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On October 30, 1735, John Adams was born into a comfortable farming family in Massachusetts. His father was a farmer and shoemaker in the town of Braintree. Adams was very active, and would often skip school to hunt or fish. Adams said that he would have preferred to live life out as a farmer, but his father insisted on him getting a formal education. Adams entered Harvard at age 15, and later graduated in 1755. He later worked as a Latin teacher to earn money for tuition to study law. -
In the first year of being an attorney, Adams only had one client and did not win the case. Adams didn't end up winning a case for three years after opening his office. After the first several years, his career began to grow. He started to court Abigail Smith, whom he eventually got married to, and had five kids with. In 1770, Adams was chosen to defend the soldiers that were charged in the Boston Massacre, and none of them ended up going to jail. -
In 1774, Adams went to Philadelphia to the first Continental congress. He was also reelected to the second. In June of 1775, the Continental Army was formed. Adams soon became the leader of the faction that pushed to declare independence. Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, and others were appointed to prepare the Declaration of independence. Adams served in ninety committees, and chaired in 20. -
In 1778, Adams went to France to help secure aid. He was sent to the Hague to get a loan and open a commerce. In 1781, Adams, Franklin, Jay, and Henry Laurens were all a part of the commission that negotiated the Treaty of Paris. In November of 1779, Adams also helped to draft the Massachusetts Constitution.
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After the Revolution, Adams had a solid reputation built because of the essays he wrote during the 1770's and 1780's. Adams was known as a patriot who made a considerable personal sacrifice for the country. Adams sought vice president since he knew that Washington would become the president. Adams was elected in 1789 and received the second largest number of votes after Washington. He was then reelected as vice president in 1792. -
Adams took office as president in March of 1797. Right after Adams became president, American trade was being affected because of the war between France and Britain. Adams sent a delegation to negotiate a treaty with the French, but they refused. The French foreign minister demanded a large bribe, but Adams would not accept it. This scandal became known as the XYZ Affair. An undeclared war then broke out between France and the U.S until a peace treaty was signed in 1800.