John Adams: His 3 Major Accomplishments That Changed History

Born	October 30th, 1735
Died	July 4th, 1826
Famous Quote	“Let frugality and industry be our virtues”
Known For	Second president of the United States, laying legal framework for U.S, helped to establish the international prestige of the United States
Region of World	United States, 18th and 19th centuries.
Further Reading	James Madison: 3 Reasons He Was A Federalist and Thomas Jefferson: The 3 Reasons He Is Famous Today

John Adams remains one of the most influential U.S statesmen that have ever lived. Throughout his life he did many things but there are 3 accomplishments that stand above all others. While Washington may have won the Revolutionary War it was Adams who built the nation of the United States.

Today there are 3 major accomplishments of John Adams. First, John Adams served as the second president of the United States. Second, John Adams was instrumental in building out the legal framework for the United States through his legal publications. Third, John Adams served as a vital diplomat between the United States and the empires of Britain and France.

John Adams was known for his fiery personality. George Washington served as president before Adams and was largely quiet and passive. However, Adams forever changed that as he was known to go into fits of rage during presidential meetings between Congress and his staff. In spite of this Adams was known for his intelligence, wit, and ability to lead two differing political parties to a solution throughout his presidency.

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Without further ado, here are the 3 major accomplishments of John Adams.

John Adams Served As The Second President Of The United States Of America

One of the major accomplishments of John Adams was serving as the second president of the United States.

The presidency of John Adams was unstable. During Washington’s service as president the nation was largely at peace outside of a few outstanding issues. However, in the late 18th century both France and Britain went to war.

The United States wished to stay out of this conflict.

This was the world that John Adams was stepping into. Instead of joining either side in the conflict Adams wished to promote commerce with both parties. During his presidency this was difficult and many diplomatic efforts to keep the peace were made.

Historians largely argue that Adams was a good president during a bad time. The other founding fathers admitted that there was no better person to become the first president; John Adams simply knew the most about statecraft and political philosophy.

However, John Adams managed to build a stronger nation during his time as president. Both the military and the economy of the United States had grown significantly by the time his presidency was over.

Becoming the second president of the United States remains one of the major accomplishments of John Adams.

John Adams Was Instrumental In Building Out The Legal Framework For The United States

One of the major accomplishments of John Adams was helping to build out the legal framework of the United States of America.

John Adams earned his J.D in law from Harvard. He would spend his entire life reading and practicing law. While this alone is rather impressive it pales in comparison to his foundational thought on English common law.

John Adams believed in the spirit of the law. This means that a law should provide a guiding backbone but it should be up to the defendant’s peers to determine if he had broken a law and should pay the fine.

In particular John Adams believed in enforcing two aspects of English Common law that during his time had fallen into disuse. These were the concepts of the legal right to counsel and presumption of innocence.

In simple terms this means that every person who follows English common law would have the right to get help in navigating their defense and that they should be found innocent until proven guilty.

The best example of this can be seen when John Adams defended the British soldiers of the Boston Massacre in court. John Adams was known to have performed his case brilliantly before the Massachusetts court. As a result of this defense Adams won the acquittal for six of the soldiers.

During the revolutionary war John Adams sat on 90 committees. He was known to write from sun up to sun down and throughout the entire week. He was responsible for keeping an accurate record of army officers and their ranks for posterity, which he worked over 18 hours a day doing.

However, Adams was instrumental in forming the legal groundwork of the United States. Through his publication of Thoughts on Government Adams demonstrated the need for a stronger central government built around providing legal liberty to its citizens.

As such, one of the main accomplishments of John Adams was his laying of the legal foundation for the United States.

John Adams Was A Diplomat To Both France And Britain

One of the major accomplishments of John Adams was his diplomatic ability.

Working closely with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams would work continuously to seek favorable peace with the British Empire. Over the course of several years John Adams would succeed in drawing the French into the American Revolution on the side of the British Colonists.

The style of diplomacy of John Adams was different to his contemporary Benjamin Franklin. While Benjamin Franklin behaved as a French aristocratic person John Adams was considered vulgar and blunt.

This style of diplomacy would come to cement John Adams legacy however as it would push the French to act faster then they would have normally.

Because of John Adams the American Revolutionary War would end with the creation of the sovereign nation of the United States of America. In 1783 the British, French, and John Adams would sign the Treaty of Paris which forced the British Empire to recognize the sovereignty of the United States of America.

As such John Adam’s pivotal history as a diplomat for the United States remains one of his major accomplishments that forever changed history.

Conclusion

There you have it; an entire article that goes over the 3 major accomplishments of John Adams that changed history.

John Adams was known for his blunt style of speaking and orating. This style of talking would come to define the culture of the United States, a nation which favors industrialism and creativity.

Here at The History Ace I strive to publish the best history articles on the internet. If you enjoyed this article then consider subscribing to the free newsletter and sharing around the internet.

Further, you can check out some of the other articles below. 

Sincerely,

Nick