His father was a farmer who wanted his boy to attend college. The boy, though, wanted to farm. Figuring to teach his son a lesson, the man took his son out to the fields and worked him like a hired hand. Home in the evening, dog tired, he asked the boy what he thought about farming now. “I like it very well,” was the stubborn reply.
Neveretheless, at 15 years old, John Adams—who would one day become President of the United States of America—fulfilled his father’s dreams and won a scholarship to Harvard where he studied the Law. He was admitted to the bar in 1758.
The rewards of diligence
John Adams became the principle architect of the Massachusetts State Constitution, and he was a delegate to the Continental Congress. Adams helped draft the Declaration of Independence and served as a diplomat to Europe during the Revolutionary War. He nominated George Washington to be the first President of the United States, and followed Washington to become the second.
His hard work and dedication to the cause of Liberty made him one of the most influential of all the Founding Fathers. Born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he died at home on July 4th (Independence Day), at the age of 91.
Staying the course
Known to speak his mind no matter the cost, Adams was very much a loner, though he often corresponded with his good friend (but political opponent), Thomas Jefferson. The two men often disagreed, but held great respect for one another. Jefferson breathed his last just hours before Adams—on the day that had meant so much to them both.
John Adams’ guiding principle was to stand up for what you believe—whether anyone else stands with you or not. Though his views sometimes seemed narrow and irreligious, he loved freedom and was not afraid to fight for it. As for political divisions, Adams saw himself as a man of his country, rather than as one who adhered to any certain party or ideological system.
Out of many, one
John Adams was a visionary, one who believed that 13 individual colonies, made up of people from numerous nations and a variety of religions, could nevertheless find common ground to form a single nation that could stand together and pursue the cause of Freedom.
Yet John Adams also saw the impossibility of the task and later reflected that no clockmaker in the world could have constructed such an exquisite mechanism—the guidance must have come from a greater source, from a Divine Author who enabled the feeble cause of Democracy to take hold and bear fruit in America.
You and your family are invited to Idaho Falls this 4th of July to help celebrate the United States of America and those who have given of themselves for the ideas the country was founded on. The Melaleuca Freedom Celebration offers fireworks on the river, finger-lickin’ food and plenty of fun.
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I am elated to see that the author acknowledged the fact that “the guidance must have come from a greater source, from a Divine Author who enabled the feeble cause of Democracy to take hold and bear fruit in America.” George Washington only went to school no more than seven or eight years. He was president of the convention that founded the Constitution of America and went on to do many more great things. Yes, this knowledge did come from the Divine—the Cosmic—of course, God. All of our founding fathers had perseverance, which gave us what we have today. They showed us what can be done without large donations and without scandal. Our founding fathers used their intuition and trust. Shouldn’t we all!