"The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in theminds and hearts of the people... This radical change in the principles, opinions,sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution."John Adams -- 1818In three remarkable careers--as a foe of British oppression and champion ofIndependence (1761-77), as an American diplomat in Europe (1778-88), and as the firstvice-president (1789-97) and then the second president (1797-1801) of the UnitedStates--John Adams was a founder of the United States. Perhaps equally important,however, was the life of his mind and spirit; in a pungent diary, vivid letters, learnedtracts, and patriotic speeches he revealed himself as a quintessential Puritan, patriarch ofan illustrious family, tough-minded philosopher of the republic, sage, and sometimes avain, stubborn, and vitriolic partisan.John Adams was born in Braintree (now Quincy), Mass., on Oct. 30, 1735, in a smallsaltbox house still standing and open to visitors. His father, John Adams, a deacon and afifth-generation Massachusetts farmer, and his mother, the former Suzanna Boylston,were, their son wrote, "both fond of reading"; so they resolved to give bookishly inclinedJohn a good education. He became the first of his family to go to college when he enteredHarvard in 1751. There, and in six further years of intensive reading while he taughtschool and studied law in Worcester and Boston, he mastered the technicalities of hisprofession and the literature and learning of his day. By 1762, when he began 14 years ofincreasingly successful legal practice, he was well informed, ambitious, and publicspirited.His most notable good fortune, however, occurred in 1764 when he married AbigailSmith. John Adams's marriage of 54 years to this wise, learned, strong-willed, passionate,and patriotic woman began the brilliant phase of Adams family history that producedtheir son John Quincy, his son Charles Francis, hi...
