John Adams' life and political career were mostly and profoundly shaped by his egrarian roots, the period in which he lived, and his founding father cohorts. His father's assertion that John must be a man of liberal education in the law, as well as a farming man of New England made him hard working and knowledgeable. The period effect of the Revolutionary War brought out the boldness and the dutiful tendencies in him. The influence of his fellow founding fathers provided him with a group of peers that recognized the importance of these key adjectives, and pushed him to utilize them in the service of the birth of the nation. John Adams' behavior does not fit the Lasswell Thesis for this reason. He was content to continue his legal practice, but was called upon to serve his country at the outset of the Revolution. This sense of duty drove his political career in lieu of personal gain.
[...] The senior Adams was steady in this opinion, and even if John felt his father was wronging his oldest son, he obeyed his father's wishes, and ultimately prospered as a result of his father's persistence. John was the eldest of three brothers. Peter Boylston Adams was three years younger and Elihu Adams was six years younger. Their father, as well as John, recognized that John was brighter and had a greater capacity to learn than either of his brothers. Neither Peter nor Elihu resented John for attending college or for becoming exempt from the farming duties that they had become accustomed to. [...]
[...] Despite the flurry of activity that had been provided by the impending revolution, Adams primary concern and focus was always with his family. He called Abigail and the children the ballast that centered his life, and gave importance to the work he was doing for their budding nation. He raised his family the same way his father had: focus on farming, education, and religious piety. He genuinely had no troubling issues that were caused by his family. The only challenge that Adams faced in regards to his family was the separation that he had to endure when he was called to perform diplomatic and governmental duties. [...]
[...] Upon hearing John declare his wish to be a farmer, the senior Adams took John with him to work in the mud cutting and tying thick bundles of thatches. At the end of the day of work, his father asked him again if he wished to be a farmer. John replied, sir, I like it very well.” His father retorted, but I don't like it so well: so you will go back to school today.”[5] John later confessed that he went back to school, but he preferred the thatch. [...]
[...] The friendship that the two had struck in the cohort of the founding fathers had detiorated due to the differing views each man had on the way in which government should be run Lasting Societal Effects The most notorious policy issue that John Adams is known for is the Alien and Sedition Acts. This was a crackdown on political immigrants and domestic opponents. The Alien and Sedition Acts included: Naturalization Act, the Alien Act, the Alien Enemies Act, and the Sedition Act. [...]
[...] John admitted later in life that after a day and a half of work “toil conquered pride, and I told my father, one of the severest trials of my life, that, if he chose, I would go back to Latin- grammar.” His father was relieved and had him placed under the tutelage of Joseph Marsh, son of a former minister and a worthy scholar. Under Marsh, John was no longer frustrated with his studies. Marsh viewed John as having a “curious combination of traits,” such as “sober and reserved, passionate and intense, stiff and shy yet affectionate and responsive; impulsive, headstrong, sharp-tongued, with an aggressive self- assurance balanced by an almost morbid self-doubt.”[6] John described his tutor as: and admitted that he had started love of my books and neglect my sports.” John studied hard, and set aside the boyish distractions that were ever present in his days under Cleverly. [...]
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