The Adams Family
John, Abigail, John Quincy, Charles Francis
This project invit you to look at one of the most important families in American history: the Addams family. The best-known member is of course the second president of the United States, John Adams. He was one of the earliest and strongest voices for revolution and independence, one of America's great diplomats, a sophisticated political thinker, a loyal vice president to George Washington and then president in his own right.
Running a close second to John Adams are his wife, Abigail, and his son John Quincy. Abigail Adams was as sophisticated politically as any woman of her era, and could hold her own both with her husband John and with President Thomas Jefferson. A early feminist, she urged her husband while he was busy with the American Revolution to “remember the ladies,” lest they foment a revolution of their own. Abigail and John's son, John Quincy Adams, was also a lifelong politician and perhaps the greatest diplomat in American history. Extremely well educated, he was also one of the most intelligent men ever to hold the office of President. His most valuazble contributions to the nation's history, however, may have been his untiring efforts in opposition to slavery, which he carried out as a congressman for 15 years after serving as president. He was recognized most recently in the film “Amistad,” in which his appearance before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the African slaves was dramatized.
The least known member of that great family in early times was Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy. Also well educated and politically sophisticated, he ran for vice president with Martin Van Buren on an antislavery ticket and the 1848 election. He is most famous, however, for being the United States ambassador to Great Britain during the Civil War. His carefully orchestrated diplomatic relations with the ground were instrumental in keeping Great Britain from joining the Confederate side and from rendering it on to assistance under the table. Yet another Adams, Henry Adams, the son of Charles Francis, became famous as a Harvard historian and author of his well-known “Autobiography.”
Any one or more of those Adams worthies would make an excellent essay subject. Sources:
Further Resources TBA, April 23, 2008