July 4, 2018
2.01 – Adams Pre-Presidency
Year(s) Discussed: 1638-1772
A new series starts here! From his beginnings on a farm in Braintree, Massachusetts, John Adams set off on a path of learning that would take him through Harvard College and into the practice of law. During his quest for fame and adequate fortune, he would wed his “Dearest Friend,” Abigail Smith, and start a family while getting swept up in larger movements that would change the British North American colonies and the world forever.
Special thanks to Alex Slawson for providing the intro quote for this episode!
- Adams, John. “To Abigail Adams, 23? May 1772,” Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=L177205xxja&bc=%2Fdigitaladams%2Farchive%2Fbrowse%2Fletters_1762_1773.php. [Last Accessed: 15 Jun 2018]
- Adams, John. “Diary Entry, 19 Oct 1772,” Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/doc?id=D16&bc=%2Fdigitaladams%2Farchive%2Fbrowse%2Fdiaries_by_date.php. [Last Accessed: 15 Jun 2018]
- Adams, John. “To Benjamin Rush, 19 July 1812,” Founders Online, National Archives, last modified April 12, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-5836. [Last Accessed: 28 May 2018]
- Brookhiser, Richard. America’s First Dynasty: The Adamses 1735-1918. New York and London: The Free Press, 2002.
- Ferling, John. John Adams: A Life. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010 [1992].
- Holton, Woody. Abigail Adams. New York and London: Free Press, 2009.
- Massachusetts Historical Society. “About the Diary of John Adams.” Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. https://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/archive/diary/ [Last Accessed: 8 Jun 2018]
- McCullough, David. John Adams. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001.
- Picone, Louis L. Where the Presidents Were Born: The History and Preservation of the Presidential Birthplaces. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2012.
- Smith, Page. John Adams, Volume I 1735-1784. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, 1962.
- Withey, Lynne. Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams. New York & London: Simon & Schuster, 2002 [1981].
Featured Image: “John Adams,” Benjamin Blyth [c. 1766], courtesy of Wikipedia
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