massacre."Īdams was a Massachusetts delegate to both the First and Second Continental Congresses. The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 was the primary model for the United States Constitution and the many other subsequent national constitutions that have relied on American government as a model.Ī president of the American Historical Association, Andrew McLaughlin, once described the Massachusetts Constitution as the "single fact or enterprise that more nearly than any other single thing embraced the significance of the American Revolution." The Massachusetts Constitution remains in effect today it is the oldest still-functioning written constitution in the world, and a fitting tribute to the genius of John Adams.īorn in 1735 in Braintree (now Quincy ) Massachusetts, Adams was graduated from Harvard College in 1755 and admitted to the Suffolk County Bar to practice law in 1758. This Constitution, primarily drafted by John Adams, contains a written Declaration (Bill) of Rights and a Frame of Government modeled after the one articulated in Thoughts on Government. Breaking new ground, the people of Massachusetts insisted that their state constitution be written by delegates elected to a special constitutional convention and presented to the voters for ratification. Massachusetts adopted its new Constitution in 1780, although national independence was not yet won. In May 1776, two months before the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, Adams spearheaded passage of a Resolution requesting each of the thirteen "United Colonies" to adopt its own new form of government. He set forth a new framework for government - one that included three separate branches: an executive, a bicameral (two house) legislature, and an independent judiciary. ![]() In April 1776, Adams's extraordinarily influential pamphlet, Thoughts on Government, was published. Adams knew that separation from Great Britain must be accompanied by the adoption of written constitutions providing for stable and democratic governments. Less well known are his essential contributions to our constitutional form of government. John Adams was pivotal to the success of both goals.Īdams's role as a Patriot leader and early supporter of independence is well known. The thirteen colonies pledged to achieve both separation from Great Britain and the establishment of a nation based on self-government. The American Revolution required success on two fronts.
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