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Report #2 by: Cassie
5th Grade
Bennion Elementary
Taylorsville, Utah
Mrs. Hansen
Cassie
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Working hard cleaning the stables,
chopping wood, carrying water from the well, and milk the cows.
John Adams loved his father's farm and loved farming on it. He
loved the animals and even the chores that most kids hate! Yet
following his father's wishes he went to college, led an active
political life and became the second President of the United
States.
John Adams was born October 30,
1735. He was born on a farm in Quincey,
Massachusetts at the time it was called Braintree. John loved
to help out around the farm. He and his brothers helped chop
wood, carry water from the well, milk the cows and clean the
animal stalls. John was able to carry a heavier work load than
the other boys with his strong broad shoulders! John had learned
to read at a very young age. His father quizzed him on the alphabet
sitting by the fire at home. John loved his early schooling years.
Mrs. Belcher, his teacher, was very kind, yet stern. John did
so
well in his class with Mrs. Belcher that he did not want to move
up to Mr. Cleverley's boring class, all he would have learned
would be Latin grammar in this class.
John started to skip school and
go to the marshes and the beach to play. Later, he wrote "
I spent my time as idle children do in making and sailing boats
and ships upon the ponds and brooks. Making and flying kites,
playing marbles, wrestling, swimming, skating and above all shooting
to which diversion I was addicted." When John's father found
out that John had been skipping school to play, he scolded 12
year old John and said he had to go to college. However, John
said he did not want to go to college he wanted to farm instead.
The day right after the scolding
John worked by his father's side from sun rise to sun down. At
the end of the hot day John's father asked, "Do you still
want to be a farmer?" John stood firm to his dream but his
father finally convinced him to go back to school. When John
was 14 he asked his father to if he could go back to farming
but when John saw the disappointment in his father's eyes he
asked if he could just be tutored by Mr. Marsh.
With Mr. Marsh, John learned more
about math, Greek, and was actually interested in Latin. About
a year later Mr. Marsh told Deacon Adams that John was ready
to take the entrance exams to Harvard College.
Two months before John's 16th
birthday he and his father left for Cambridge in the family cart.
His father had sold thirty acres of land to pay for the college
tuition and board. John knew that he had to do his best.
He took one last look at Braintree
now a community of fifteen hundred people. John did not think
he could manage!! He would miss all his friends and family and
all the good times they had together. Most of all he would miss
his father's sense of duty to government and country. Even as
a teenager he shared this with his father.
Founded in 1636, Harvard was the
oldest college in America. John studied Latin, science, and mathematics,
while attending school there.
The discipline at Harvard was
very strict. Penalties were given for any folly or to someone
that told a lie, drank, broke the Sabbath, swore, played cards,
kept a gun, or went skating without permission. A fee of ten
shillings was given to a person who broke any of these rules.
There were ninety men at Harvard,
those ninety men were up by five o'clock at chapel by six for
prayers, at breakfast by seven, and classes began at eight. During
the afternoon the men would study, so the only free time they
had was after six o'clock supper. However when the curfew bell
rang, candles and fires were blown out and no one was allowed
off the grounds without permission. John loved the library where
he could read any of the 3,500 books. He had read them all within
his first year.
After graduating from Harvard
University in 1755 he became a lawyer and then a congressman.
Finally Thomas Jefferson chose him to help the committee write
the Declaration of Independence! John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
were very close friends for most of their lives.
Adams married a girl named Abigail Smith. They were married for
54 years. John and Abigail had a daughter also named Abigail.
Adams spent 4 years in Congress.
He served as an ambassador and helped Benjamin Franklin and Arthur
Lee write the Treaty of Alliance with France.
In 1979 John was chosen as Braintree's
delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, where
he helped draft the new state constitution. Adams received commission
to negotiate commercial treaties with 20 European states including
England. John wrote papers on the government influencing the
framing of the United States Constitution, because of this he
was known as the "Father of American Political Science."
Adams won the election after being
Vice President to George Washington. As Vice President, John
Adams took his work very seriously. He and George Washington
served two terms together. Washington refused to serve a third
term and retired.
By the next election two political
parties had emerged. The Republicans and the Federalists (now
Democrats). This was the first time two separate parties were
formed. Adams was the candidate for president for the federalist
party. Thomas Pinckey was chosen for Vice President to Adams.
Thomas Jefferson was chosen for President candidate for the Republican
party. Aaron Burr was Vice President running mate. When all the
electoral votes were counted Adams had 71, Jefferson 68, Pinckey
59, and Burr 30.
Adams took the oath of office
at Congress Hall in Philadelphia on March 4, 1797. Washington
left things a mess for Adams. England and France were at war.
France ordered U.S. ships and cargo stopped. If an American was
found on a ship captured by the British, he would be hung. The
French sent word demanding money, but Adams would not give any
money, not a cent. Adams sent three men to France to make peace.
He said he would like to have, "He made peace with France,"
engraved on his tombstone. All of his cabinet members cried for
war, but John would not allow it. Following his decision, came
the peace he had dreamed of.
One positive thing that came out
of Johns presidency was the first lasting agreement with a European
power. This agreement with England established the United States
independence with the English. Adams also managed to make peace
with France. The establishment of the Navy and more money for
the military was also a plus for Adams. The biggest downfall
of Adams administration was the backstabbing within his cabinet,
headed by Hamilton.
Adams retired at age 65 to his
family home in Braintree. He named the home Peacefield because
of his work in making peace with France. John and Thomas Jefferson,
after years of fighting with each other, became friends again.
They wrote to each other regularly until their deaths, both of
which occurred on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration
of Independence.
Living in a very important time
in our nations history, John Adams was a very dynamic political
figure. He contributed to the establishment of the United States
as an independent power in world affairs. He was a great president.
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