Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Definition: Adams, John from Philip's Encyclopedia

Second US president (1797-1801). Influenced by his radical cousin Samuel Adams, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Treaty of Paris (1783) ending the American Revolution. Adams was George Washington's vice president (1789-97). His presidency was marked by conflict between the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson's Democratic Republican Party. Adams' moderate stance enabled a negotiated settlement of the XYZ Affair (1797-98), a diplomatic dispute with France. He reluctantly endorsed the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). Adams was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson.

ADAMS, JOHN

From Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History
1735-1826 Second President of the United States After a distinguished career during the American Revolution, John Adams continued to serve his country as minister to England (1785-1788), vice president (1789-1797), and president of the United States (1797-1801) during the early republic. His administration was most noted for the Quasi-War with France, which he prevented the dominant Federalist Party from turning into a full-scale war, and passage of the Alien and Sedition acts, which he supported and which gave him a reputation for suppressing critics of his policies. During his long retirement (1801-1826) his extensive correspondence, most notably with Thomas Jefferson, offered profound insight into the history and meaning of the American Revolution. Early Years The son of John Adams Sr., a shoemaker and a local political and religious leader, and Susanna Boylston Adams, John Adams Jr. graduated from Harvard College in 1755 and was admitted to the Boston bar three years later. In…
1,804 results

Full text Article Adams, John

From The Great American History Fact-Finder
Vice president (1789–97) under George Washington and second president of the United States (1797–1801). Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard, Adams taught school before becoming a leading Boston lawyer. Although he actively opposed the Stamp Act as a violation of the unwritten…
| 392 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Adams, John

From Philip's Encyclopedia
| 97 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Adams, John (1735–1826),

From The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History
second president of the United States. As a young man in pre-Revolutionary Boston, John Adams summed up his hopes: a modest fortune, an officer's rank in the militia, and election to the upper house of the Massachusetts assembly. Although he grew neither wealthy nor soldiered, he succeeded in public…
| 755 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article ADAMS, JOHN (1735-1826)

From Encyclopedia of Free Blacks and People of Color in the Americas
second president of the United States (1797-1801 ) John Adams served as the first vice president (1789-97) and second president (1797-1801) of the United States. He was also an impressive scholar, successful lawyer, delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, critical advocate of…
| 648 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article ADAMS, JOHN (1735-1826)

From The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment
It is commonly understood among scholars of eighteenth-century British America—if not by the early twenty-first-century American public—that the Revolution and the early national period witnessed the high-water mark of Enlightenment influence on American thought and behavior. In no period before…
| 6,820 words
Key concepts:
US statesman and second President, a leader of resistance to Britain and central figure in the Declaration of Independence (1776). He became the first US Vice-President under Washington (1789), and later President (1796-1800). A government of laws, and not of men. 1774 In the Boston Gazette , no.7. …
| 212 words
Key concepts:
Part of a letter written and signed by President John Adams (1735-1826) 1815 (litho)
Artist: Adams, John (1735-1826) Location: Private Collection Credit: Part of a letter written and signed by President John Adams (1735-1826) 1815 (litho), Adams, John (1735-1826) / Private Collection / Peter Newark American Pictures / The Bridgeman Art Library Date: 1815 Medium: lithograph…
| 109 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article Adams, John (1735 to 1826)

From Chambers Dictionary of World History
US politician and 2nd President. Educated at Harvard, and admitted to the Bar in 1758, he emerged as a leader of US resistance to Britain's imposition of the Stamp Act (1765), and led the debate that resulted in the Declaration of Independence . He served in Congress until 1777, after which he had…
| 175 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article John Adams (1735-1826)

From The Encyclopedia of The Continental Congresses
John Adams (1735-1826)
The influence and range of service that John Adams offered to the building of the American nation is incalculable. A diplomat, a writer and diarist, an agitator and a lawyer, a farmer and politician, he rose to become one of the leading members of the Continental Congress and, in 1788, was elected…
| 7,310 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article John Adams 1735–1826

From The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
American Federalist statesman, 2nd President of the US 1797–1801; husband of Abigail adams and father of John Quincy adams The law, in all vicissitudes of government…will preserve a steady undeviating course; it will not bend to the uncertain wishes, imaginations, and wanton tempers of men…On the…
| 658 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources