John Adams was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. He was also the second President of USA after George Washington served as the first President.
Adams played a very important role during the Revolutionary War as well as later once the war was over. He is famous for being one of the five members of Second Continental Congress who wrote down the Declaration of Independence.
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John Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1735. His father was a well-known landowner and a farmer who was elected to the Massachusetts Bay legislature.
Adams gained an early education and was then sent by his father to study at the Harvard University. His father wanted him to become a minister but Adams had an interest in law. He studied law at Harvard and gained his degree in 1755.
Between 1755 and the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775, Adams remained an active and well-known lawyer in Boston. He was elected as a member of the Massachusetts Bay legislature.
As a part of the legislature, Adams opposed the unfair taxes imposed by Britain on the American colonies. Even before the Revolution, he was of the opinion that the American colonies should be completely independent of Britain.
The American Revolutionary War began in 1775. In 1776, American colonies sent representatives to the Second Continental Congress, a sort of parliament with members from all American colonies.
At this Congress, Adams served as the representative of Massachusetts Bay. When the Congress met, it chose five men to write down the famous document called the ‘Declaration of Independence’. Adams was one of these five men and later signed the document when it was finalised.
Later during the Revolutionary War, Adams was able to win the support of European nations such as France and Spain. This made American armies very powerful and was decisive in winning the war against Britain. Once the war was over, Adams was part of the American trio who signed the peace treaty with Britain in 1783.
George Washington was the First President of USA who served from 1789 to 1797. During this period, John Adams served as the Vice President.
When Washington left the Presidency in 1797, Adams ran for the position and was elected the second President of USA. Thomas Jefferson was elected as his Vice President.
One of the most important achievements of President John Adams was that he kept America out of the war which had just started between France and Britain.
France had helped America during the Revolution while America also had friendly ties and trade relationships with Britain now. Both sides wanted America to help them in the war. John Adams knew that the newly born USA needed to stay out of war and so, he chose peace.
John Adams served as the President until 1801. He remained actively involved in American politics and lived a long life, dying in 1826 at the age of 90. He died on exactly the same day as Thomas Jefferson.