John Adams
John Adams, born on October 30, 1735, served as President of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Additionally, he served as vice president for George Washington. John Adams owned numerous enslaved people.
Adams died on July 4, 1826.
Resources
- The Households of President John AdamsThis article is part of the Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood initiative and covers the enslaved household of President John Adams.
- John Adams: HistoryJohn Adams (1735-1826) was a leader of the American Revolution and served as the second U.S. president from 1797 to 1801.
- John Adams: Miller CenterLiberty, according to my metaphysics is a self-determining power in an intellectual agent. It implies thought and choice and power.
- John Adams: White HouseJohn Adams, a remarkable political philosopher, served as the second President of the United States (1797-1801), after serving as the first Vice President under President George Washington.
Reference, Archives, & Primary Sources
- Adams Papers: HarvardThe Adams Papers Project was founded in 1954 to edit and publish the writings of the family of John Adams. This extraordinary family included presidents, statesmen, scholars, and literary figures. The family members’ extensive writings—letters, diaries, legal and diplomatic papers, and more—form an unmatched record of the first century and a half of American history, in which four generations played a central role. The manuscript collection at the Massachusetts Historical Society forms the nucleus of the project, to which have been added more than 27,000 items from libraries, institutions, and individuals.
- Adams Papers: National ArchivesThe Massachusetts Historical Society established the Adams Papers editorial project in 1954, upon the Adams family’s commitment to donate their extensive collection of correspondence, diaries, and other documents to the Society.
- Adams Papers Digital EditionThis digital edition includes all text of the historical documents and all editorial text. There is a single consolidated index for volumes published through 2006, while the indexes for more recent volumes appear separately.
- John Adams: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on John Adams. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
Perspectives
John Adams
The Pulitzer Prize-winning, bestselling biography of America's founding father and second president that was the basis for the acclaimed HBO series, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough. In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second president of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as "out of his senses"; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history. This is history on a grand scale--a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
John Adams
While our new nation was suffering attacks from both within and without, John Adams had a vision of a nation of liberty and justice for all. He guided his peers--General George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson--in setting the values and agenda for a glorious, free America. Adams and his wife Abigail refined these ambitious democratic ideals, and their partnership became one of the most moving love stories in American history.
My Dearest Friend
In 1762, John Adams penned a flirtatious note to 17 year-old Abigail Smith. In 1801 Abigail wrote to wish her husband a safe journey home after serving as president of the nation he helped create. This book contains these letters that span nearly 40 years.
Streaming Media
- John Adams's LibertyAccording to Professor Guelzo, if George Washington was the heart of republic, John Adams was its brain. Follow the Founder as he becomes the first vice president, then the second president of the nation, where he suffers catastrophic blunders that sap him of any political advantages he once had.
- The Mather Brown Portraits of Thomas Jefferson and John AdamsIn 1788, when he was visiting England from France, Jefferson renewed his friendship with John and Abigail Adams and sat for a portrait by the American expatriate painter Mather Brown. Jefferson hung a copy of that portrait along with one of John Adams, also by Brown, at Monticello. It's like an 18th-century BFF locket. Only better.