ADAMS 



29 



ADAMS 



ardent advocates of independence. John Fiske, 

 one of the great authorities on this period, 

 said that of all the delegates, John Adams, 

 with the exception of his cousin Samuel, was 

 'probably the only one who was convinced 

 that matters had gone too far for any reconcili- 

 ation with the mother country." Almost en- 

 tin ly through his efforts, Congress adopted the 

 16,000 minutemen of New England as the 

 "continental army," and chose George Wash- 

 ington of Virginia as commander-in-chicf. 

 Congress and Virginia were thus committed to 

 a plan which must end in independence or in 

 tremendous dk< 



On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee pre- 

 sented to Congress the resolution that "these 

 colonies are, and of a right ought to be, free 

 and independent states." Adams seconded the 

 motion, and on July 1, when it was discussed 

 by Congress, defended it in what was prob- 

 ably the greatest speech of his life. Jefferson 

 called him "the colossus of that debate." 

 Adams was one of the committee appointed to 

 draft a declaration of independence; the docu- 

 ment was written by Jefferson, but no man 

 did more to secure its adoption than Adams. 

 For two years more Adams sat in Congress. 

 He was a member of several important com- 

 mittees, and until after the surrender of Bur- 

 goyne in 1777 he was chairman of the Board 

 of War and Ordnance, a position corresponding 

 to that of the present Secretary of War. 



Adams as Diplomat. Previously Adams had 

 <1 his country at home, but for the ten 

 years after 1778 his work was in Europe. He 

 was sent to France early in that year to take 

 the place of one of the three commissioners 

 who were negotiating for an alliance, but the 

 'y was already signed before he arrived 

 in Paris. On arriving there he found endless 

 confusion in the commission's affairs which 

 shocked his methodical soul. As the result of 

 In- n (omul* ndations to Congress the commis- 

 sion was abolished. Franklin, however, was 

 us minister, and Arthur Lee, the 

 thin I commissioner, was ordered to Madrid. 



Adams, left without instructions, sailed for 

 home, where he was immediately elected to 

 the convention which framed the Massachu- 

 setts constitution of 1780. This constitution, 

 which is .-till the fundamental law of that state, 

 was almost wholly the work of James Bowdoin 

 and Samuel and John Adams. Before the con- 

 it ion was adopted Adams was ordered back 

 to France to treat for peace, but Great Britain 

 was as yet unwilling to end the struggle. 



Adams was then asked by Congress to secure 

 a loan from Holland. He was successful not 

 merely in this respect, but also in obtaining 

 from the Dutch government recognition of 

 American independence and a "treaty of amity 

 and commerce." 



Adams' presence was next demanded in 

 Paris, where negotiations for peace were under 

 way. Adams and Jay, two of the commis- 

 sioners, believed that the French government 

 was prepared to sacrifice the United States to 

 Spain's interests in the Mississippi Valley, and 



JOHN ADAMS 

 Diplomat, first Vice-President and second 

 President of the United States; father of the 

 sixth President. 



they secretly carried on private negotiations 

 with Great Britain, although they herel- 

 lated their instructions. Thanks to their effort*, 

 the treaty as finally signed was particularly 

 favorable to the new nation. Adams was next 

 appointed one of the commissioners for th. 

 purpose of negotiating commercial treaties with 

 foreign powers, and in 1785 became the first 

 United States minister to Great Britain. Here 

 his independent manner, added to the fact 

 that relations between the former colonies and 

 the mother country were none too cordial, 

 made his position burdensome, and finally, in 

 1788, he asked to be recalled. 



As Vice-President. Adams had boon at 

 home only a few months when he was elected 

 the first Vice-President of the United 



