John Adams: American Founder and Second President
“The man to whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of independence is Mr. John Adams.” That was from a delegate to the Continental Congress. But how much do you know about this influential thinker and second president of the United States? Brad Thompson, Professor of Political Science at Clemson University, tells Adams’ remarkable story.
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Script:
Everybody knows what happened on July 4th, 1776: America was born. But three days earlier, on July 1st, independence hung in the balance.
There was a great case to be made not to secede from Great Britain. The colonists had no army, no navy, and almost no money. England had a lot of all three. It would have made perfect sense to bend to the will of the Crown, pay some extra taxes, and call it a day. There were plenty of people in Philadelphia prepared to make that case. They could have easily prevailed. Yet, they didn't. They didn't because of the words of one man: John Adams.
At a key moment in the congressional debate, when the forces against independence appeared to have the upper hand, Adams rose to his feet. Without notes and without any preparation, he made the case for independence. By the time he sat down, the case had been won. We don't have a transcript of what he said. If we did, Adams might rank even higher than he does now among the Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson said years later that the speech was so powerful in "thought and expression" that it "moved us from our seats." Adams was, Jefferson said, "our Colossus on the floor."
If Washington was the sword of the American Revolution, and Jefferson the pen, then Adams was its engine. Brilliant, demanding, meticulous, but often irascible, he was not an easy man to love. At some point in his life, he irritated, if not alienated, everyone with whom he worked. Yet these same people would invariably come to appreciate him. That included Washington and
