John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty


Book Description

In reexamining John Adams's political thought, Thompson reconstructs the contours and influences of Adams's mental universe, the ideas he challenged, the problems he considered central to constitution-making, and methods of his reasoning.




The Sons of Liberty


Book Description

*Weaves the lives of the 4 Sons of Liberty together into one entertaining and educational narrative. *Explains the relationships between the men and the roles each one played in the pivotal events before and during the Revolution. *Includes Paul Revere's account of his midnight ride and Longfellow's famous poem Paul Revere's Ride. *Includes several letters and writings from John Adams, Sam Adams and John Hancock. *Includes an original introduction for each of the 4 Sons of Liberty. For over 200 years, Americans have been fascinated by the Revolutionary period and the patriots who led the growing resistance movement against British authority that eventually brought about the Revolutionary War. In particular, the clandestine activities of Boston's Sons of Liberty in the decade before the war continue to be a source of both intrigue and mystery. The American Revolution had no shortage of compelling characters with seemingly larger than life traits, including men like the multi-talented Benjamin Franklin, the wise Thomas Jefferson, the mercurial John Adams and the stoic George Washington. But no Revolutionary leader has been as controversial as Samuel Adams, who has been widely portrayed over the last two centuries as America's most radical and fiery colonist. Among his contemporaries, Adams was viewed as one of the most influential colonial leaders, a man Thomas Jefferson himself labeled "truly the Man of the Revolution" and the one who the Boston Gazette eulogized as the "Father of the American Revolution." Over the course of 83 years, Paul Revere was one of the most prominent citizens in Boston, heralded for his silversmith work, his participation in the Sons of Liberty, and his service in the Massachusetts militia. Given everything he did for Boston and his community, it would have no doubt greatly surprised Revere at the end of his life if he had known he would become an American legend for his midnight ride on the night of April 18, 1775, one of the most mythical events in American history. John Adams remained a celebrated figure in Boston for all the work he did in Massachusetts before and after the Revolution, but his national reputation has experienced quite a renaissance over the past decade, beginning with David Mccullough's best selling biography in 2001, followed in 2008 by the popular HBO series based on it. Then, in 2010, Dearest Friend, a record of the correspondence between Adams and his wife Abigail solidified his position as one of the most darling Founding Fathers of the 21st Century. Most Americans are familiar with John Hancock solely because of his famous signature on the Declaration of Independence, and his name has become a slang phrase for signing a document. But his conspicuous signature on the Declaration of Independence has overshadowed the various and important contributions Hancock made in colonial Boston before the Revolution, the Continental Congress during the Revolution, and Massachusetts state politics after the Revolution. The Sons of Liberty chronicles the amazing lives and careers of the 4 most famous members of the Sons of Liberty, examines their relationships before and during the Revolution, and analyzes their lasting legacies. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Samuel Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock like you never have before.




A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law


Book Description

John Adams (October 30 1735 - July 4, 1826) was the second president of the United States (1797-1801), having earlier served as the first vice president of the United States (1789-1797). An American Founding Father, Adams was a statesman, diplomat, and a leading advocate of American independence from Great Britain. Well educated, he was an Enlightenment political theorist who promoted republicanism, as well as a strong central government, and wrote prolifically about his often seminal ideas-both in published works and in letters to his wife and key adviser Abigail Adams. Adams was a lifelong opponent of slavery, having never bought a slave. In 1770 he provided a principled, controversial, and successful legal defense to the British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre, because he believed in the right to counsel and the "protect[ion] of innocence." Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the American Revolution. A lawyer and public figure in Boston, as a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, he played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and was its primary advocate in the Congress. Later, as a diplomat in Europe, he helped negotiate the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain, and was responsible for obtaining vital governmental loans from Amsterdam bankers. A political theorist and historian, Adams largely wrote the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which together with his earlier Thoughts on Government, influenced American political thought. One of his greatest roles was as a judge of character: in 1775, he nominated George Washington to be commander-in-chief, and 25 years later nominated John Marshall to be Chief Justice of the United States. Adams' revolutionary credentials secured him two terms as George Washington's vice president and his own election in 1796 as the second president. During his one term as president, he encountered ferocious attacks by the Jeffersonian Republicans, as well as the dominant faction in his own Federalist Party led by his bitter enemy Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army and navy especially in the face of an undeclared naval war (called the "Quasi-War") with France, 1798-1800. The major accomplishment of his presidency was his peaceful resolution of the conflict in the face of Hamilton's opposition. In 1800, Adams was defeated for re-election by Thomas Jefferson and retired to Massachusetts. He later resumed his friendship with Jefferson. He and his wife founded an accomplished family line of politicians, diplomats, and historians now referred to as the Adams political family. Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. His achievements have received greater recognition in modern times, though his contributions were not initially as celebrated as those of other Founders. Adams was the first U.S. president to reside in the executive mansion that eventually became known as the White House.




John Adams Speaks for Freedom


Book Description

This reader chronicles the life of John Adams, the second president of the newly formed United States. Full color.




John Adams


Book Description

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of an American Founding Father. A huge bestseller in America, David McCullough's JOHN ADAMS tells the extraordinary story of the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot -- 'the colossus of independence', as Thomas Jefferson called him -- who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution and who rose to become the second President of the United States. Both a riveting portrait of an abundantly human man and a vivid evocation of his time, JOHN ADAMS has the sweep and vitality of a great novel, taking us from the Boston Massacre to Philadelphia in 1776 to the Versailles of Louis XVI, from Spain to Amsterdam to London, where Adams was the first American to stand before King George III as a representative of the new nation. This is history on a grand scale -- a book about politics and war, but also about human nature, love, faith, virtue, ambition, friendship and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.




The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams


Book Description

The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams presents the principal shorter writings in which Adams addresses the prospect of revolution and the form of government proper to the new United States. Though one of the principal framers of the American republic and the successor to Washington as president, John Adams receives remarkably little attention among many students of the early national period. This is especially true in the case of the periods before and after the Revolution, in which the intellectual rationale for independence and republican government was given the fullest expression. The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams illustrates that it was Adams, for example, who before the Revolution wrote some of the most important documents on the nature of the British Constitution and the meaning of rights, sovereignty, representation, and obligation. And it was Adams who, once the colonies had declared independence, wrote equally important works on possible forms of government in a quest to develop a science of politics for the construction of a constitution for the proposed republic.




The Links of Liberty


Book Description

The Links of Liberty is Book Three of The Liberty Series. The Links of Liberty overviews the pathway liberty has taken, from creation to modern times, becoming a chain. This a chronological timeline of events documents the march of the human race from slavery to freedom. The chain is made of links connecting people, ideas, and events.




John Adams: Writings from the New Nation 1784-1826 (LOA #276)


Book Description

Gordon S. Wood presents the final chapter in his definitive three-volume edition of the writings of a great American Founder and president A powerful polemicist, insightful political theorist, and tireless diplomat, John Adams (1735–1826) was a vital and controversial figure during the early years of the American republic. Once overshadowed by Washington and Jefferson, Adams has become the subject of renewed interest, with a best-selling biography and acclaimed television series reintroducing him to millions. Now, this final volume of a comprehensive three-volume edition makes his important writings from the early national period broadly available to general readers. Bringing together letters, diary excerpts, political essays, speeches, and presidential messages, Writings from the New Nation 1784–1826 illuminates Adams's service as a diplomat in the Netherlands and England; his eight years as vice president under Washington; and his tumultuous single term as president. The first person to win a contested presidential election and then to be defeated for reelection, Adams faced bitter criticism from both Jeffersonian Republicans and Hamiltonian Federalists while striving to prevent an undeclared naval conflict with Revolutionary France from escalating into full-scale war. Selections from A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (1787–88) and Discourses on Davila (1790–91) demonstrate his insights into the strengths and weaknesses of ancient and modern political systems, while letters to his wife and children illuminate the passionate and mercurial personality of one of our most fascinating Founders. This volume is published simultaneously with Abigail Adams: Letters, the first comprehensive collection of the extraordinary correspondence of Adams's wife and key advisor. LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.




John Adams


Book Description

Profiles John Adams, an influential patriot during the American Revolution who became the nation's first vice president and second president.