John Adams answer

John Adams was born on October 30 1735 to John Adams, Sr. and Susanna Boylston Adams. John Adams Sr. Was a farmer, well involved in his community and a deacon in the Congregationalist church. John Adams was very religious and because of that his father hoped he would become a minister. Attending Harvard College at sixteen the young Adams took time in planning his career. After graduation he became a school teacher but, finally decided to enter into the law. He married Abigal Adams October 25, 1764. He had the highest opinion of his wife and their correspondences have become good insights into what John Adams was like.
John Adams lived in Massachusetts, and was a modest farmer. Living close to Boston he was asked to defend the British officers after the Boston Massacre. Adams believed this involvement would ruin his career. However, he held to his cause and defended the British. Unlike his cousin Samuel Adams, John Adams was not a radical leader. He believed that America should be separated from Britain almost from the first but, he did not have the leadership qualities to inspire men. He was involved in his community which led him to be a member of the delegation sent to the continental congress.
At the first Continental Congress Adams was one of the few that believed that America should separate from Britain. The Lexington and Concord battles had already been fought and he believed that the time for peace was over. His biggest rival in this belief was John Dickenson. Dickenson was a lawyer from Pennsylvania who believed separation was the worst thing that the colonies could do in such an early stage. Because these sentiments were held by most of the Continental Congress peace treaties were sent to Britain instead of a declaration of independence.
In 1776 during the second Continental Congress, John Adams elected George Washington to be the General of the American army. This was a tactical move besides being a logical decision. Washington was from Virginia, one of the most powerful colonies in the union and he had the most military experience out of the other leaders of the Congress. Because of this move, more support for the separation of the Colonies was given be the other delegates.
In June of 1776, the final battle between Adams and Dickenson took place. Dickenson still believe that to fight the British now would be,“to brave the storm in a skiff made of paper.” To counter Dickenson’s impressive speech Adams spoke for a full two hours with the zeal of his character about how important separation from Britain was to the American colonies. "These colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states," he argued and,” that there was nothing more important on this side of Jerusalem,” were some of his thought provoking statements in that speech.
Because of his great speech, the colonies sounded as one voice to separation from Britain. John Adams, and Benjiman Franklin helped Thomas Jefferson to edit the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson later recounted that John Adams had been, "the pillar of [the Declaration's] support on the floor of Congress, its ablest advocate and defender against the multifarious assaults it encountered."