John Adams

John Adams
John Adams shortly before leaving for Louisiana (1791)
Full Name	John Adams Jr.
Born	October 30, 1735, Quincy, Massachusetts, British Colonies
Died	June 22, 1802, North American wilderness, Republic of Louisiana
Member of the Continental Assembly from Massachusetts Bay	1775-1783
Party	Sons of Liberty (unofficially)
Spouse	Abigail Smith
Children	6 (including Andrew Franklin Adams)
Parents	John Adams Sr., Susanna Boylston

John Adams (October 30, 1735- June 22, 1802) was an American philospher, Sons of Liberty member, and Contintental Assemblyman. He was one of the founders of the revolutionary and paramilitary group the Sons of Liberty, and was a large supporter of independence from Great Britain. To this extent, he served as a very vocal member of the Continental Assembly from Massachusetts, although he was usually eclipsed by his cousin, Samuel Adams, who served as President of the Continental Assembly. When the Triumvirate came to power in the American Republic in 1783, Samuel Adams largely lost power, and John Adams sank into obscurity with him. When his cousin died of an opium overdose in 1787 (some contend it was suicide), it was said that John Adams largely lost faith in the Triumvirate. He survived the Reign of Horror largely because of his obscurity, and this led to even more criticism of the Triumvirate, and especially Thomas Paine; he largely kept these ideas privately to himself at this time. In 1791, after North Carolina was forcibly brought back into the Union, John Adams left the American Republic and settled in the Louisiana wilderness to live out his days out of the political arena.

This didn't last long however, when in 1798, he published A Defense of the American Republic, which largely served to incorporate his ideas into the public mind. In his writings, Adams attacked the Reign of Horror, the Triumvirate government, majority rule, slavery, Thomas Paine, interventionism, coercion, the excessive bloodshed of the Great Revolution, and a great array of other ideas. Adams called for a constitutional republic of elected figures, with complete freedom of speech, and a highly limited federal government controlled by checks and balances; many historians have given him the title of the "Father of the North American Libertarian Movement." The book caused a great stir in political society and thinking, and was quickly banned by the Triumvirate and the southern nations. When it seemed like Adams' star might be on the rise, he died in a cliff-related hunting accident in 1802 at 66. Most modern historians claim he was assassinated by the American Republic (now under Andrew Jackson's dictatorship since 1799), although this has never been proven definitively. Both Hunter DeRensis and Daniel Webster are known to have read A Defense of the American Republic, and found it quite interesting.

John Adams' son, Andrew Franklin Adams (born John Quincy Adams), actually became a monarchist and a faithful follower of Andrew Jackson, serving in government for 40 years and continually repudiating his father's image and ideas.