Representing Mr. John Adams
Abstract:
This project focuses on the political ideals of John Adams and how they manifested in his relationships with Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. These three individuals represent different types of relationships: Abigail Adams was her husband’s best friend, Jefferson was his frenemy, and Hamilton was an enemy. This work seeks to accomplish two specific goals. The first is that no historian has looked at these relationships by using the previously stated specifics. Abigail Adams is often credited as a major influence over John Adams. However, I have been unable to find a source which definitively argues that John Adams would have been never been as successful as he was without Abigail Adams. After deep contemplation on the subject, I believe that he would never have made it to the presidency without her. In Hamilton’s case, no one source has definitively argued a concrete reason for Hamilton’s hatred of Adams. This project does: Hamilton plotted against Adams because he blamed the Second Continental Congress for the deplorably conditions the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary war. As for Adams’ relationship with Jefferson, this will be the first historical work that will classify their relationship as a frenemy, a contemporary term for two people who are friends despite a rivalry. Going off this point, the other important goal of this project is to make the American Founders more accessible to a more extensive audience than only those who read or study academia. An effective way to engage people is through popular culture and contemporary phrases. People can understand history if it is put in terms they can relate to. Many people today are familiar with the term frenemy, and would be able to engage with Jefferson and Adams’ relationship if explained as such. This is the reason references to popular culture, such as musicals 1776 and Hamilton, appear in this study.