John Adams

Trained as a lawyer, John Adams built a reputation for sharp reasoning and an unyielding sense of justice. In the years before the Revolution, he defended colonial rights in court, most notably when he agreed to represent British soldiers accused in the Boston Massacre of 1770. The decision was unpopular, but Adams believed that the rule of law must apply even in moments of public anger.

As tensions with Britain intensified, Adams became one of the clearest voices arguing for independence. Serving Massachusetts in the Continental Congress, he urged his colleagues to sever ties with the crown and played a central role in advancing the ideas that would find expression in the Declaration of Independence. When war followed, Adams turned his attention abroad. He traveled repeatedly to Europe, negotiating loans and alliances and helping secure the foreign support that proved essential to the American cause. In 1783, he was among the diplomats who negotiated the Treaty of Paris, finally ending the conflict.