John adams 2 president biography report
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A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause; a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, he led in the movement for independence. This transition from the executive to legislative branch revealed his dedication to public service and advocacy, even outside the presidency.
After returning to America, he was a participant in the Constitutional Convention that nominated Washington to serve as the nation’s first president.
The Legacy of John Quincy Adams: President and Advocate
John Quincy Adams: A Diplomatic Legacy
John Quincy Adams, serving as a diplomat from an early age, developed a profound understanding of international relations.
Adams wanted to ensure that the soldiers—who were charged with firing into an unruly crowd of civilians in Boston and killing five people—received a fair trial.
In 1774, Adams attended the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia as a Massachusetts delegate. His preference for negotiation over conflict has influenced American foreign policy, encouraging future leaders to pursue diplomacy as a primary tool for resolving global issues.
Teach your students about the life and leadership of John Adams, America’s second president and an influential Founding Father, with this printable Biography Report and Research Project. In the campaign of 1800 the Republicans were united and effective, the Federalists badly divided. By the early 1780s, Adams was in Europe again, serving in a diplomatic capacity.
In 1783, he, along with John Jay (1745-1829) and Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended hostilities between America and Britain.
Adams sent three commissioners to France, but in the spring of 1798 word arrived that the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory had refused to negotiate with them unless they would first pay a substantial bribe. This doctrine established a long-lasting impact on U.S. foreign policy and embodied his vision for a sovereign Western Hemisphere.
Adams began his law career in 1758 and eventually became one of Boston’s most prominent attorneys.
In 1764, he married Abigail Smith (1744-1818), a minister’s daughter from Weymouth, Massachusetts, with whom he went on to have six children, four of whom survived into adulthood: Abigail Amelia Adams, known as “Nabby”; Charles Adams; Thomas Boylston Adams and future president John Quincy Adams.
Abigail Adams would prove to be her husband’s trusted confidant.
On his second evening in its damp, unfinished rooms, he wrote his wife, "Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it.
In Congress, Adams earned a reputation as “Old Man Eloquent” for his articulate defense of freedom of speech and education.
Despite several brilliant naval victories, war fever subsided.
As one of the earliest politicians to vocally oppose slavery, Adams challenged the nation to confront its moral contradictions. Here on July 4, 1826, he whispered his last words: "Thomas Jefferson survives." But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier. The populace cheered itself hoarse wherever the President appeared.
Word came to Adams that France also had no stomach for war and would receive an envoy with respect. Here he penned his elaborate letters to Thomas Jefferson.