John Adams: America’s 2nd President & 1st Vice President
Following up on last week’s post, “Medgar Evers: World War II Veteran & Civil Rights Leader” today’s LinkedIn newsletter features American Founding Father and the 2nd President of the United States, John Adams. He served as the first Vice President under President George Washington.
“All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their Lives and Liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.”
---
John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, the eldest of three sons. He served as the second President of the United States (1797-1801), after serving as the first Vice President and was the first president to take up residence in the President’s House (the original name of the White House).
Between the year of his birth and that of his death, daily life had a rhythm, a tempo set by nature, which governed the practice of agriculture. Families tended the poultry, milked cows, made cheese and butter. They grew vegetables in summer, gathered fruit in early fall, established butchery of the stock, sewed, spun, washed, cleaned, cooked and cared for the children.
Few people received more than two or three years of formal education. Unless a new frontier opened, few traveled beyond the immediate area of their birth, and most got around on horseback or in horse-drawn carriages. About one person in six died in the first year of life, and one in ten perished before adulthood.
At the time of John Adam's birth, the 13 colonies stretched along the Atlantic coast. From north to south, they included Massachusetts (present day Maine), New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
His father, John Adams, Sr., a deacon in the Congregational Church, earned a living as a farmer and shoemaker in Braintree, roughly 15 miles south of Boston. His mother was Susanna Boylston.
John Adams began his schooling at a nearby dame school where he learned his ABCs from The New England Primer. He graduated from Harvard College in 1755 and was admitted to the Suffolk County Bar to practice law in 1758. In 1764, he married Abigail Smith.
Adams's pamphlet, Thoughts on Government, was published in April 1776. In it, he set forth a new framework for government that included three separate branches: an executive, a two-house legislature, and an independent judiciary.
In June 1776, Congress appointed Adams, together with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and others to prepare the Declaration of Independence.
He authored the Massachusetts state constitution, the longest running state constitution in the nation, the oldest still-functioning written constitution in the world, which was written in 1787. Massachusetts adopted its new Constitution in 1780, although national independence was not yet won.
The Massachusetts state constitution of 1780 contains a written Declaration (Bill) of Rights and a Frame of Government modeled after the one articulated in Thoughts on Government. It 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.
Like the Massachusetts Constitution, the United States Constitution establishes three branches of government:
- an executive branch headed by a President,
- a legislative branch known as the Congress, and consisting of a Senate and House of Representatives, and
- an independent judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court.
On September 17, 1787, the Constitutional Convention approved the Constitution of the United States and submitted it to the states for ratification.
Adams was elected Vice President in 1789, receiving the second largest number of votes after George Washington, who won the vote of every member of the electoral college. He was reelected in 1792.
In the early days of the American electoral process, the candidate receiving the second-largest vote in the electoral college became vice president. This is how Thomas Jefferson, who opposed Adams in the election, came to serve as Adams's vice president in the presidential election of 1796.
The election of 1796 was the first of its kind, launching the multi-party system where people could vote for their party of choice. Adams, a Federalist, won the election and assumed the presidency at the age of 61.
The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, supported a strong central government that favored industry, banking interests, merchants, and close ties with England. Opposite were the Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson. Supported by landowners and much of the South, the Democratic-Republicans advocated limited powers for the federal government, personal liberty, and support for France.
During his presidency, the American population increased from 4.7 million to 5.3 million people—a 35% increase since 1790. Four out of five families farmed the land. Most of their produce was consumed on the farm or exchanged within the local community. Only 12 cities in the United States held more than 5,000 people, and only three percent of the population was urban.
John Adams signed the Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798. These four pieces of legislation (Naturalization Act, Alien Friends Act of 1798, Alien Enemy Act of 1798, and Sedition Act of 1798) made it harder for immigrants to become citizens as they increased residency from 5 to 14 years and allowed those considered ‘dangerous’ to be imprisoned or deported from the U.S.
He supported building a strong defense system and is referred to as the “Father of the American Navy.” His legacy is avoiding war with France. The Quasi-War with France is important because it led to the formal establishment of the United States Navy.
John Adams retired to his farm in Quincy. There he penned his elaborate letters to Thomas Jefferson. At about six o'clock in the evening July 4, 1826, he whispered his last words: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier on Independence Day in 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
His son, John Quincy Adams, grew up to become the sixth President of the United.
---
Hope you enjoyed this week’s Notable People in History newsletter. Subscribe to Notable People in History on your favorite podcasting platform.
Come along with me and explore the lives of Archimedes, Galileo Galilei, Albert Einstein, Wangari Maathai, Ctesibius, Valentina Tereshkova, Chiune Sugihara, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett… and others who’ve greatly influenced society.
What life choices led them to be so extraordinary… what can we learn from them?
About the Author: Lawrence Jean-Louis is the founder of eBrand Me, a digital marketing agency offering marketing & consultative services to CPAs and tax professionals. She aspires to start a money management firm by 2030.