11 Little Known Facts about John Adams and about Them

Part 2

1. None of the Adams family members were present for his inauguration,

According to David McCullough’s Pulitzer-winning biography, the 2nd President of the United States had a relatively lonely inauguration.

2. He was not a slaveholder,

Of the first five American presidents, Adams was the only non-slaveholder. His predecessor, George Washington, owned over 300 slaves at the time of his death.

3. But he was against abolition,

In 1801, two abolitionists sent a pamphlet by Warner Mifflin to John Adams. He responded that, while he was opposed to slavery and had never owned a slave in his life, he did not support the abolitionist movement—he thought it was dangerous and potentially destabilizing. From the Lehrman Institute:

Adams, despite being opposed to slavery, did not support abolitionism except if it was done in a 'gradual' way with 'much caution and Circumspection.' Adams dismisses radical abolitionist measures as 'produc[ing] greater violations of Justice and Humanity, than the continuance of the practice' of slavery itself. Adams also wrongly asserts that 'the practice of Slavery is fast diminishing.' Rather than declining, slavery was growing in America. The 1790 census counted almost 700,000 slaves. According to the census of 1800, the year before Adams wrote this letter, that number had grown to almost 900,000. In closing, Adams writes that he does 'wish you Success in your benevolent Endeavors to relieve the distress of our fellow Creatures, and Shall always be ready to cooperate with you, as far as my means and Opportunities can reasonably be expected to extend.'

4. He was the only non-Virginian of the first 5 presidents,

He was from Braintree, Massachusetts, which is now named Quincy, after his son.

5. John Adams died on the same day as Thomas Jefferson,

The two staunch rivals kicked the bucket on July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

6. Adams did not attend the inauguration of Jefferson,

He skipped it even though Jefferson had been Adams’ Vice President. And that made them rivals but at the same time friends.

7. The last words of Adams were "Thomas Jefferson survives",

And they were erroneous/wrong because on July 4, 1826, he whispered his last words: "Thomas Jefferson survives." But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier.

8. The British wanted Adams hanged,

According to David McCullough's John Adams, after the Declaration of Independence was signed, the British drafted a list of pardonable Americans should the document be retracted. John Adams wasn't on that list, so if the Revolutionary War had been won by the British, he would have been hanged.

9. He defended two British soldiers who were accused of being responsible of the Boston Massacre,

In 1770, as tensions in the colonies were at a fever point, Adams defended the pair at trial and they were found not guilty.

Looking back, Adams called his defense of British soldiers in 1770 "one of the most gallant, generous, manly, and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country." From the University of Missouri-Kansas City:

The day after British soldiers mortally wounded five Americans on a cobbled square in Boston, thirty-four-year-old Adams was visited in his office near the stairs of the Town Office by a Boston merchant, James Forest. "With tears streaming from his eyes" (according to the recollection of Adams), Forest asked Adams to defend the soldiers and their captain, Thomas Preston. Adams understood that taking the case would not only subject him to criticism, but might jeopardize his legal practice or even risk the safety of himself and his family. But Adams believed deeply that every person deserved a defense, and he took on the case without hesitation. For his efforts, he would receive the modest sum of eighteen guineas.

The Preston case came to trial in the Queen Street courthouse in October. Adams, and his young assistant, Josiah Quincy, defended Preston against a prosecution team comprised of Josiah's brother Samuel and Robert Paine. Adams succeeded in casting grave doubt as to whether Preston ever gave orders to shoot, and the Boston jury acquitted the captain.

10. He lived exceptionally old,

He was 90 years old when he died. No president lived longer than Adams until Reagan and then Ford, who were both 93 when they passed.

11. He slept in the same bed as Benjamin Franklin,

Credits to Matt Soniak who actually wrote a whole article about this amazing incident:

Ever been on a road trip where the sleeping conditions were less than ideal? Such indignities aren’t just for average citizens like you and me. Even founding fathers and future presidents had to bunk with one another on occasion.

In September 1776, just a few months after the thirteen American colonies announced their independence from Britain, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams got stuck shacking up together for a night. As part of a delegation sent by the Continental Congress, they were on their way from Philadelphia to Staten Island to negotiate with Admiral Richard Howe of the Royal Navy for a possible end to the Revolutionary War. As they passed through New Brunswick, New Jersey, the negotiators - Franklin, Adams and South Carolina politician Edward Rutledge - decided to stop for the night and find a place to sleep.

The local taverns and inns were nearly full, though, and there were only two rooms for the three men. “One bed could be procured for Dr. Franklin and me,” Adams wrote in his autobiography, “in a chamber a little larger than the bed, without a chimney and with only one small window.”

That window would be a problem for the two men.

Read more about these strange bedfellows here.