All Things John Adams: John Adams Letters 1

Amazon Review

Left to his own devices, John Adams might have lived out his days as a Massachusetts country lawyer, devoted to his family and friends. As it was, events swiftly overtook him, and Adams--who, David McCullough writes, was "not a man of the world" and not fond of politics--came to greatness as the second president of the United States, and one of the most distinguished of a generation of revolutionary leaders. He found reason to dislike sectarian wrangling even more in the aftermath of war, when Federalist and anti-Federalist factions vied bitterly for power, introducing scandal into an administration beset by other difficulties--including pirates on the high seas, conflict with France and England, and all the public controversy attendant in building a nation.
Overshadowed by the lustrous presidents Washington and Jefferson, who bracketed his tenure in office, Adams emerges from McCullough's brilliant biography as a truly heroic figure--not only for his significant role in the American Revolution but also for maintaining his personal integrity in its strife-filled aftermath. McCullough spends much of his narrative examining the troubled friendship between Adams and Jefferson, who had in common a love for books and ideas but differed on almost every other imaginable point. Reading his pages, it is easy to imagine the two as alter egos. (Strangely, both died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.) But McCullough also considers Adams in his own light, and the portrait that emerges is altogether fascinating. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Series Description

Liberty's Kids 6 DVD Set: 40 Episodes. (From PBS Video.) Embark on a historical journey through America's founding days and acquaint students with the famous faces and explosive events of the Revolutionary War era. Documenting the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's midnight ride, and the grueling war winter at Valley Forge and including portraits of George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and Benjamin Franklin, this animated and informative series will teach students the fundamentals of early American history and expose them to the impact of democracy on the founding of the nation.

Amazon Book Description

Longtime Village Voice cartoonist Mack has taken his talent for rendering the frenzied variety of life in New York City and produced a cheerful and informative history of the American Revolution. Delightfully illustrated in his distinctive minimalist cartoon style, Mack's first original book-length effort puts the "real life" back into our revolutionary roots, providing capsule portraits of the prominent activists of the time, along with their many idiosyncracies, comic flaws and strategic bungling. He provides amusing sketches of early anti-British activists like James Otis and Sam Adams, notes the nature of the Enlightenment and New England Puritanism and outlines the many hated tax laws that preceded the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War. Just as important, he depicts the ongoing clashes between the colonial aristocracy, new merchant classes, urban laborers and farmers over the country's developing economy. He also profiles the important but restricted roles of African slaves and freemen and women in the war, as well as the formidable presence of Native American nations. Ending with the ratification of the Constitution, Mack celebrates the document while pointing to its flaws-the continuance of slavery, destruction of native cultures and lack of rights for women and whites without property.

Monday, March 3, 2008

John Adams Letters 1

from the John Adams PBS site. I combined the audio with the text and added images

In this diary entry, written during a summertime break from his vice presidential duties, Adams savors his life on the Braintree farm.
Refreshing Rain
July 14, 1796
My men are hilling the corn over the road. A soft fine rain is falling as sweetly as I ever saw. It will refresh the gardens, revive the corn, make the fruit grow rapidly.
John Adams, four years removed from the presidency, describes his hopes in his diary.
Tranquility
Febuary 27, 1805
Far removed from all the intrigues, I hope to enjoy more tranquility than has ever before been my lot. I call for my chisels, drills, and wedges to split rocks, and for my wagons to cart seaweed for manure. I mount my horse and ride on the seashore.

All Things John Adams

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Monday, March 3, 2008

John Adams Letters 1

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