John Adams
By: Nikki Gowdy, Sarah King and Luke Trahan
Biography of John Adams
John Adams was born in the Massachusetts bay colony on October 30, 1735. After attending Harvard College, he became increasingly active in the patriot cause and was a delegate to the first and second Continental Congresses. Adams was also a huge supporter and leader in the fight for American independence from Britain.
He believed in a strong central government and promoted republicanism, and wrote about his beliefs in both published works and through letters to other founding fathers. Adams believed that British tariffs were oppressive to the American colonies and did not believe that many of Britain's decisions were helpful to the Colonies.
John Adams
John Adams
John Adams
Integrity
Did John Adams have good integrity?
I believe that John Adams had good integrity. One of the main reasons why is that when given the opportunity to take the second term as president, he declined it. He did this knowing it was in the best interest of people not because it was what everyone wanted; this is the perfect description of integrity. Along with integrity comes honesty. In order to be a delegate you have to be an honest person. Another way to prove that John Adams had integrity is that he was elected to be a delegate two times; once in 1774 and again in 1776.
Citizenship
1. The quality of being a citizen
2. Membership in a community
3. The quality of an individual's response to membership in a community.
Did John Adams have good citizenship?
It depends on how you look at it. On one hand, he was a poor citizen of the British Empire because he signed the declaration of independence, which was an act of rebellion and treason. However, as a citizen of the colonies and later the United States, he was a dedicated and well respected public servant who showed good citizenship on many occasions. For example, he represented the soldiers who committed the Boston massacre in court, even though most other lawyers were unwilling to. Also, he tried to resolve the conflicts between the colonies and England peacefully before resorting to declaring independence. He also served as the second president of the United States
Biography cont.
He was also key to ending the American Revolutionary War, serving as a diplomat in Europe and helping to negotiate the Treaty of Paris. John Adams also helped after the war as an ambassador between Britain and America.