Brennan1

John Adams My family goes back to 1638 when they came from England to Massachusetts because of religious persecution. Persecution means to pursue with harassing or oppressive treatment because of religion, race, or beliefs. My family found a good place to live on a farm and all was good. Then in 1735 I was born in Braintree, Massachusetts and from then on I was known by John Adams.

When I got a little bit older I started to go to the Puritan church. Usually people don’t go to church for more than about two hours but I went to church for the whole Sunday. The Puritans were simple but very strict. My dad did not have a very good education. He was a tax collector, farmer, and in the Militia. The Militia is like the National Guard but not a professional military. My mom was working hard on the farm. She was well educated, emotional and talkative. My parents wanted me to have a good education, unlike my father. I loved reading when I was younger. When I got older I wanted to be a farmer. Then I changed my mind and studied to become a Minister. When I was 15 I went to Cambridge, Massachusetts to take a difficult test to get into Harvard College. To pay for college, my father sold 30 acres of farmland. Right before I turned 16, I went to college. While I was at Harvard I started reading their 3,500-book library and some of the books made me question myself: Do I really want to be a minister? I had doubts about the church's doctrines. Doctrines means a belief or set of beliefs held by a particular group. When I graduated from a third class I was offered a job as a school master in Worcester, Massachusetts. I started teaching Latin at age 20. Over months I decided to become a lawyer. But the Puritans disapproved of me becoming a lawyer because they thought a lawyer was the work of the Devil. But the war between France and England was growing more and more fierce and they needed lawyers. There was a demand in contacts in shipping and land speculation.

When I made my final choice to be a lawyer I began teaching till I had enough money to study law. On Oct. 1, 1758 I finally became an official lawyer. Then in 1761 I was chosen to be on the City Council. Also in 1761 I was working with another lawyer named James Otis. Sadly, in May 0f 1761, my father died of influenza. Influenza is a very contagious virus disease with fever, exhaustion, severe aches and inflammation of the respiratory track. Inflammation is a bodily response to injury in which heat, redness, pain, swelling, and more than usual amount of blood are in the area affected. My father died at age 70.

When I was really lonely I asked Abigail Smith's father to marry his daugter and he said yes but she stalled the wedding for three years then on Oct. 25, 1764 I finally got married.

In 1765 my cousin, Samuel Adams made a revolutionary party called The Sons of Liberty. I organized citizens that sent a message to Massachusetts legislature saying that the stamp tax is illegal. Soon I was in court against that Parliament's right to tax on stamps. England lost the fight. Sons of Liberty were really angry with the redcoats. In March of 1770 a group of soldiers fired at an unarmed crowed. 5 colonists were killed, seven were injured. Six soldiers were arrested. It was a horrible time. I asked the governor to remove the soldiers from the Boston Commons, which he did. I thought that every soldier should have a chance in court. All six soldiers had a trial. I called 96 witnesses. Four soldiers not guilty but two not so lucky got branded on the thumb. Samuel Adams called the shooting the Boston Massacre.

In 1773, Parliament repealed all the taxes except for tea. Colonists tried to smuggle tea to avoid the three cent tax per pound of tea. Parliament lowered the tax but they were still angry with the taxes so they did not buy tea. The colonists then came up with the idea, "If we don’t buy the tea then no taxes on tea!"

One night 50 men dressed up like Indians. When they were on the boat they dumped 300 casks of tea into the harbor. Later on it was know as the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party caused the harbor to be closed and the colonists were forced to house Soldiers.

On August 10, 1774, Samuel and I went to Philadelphia for a meeting called the First Continental Congress with three other Massachusetts delegates. The trip took 19 days from Mass. to Philadelphia. I joined 48 other delegates in Carpenter’s Hall on Sep. 5, 1774. Everyone thought England hurt Boston. When the meeting ended on Oct. 28 we had a list of demands for King George. When the king received the letter he charged us with rebellion. More troops were sent to the colonies. Minutemen were being drilled in every town. They were called this because they were prepared to act on a minute’s notice. Bullets and gunpowder were stored in secret places. On April 19, 1775 minutemen headed north while Paul Revere and his riders rode to warn Concord. My son John Quincy and I fixed beds of hay while Abigail made porridge and coffee. When the fighting was over at Concord, eight townspeople were dead. I then prepared for a long ride to Philadelphia. I kept trying to convince congress to gain independence from England but several members of congress still disagreed. On the evening of April 18, 1775 Captain John Parker and his minutemen waited for the word of movement of the British soldiers. It was confirmed by Paul Revere and William Dawes that the British were advancing. As the British advanced 77 minutemen were instructed by John Parker “Stand your ground, don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have war, let it begin here”. The outmatch minutemen retreated to the near by woods as the British proceed west to the main objective, Concord. This was known as the Battle of Lexington which then started the American Revolution. To avoid jealousies between the Colonies, I suggested George Washington to be commander- in-chief of the Army. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee made the formal thought for independence long awaited by me. After that, a committee composed of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and I were named to write a formal declaration.