Born in Braintree, Massachusetts on October 30, 1735, John Adams was a very stubborn child. Named after his father, not only John but the Adam's family had a history of farming. John's father was a tax collector, selectman, constable and lieutenant of the militia, and also John's role model in life. In 1761, the senior John Adams sadly passed away from a flu epidemic. Susanna Boylston Adams was John's mother. She was known to have a fiery temper. Shortly after Johns father passed away, his mother remarried to Lt. John Hall, in 1766. John also had two younger brothers, Peter and Elihu. Growing up, John took advantage of the freedom that his parents gave him. John once wrote in a journal entry, "I care little for education. However, I care a great deal for the outdoors." John's favorite activity was hunting. John loved hunting so much; he started to bring a gun to school so he could hunt right after school!!!
John had an intellectual gift. His parents however were worried that he was wasting this gift. John told his father that he would like to farm. So John's father told him to go work in the fields for one day. When John came back, sweaty, covered in dirt, and tired, he was ashamed to look at his father's face. He hung his head and said, "Father, I would like to go study among the books." John's father was pleased. He told his son that this is what he wanted him to do. So John went to Harvard and in 1755 graduated. Adams became well known as an able lawyer and a man of strong mind and clear thoughts. He had a fine sounding voice too, and people liked to hear him speak. John continued to do what he loved.
In 1764, John Adams married Abigail Smith. Abigail was a very kind woman. She helped John in many hard times. John and Abigail also had four children. One hard time that shortly followed their marriage was the Stamp Act. The king of Britain was determined to tax the Americans by making them buy stamps for their papers, and without giving them the chance to say a word about it. Then there was an uproar. No one would use a stamp or pay a penny of the tax. Adams was bitter against it. He made a great speech, telling what he thought about it. The people of America were ready to tax themselves and help the king with money, but they said that no Parliament across the seas should tax them against their will. All of the people were not on the patriot side. There were plenty of ''tories'', or men who said the king must be right, whatever he did, but Adams had been a strong patriot from the beginning. He wrote and spoke his mind very plainly. There was nothing going on that he did not have a hand in. He wrote strong articles for the papers, and some of these were copied by the London papers and people thought that they were very good!!!
John Adams soon then became Vice President of the United States. Soon after his term as Vice President was over, John Adams was elected as President. He was one of the 56 Founding Fathers and he played a major role in the contribution to what is now known as the, "Declaration of Independence." He also helped negotiate many alliances with foreign countries. John Adams greatly changed our country while he was in office.
So as you can see, John Adams played a major role in our Constitution and helping with the Declaration of Independence. He was a very important, helping, needed President. He helped form our country into what it is today!!!!!
