How Did John Adams Contribute To America's Freedom

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John Adams was the first of the three children of John Adams Senior and Susanna Boylston Adams. John was born on October 30, 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts, part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Adams was highly intelligent, when he was fifteen years old, he earned himself a scholarship and was accepted to Harvard, one of the most prestigious universities to this day. Many students and teachers recognized his skills and wanted Adams to study law. However, Adams was hesitant about practicing law for various reasons. Eventually, Adams graduated from Harvard in 1755 and received a job as a teacher at the Central School of Worcester, where taught for one year, then decided to practice law. He worked as an apprentice for lawyer James Putnam for …show more content…
Adams’ most famous trial was the Boston Massacre Trial in 1770. He defended british soldiers who were responsible for killing Americans in the Boston Massacre. He argued that the soldiers acted in self defense which caused him to win the case. His law career was negatively affected after this case, but he soon gained the respect of many people for arguing in such a controversial case. He married Abigail Smith, who he had six children with. After his law career became a success, he was elected to the city council. Adams was then elected to the Massachusetts legislature where he voiced his opinion regarding the colonies having independent governments and other factors contributing to America’s freedom. He wrote a constitution supporting his opinions of the colonies, which was approved. He then worked with many other officials on the draft of the declaration of independence. In 1777, he became head of the Board of War and Ordnance. Soon after, Adams negotiated the Treaty of Paris in europe. His success inspired him to run for president in 1789. He ran against George Washington and unfortunately lost, but served as the Vice President for both of Washington’s