John Adams Flashcards, test questions and answers

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What is John Adams?

John Adams was an American Founding Father who served as the second President of the United States from 1797 to 1801. He was a leader in the Continental Congress and a key figure in the American Revolution, playing a major role in securing independence from Great Britain and drafting the Declaration of Independence. He also served as Vice President under George Washington before becoming president. Throughout his career, Adams was an advocate for democracy and championed individual rights, making him one of America’s most influential Founding Fathers.Adams was born on October 30, 1735 in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts to John Adams Sr. and Susanna Boylston Adams. As a young man he studied law with James Putnam before being admitted to the bar in 1758. In 1774 he became involved in politics when he took part in Massachusetts’ Provincial Congress, where he advocated for independence from Great Britain at an early stage. That same year he joined other Patriots as a delegate for Massachusetts at the First Continental Congress, where he wrote instructions for delegates describing how to move forward with independence from Britain which were ultimately adopted by all delegates except New York’s representatives. At this point it had become clear that war against Britain would be inevitable so Adams attended many meetings about military strategy and worked closely with George Washington on preparing for war. In July of 1776 Adams was appointed by Congress to be part of a committee along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston that drafted The Declaration of Independence which declared our nation’s independence from Great Britain on July 4th of that same year thus beginning The Revolutionary War (1775-1783). After signing The Declaration of Independence, Adams returned home to Boston and began working closely with General Washington during The Revolutionary War as his chief diplomatic negotiator which earned him much respect among other leaders during this time period because his efforts greatly helped secure victory over Great Britain at Yorktown (October 19th, 1781). After America won its independence John Adams went back into political office becoming Vice President under George Washington then eventually winning election himself against Thomas Jefferson in 1796 making him America’s 2nd President serving until 1801 when Thomas Jefferson became 3rd president after defeating him again during re-election bid. During his presidency John Adam focused much attention on foreign relations especially being successful at keeping France out of war after signing Treaty Of Mortefontaine which kept peace between U.S & France until Napoleon gained control few years later .