Search results
John Quincy was born on July 11, 1767. In 1778 the 10-year-old accompanied his father on his first diplomatic mission to France.
Births. Deaths. 1778 ( MDCCLXXVIII ) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1778th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 778th year of the 2nd millennium, the 78th year of the 18th century, and the 9th year of the 1770s decade.
- Politics
- Continental Congress
- Thoughts on Government
- Declaration of Independence
- Diplomat in Europe
- A Defence of The Constitution
- Vice Presidency
- Presidency: 1797-1801
- Post Presidency
- Death
Adams first rose to influence as an opponent of the Stamp Act of 1765. In that year, he drafted the instructions which were sent by the inhabitants of Braintree to its representatives in the Massachusetts legislature, and which served as a model for other towns to draw up instructions to their representatives. In August 1765, he anonymously contrib...
Adams was a member of the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1778. In 1775, he was appointed the chief judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court. In June 1775, with a view to promoting the union of the colonies, he nominated George Washington as commander-in-chief of the army. His influence in Congress was great, and almost from the beginning, he so...
At that time, Adams penned his Thoughts on Government (1776), the most influential of all political pamphlets written during the constitution-writing period. Thoughts on Government stood as the clearest articulation of the classical theory of mixed government and, in particular, how it related to the emerging American situation. Adams contended, wi...
On June 7, 1776, Adams seconded the resolution introduced by Richard Henry Lee that "these colonies are, and of a right ought to be, free and independent states," acting as champion of these resolutions before the Congress until their adoption on July 2, 1776. He was appointed on a committee with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livin...
Before this work had been completed, he was chosen as minister plenipotentiary for negotiating a treaty of peace and a treaty of commerce with Great Britain, and again he was sent to Europe in September 1779. The French government, however, did not approve of Adams’ appointment and subsequently, on Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes’ insistence, B...
While in London, Adams published a work entitled A Defence of the Constitution of Government of the United States, in which he repudiated the views of Turgot and other European writers as to the viciousness of the framework of state governments. In this work, he made the controversial statement that "the rich, the well-born and the able" should be ...
While Washington was the unanimous choice for president, Adams came in second in the electoral college and became Vice President in the presidential election of 1789. He played a minor role in the politics of the 1790s and was reelected in 1792. The reason Adams played, involuntarily, a smaller role in the government, and indeed in the decisions of...
Policies
In 1796, after Washington refused to seek another term, Adams was elected president, defeating Thomas Jefferson, who became Vice President. He followed Washington's lead in making the presidency the exemplar of republican values and stressing civic virtue. He was never implicated in any scandal. Adams' four years as president were marked by intense disputes over foreign policy. Great Britain and France were at war; Adams and the Federalists favored Britain, while Jefferson and the Republicans...
Reelection campaign 1800
The death of Washington, in 1799, weakened the Federalists, as they lost the one man who symbolized and united the party. Adams lost what little support that he had from high ranking Federalists when he granted pardons to participants in Fries's Rebellion. In the presidential election of 1800, Adams ran and lost the electoral vote narrowly. The six states where popular votes occurred, they were votes for electors, though Jefferson's and Burr's electors won those votes handily, with over 61 pe...
Midnight judges
As his term was expiring, he appointed a series of judges, who were nicknamed "Midnight Judges" because most of them were formally appointed less than 30 days before John Adams' presidential term expired. Most of the judges were eventually unseated when the Jeffersonians repealed their offices, but their unseating was a point of controversy between Federalists and Jeffersonians because they were repealed on a technicality. But John Marshall remained, and his long tenure as Chief Justice of th...
Following his 1800 defeat, Adams retired into private life. He went back to farming in the Quincy area. In 1812, Adams reconciled with Jefferson. Their mutual friend, Benjamin Rush who had been corresponding with both, encouraged Adams to reach out to Jefferson. Adams sent a brief note to Jefferson, which resulted in a resumption of their friendshi...
On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Adams died in Quincy, Massachusetts. He is often quoted as having said "Thomas Jefferson still survives." with some depictions indicating he might have not expressed the entire statement before dying, i.e.,: "Thomas Jefferson… still survi—," but some researchi...
Feb 1, 2024 · October 30, 1735–July 4, 1826 — Second President of the United States. John Adams was a Founding Father, America's First Ambassador to the Court of St. James and the Second President of the United States. He was also the first Vice President, serving two terms under George Washington.
- Randal Rust
Todd W. Braisted's Grand Forage 1778: The Battleground Around New York City narrates the planning of this large-scale troop movement, detailing how the British Army gathered provisions and battled with American soldiers and civilians for supplies and loyalties. The following excerpt outlines the challenges Clinton faced in feeding his army and ...
Language links are at the top of the page across from the title.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (UK: / ˈ r uː s oʊ /, US: / r uː ˈ s oʊ / French: [ʒɑ̃ ʒak ʁuso]; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher , writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of ...
