American Presidents: Totalus Rankium - 2.1 John Adams

Episode Date: March 31, 2018

  We start our look at the second president of the United States, the one and only John Adams (apart from the other John Adams who comes a bit later). In this episode we go from his childhood fishing, playing marbles and rearranging cattle, up to his adventures crossing the ocean blue on his way to France. Join us on a tale of love, betrayal, courtroom drama and pirates!

Welcome to Totalus Rankium. This week, John Adams Part 1. Hello and welcome to American Presidents Totalus Rankium. I am Jamie. And I'm Rob. Ranking all the presidents from Washington to Trump. And this is our second president, episode 2.1, John Adams. John Adams. Yeah, we didn't really talk about him in Washington's episode, did we? Where did he come from?

Yeah, well, that's what. So I saw Washington, Washington, Washington. You mentioned some of the people, but John Adams? I did mention him once, I think, maybe. Maybe he hit the cutting room floor when I edited. It would not surprise me. We're an old-style podcast. Yes, we are. We record straight to cellophane?

Celluloid. Yeah. How do you explain this? You need to be careful, Rob. Don't worry. I wear gloves. Anyway, John Adams. Let's find out who he is, shall we?

We're going to cover the first half of his life in this episode. From his birth to the arrival in France. Bit of a spoiler for you there. He goes to France at some point. Oh, okay. Yeah. I've been to Paris. It's not as nice as people say it is.

It's not, is it? It's a grimy... It's really not that great it's not i was disappointed in paris you get the lovely standout places but you go down a street off it and it's don't show me that i mean it was raining so heavily when we got to the eiffel tower that my only thought was why is the eiffel Tower not protecting me from the rain? It's all the big holes in it. Yeah, I know.

It's a design flaw right there. Yeah. Anyway, that's enough about Paris. We'll talk about Paris when he gets there. Yeah. So we're in the north today. Adams is no southern plantation owner like Washington. He was from Massachusetts.

So we're going to see a very different early America in this episode. Okay. So picture the scene got it good It's the 19th of October. Oh game game sounds good chilly. Yeah. Yeah in there. It's 1735 oh So about tea time That's a terrible Apologize we're in a shoe workshop in a tiny room off a farm kitchen.

Shoe workshop? Yeah, a little shoe workshop just off a kitchen on a farm. The cobbler, who's also a deacon, he multitasks. He's in his 40s and he's waiting on news of his 20-something wife because she has just gone into labour. He did well for himself, didn't he? Yeah, yeah, he did. The birth was successful and his

first child was named after him. John Adams. Oh, so is this episode about his dad? Is it about the older guy or is it about the kid that's just been born? The one that's just been born. Starting at the beginning. The Adamses were relatively well off

but hardly in the elite of Massachusetts. They lived in the village of Braintree, just south of Boston. This is clearly the bad naming thing, isn't it? Yes. How do you think that came about? Did this one run into a tree really fast? Oh, nasty. And then it's been splat.

I think so. We call that the Braintree. It was a really clever tree. Maybe. Maybe it's one of them. Anyway, John's father, like I say, he's a deacon, a farmer and a shoemaker. And these three activities took up most of his time. John's mother ran the farmhouse and dealt with John's early education. Soon enough, John had two younger brothers.

John and his brothers spent their time making kites, playing marbles, skating on frozen ponds, and when they got older, hunting and fishing. A nice childhood, really. Yeah, sounds pleasant. They were typical of rural Massachusetts, really. But in one area, they really wanted to make a difference. They wanted their son to rise in station. The younger brothers were trained out with farm duties. They would look after the farm.

Whereas John, John was going to make something of himself. So that implies he showed promise and intelligence at a young age. Or he was just the eldest son. Yeah. Yeah. One of the two. At six years old, he attended a school set up in the local teacher's house. They didn't have formal schools back then, for that age group anyway.

And there he learnt to read and write. Shortly after this, it's off to Latin school. Oh. Exciting. I get it. Were laws in Latin? But they had their own laws, didn't they? But not back then.

This was part of the UK. But UK laws, I guess, would have been Latin. Well, yeah, Latin was still seen as a language for the upper classes to learn. Very much so. These Latin schools were rarer, and they were seen as the elite. A better stepping stone. Yeah. Where you send your children if you want them to hobnob with the hobnobs.

You put your homemade boot in the door, right? Exactly. Well, he is, because his dad's a shoemaker. Well, yeah, and it's easy. He's got spare ones lying about. So, while John's friends were out playing and hunting, John himself was inside memorising passages from Cicero. That's not what you want to do when you're about ten.

Do you think he's sitting there longing, looking out the window at his brother, just taking down an elk? Yeah. And he's sitting there longing looking looking out the window of his brother just you know taking down an elk yeah he's just gonna oh i think the brother was just taking down the elk like barehanded outside the window yeah in a really kind of like a jaunty way takes down the elf the other brother you know a high five and dad gives them ruffles their hair oh no it turns into a family montage yeah just out the window but they're both, the dad looks up and sees John Adams looking out the window and says, get back to work. Learn your Latin. Yeah.

Oh, poor John. Yeah. Yeah. So that was going on. Adams hated it. Of course he did. Yeah. But had little choice.

He's only a child. So on he slumped. But he daydreamed through class. He did as little as required. Nice. So on he slugged. But he daydreamed through class. He did as little as required. When his father learned of his son's attitude, he demanded to know what John was up to. And John replied that the lessons were unimportant. He wanted to be a farmer, just like his dad.

That was not Dad's attitude. Get back to work. Well, his father replied, a farmer? Then I will show you what it means to be a farmer. Oh, yes. He dragged John out of bed the next morning at the crack of dawn. And the next day, John spent the entire day doing back-breaking work. Oh, yes.

Baking sun, no breaks. He was exhausted by the end. And at the end, obviously, John's father turned to him and said, So, what do you feel about farming now? Now, John Adams Senior clearly had never had much to do with teenagers. No. Because he really should have seen the reply coming a mile off, which was, I like it very well.

I wish you could do it again. Yeah. Adams Senior snapped back, Well, I like it very well. I wish you could do it again. Adam Senior snapped back, well, I don't. And then informed John that he would go to school and do his work and then stomped off. John Adams clearly won that. Oh, yes, he did. You can chalk that up as his first victory. So John carries on at school school But after a change in teacher

He found he was actually able to do the work just fine He just found it a bit boring But after a few years He was at the level that he could finally go to college Nice Now there's only one college to go to Harvard Is it that old?

Oh yes, it's already been established for over 100 years at this point Wow Oh yeah And it was the only place for the elites of Massachusetts to get educated Is it that old? Oh, yes. It's already been established for over 100 years at this point. Wow. Oh, yeah. And it was the only place for the elites of Massachusetts to get educated. Boys tended to enroll at around 15, which is the age John was. That's good. John and his classmates rose before the sun. They prayed and they ate.

Then they had lessons from 8 till lunch, then back to lessons till 5, breakfast and more prayers, a quick bite to eat again, more lessons or study time. Yeah. Clearly, student life has changed somewhat. Yeah. We went to uni. Oh, that was great.

Well, we definitely did something from eight till five, but it wasn't work. No, it was reflecting on learning. Yes. In the pub. Yeah. Still, some things have not changed because pranks were very common.

A particular favourite, apparently, at John's time was setting fire to a teacher's outhouse. What? That's not a prank. That's arse. There's a fine line between the two. Yeah. You should imagine the teacher coming out after that,

charred face, third-degree person, oh, you kids, oh, you got me this time. No, because they flogged the children if they caught them. Excellent. Yeah. Another one was rearranging the livestock. Which I can only assume is, you see that cow there?

Yeah. Wouldn't it be hilarious if we put that in Professor Sliphorn's office? I totally would. That's brilliant. Yeah, Professor Sliphorn's open up his small drinks caddy. There's a cow in there. More?

How's that even possible? Yeah. So there you go. Fun and japes. John quite enjoyed his time at Harvard. He also did well enough at his studies. And before he knew it, his time as a student was coming to an end. He needed to think about what he was going to do with his life after education. His

father wanted him to go into the church, follow him in his footsteps. But this was not to John's liking. He complained that ministers were effeminate and unmanly. Ooh. Yeah, being unmanly is a bit of an obsession with John that never really goes away. Do you think possibly that comes from his farmer day? You know, he sees the farm hand, farm man as like a... Yeah, quite possibly. Maybe he was just quite insecure on his own masculinity. Probably very likely. Yeah, we'll see. This comes up again a couple of times. But yeah, so he didn't want to be a minister anyway. John also started to gain a reputation for being opinionated, stubborn and egotistical. Traits, to be fair, that he did recognise in himself, and he realised that a career in the church with those traits, maybe not. Today's sermon is about me, and why I'm great. So instead,

John starts thinking about a legal career. Reading all that, Cicero had clearly rubbed off on him because by the age of 21, his diary starts focusing on him becoming a great man. Something Cicero was somewhat obsessed with. He wanted to be remembered. He wanted to be the first man of Boston. They are so obsessed with the Romans,

the early Americans are. So, becoming a lawyer would be the best way to achieve this, he thought. However, as time to leave Harvard drew near, he had done nothing to set up his legal career. He starts to write about perhaps needing to do something that benefits mankind, unlike being a lawyer. Should I be a lawyer? Should I do more for my fellow man?

It's purer to not bring perhaps fighting against his ambition. So back then they saw lawyers as a noble profession? Yes, but they also realised it's not the most selfless profession, should we say. There are certain monetary benefits to being a lawyer. Especially if a decision goes a certain way. Yeah, so he wasn't too sure. Does he want to do this?

Now, I can't help but wonder if this is true or not. Let's look at the facts here. He said, oh, I want to be a lawyer, and he hadn't done anything about that by the time his student days ended. Does that mean he didn't want to do it, or does that make him a typical student? Yeah. Typical student.

Yeah, sort of. I'll get round to that at some point. Oh, dear, it's the end of the year already. Oh, I was supposed to fill the form out yesterday. Oh. Yeah, sort of. I'll get round to that at some point. Oh dear, it's the end of the year already. Oh, I was supposed to fill the form out yesterday. Oh. Oh, okay. Well, I've done an essay. I just haven't got it to hand.

Yeah. I promise. So, John thinks, well, what can I do? I don't want to be a minister. I've not really organised a legal career. What can I do with all this knowledge? What's the obvious thing when you finish uni and you can't think what to do? Work in a cafe. Become a teacher.

Yeah. After two years of this though, he realised that anything was better than being a teacher. Not much has changed. No, not much. So he finally made moves to start training to work in law. This again, I think, supports my

theory that he just didn't get around to organising himself quick enough. Yeah. So he decides to think about being a lawyer properly. He gets himself an apprenticeship with a lawyer in the town of Worcester, not the one in England. Okay. That would be a hell of a commute. It would, yeah. No, this one's just west of Boston.

Would, if you're from the US, would you pronounce it as Worcester? Oh, I don't know. You might call it Worchester. Worchester. Worchester. Oh, no, there's no H in it, though. Yeah, that doesn't matter. Worcester.

Worchester. Worcester. Worcester. Who knows? If you're American, let us know how you pronounce Worcester. Yeah. W-O-R-C-E-S-T-E-R. Anyway, after spending a few days trying to figure out how to pronounce his new place of work,

he settled down. The days were long and lonely. He later described these years as some of the worst in his life. Apparently he wasn't on his own, but he found himself having to attend dinner parties to his benefactor, and he was really bored and he didn't know anyone his own age. He missed the days of relocating cattle. Do you think he still did that every now and again just to perk his spirits up?

Probably, but... Put a chicken in a teapot. Yeah, it's just not as big scale. He's not going to be friends, so it's just... A few frogs in the Hollandaise sauce. Yeah. Whilst he was working in Worcester, news comes through that a daring young major in the Virginian militia

had bravely fought the French and survived a massacre. Who was that? Someone called George Washington. Not ringing any bells? No, well, listen to a podcast. You'll learn all about it. There was something else to do with, I don't know, some kind of

assassination of a French captain or something, but who cared about that? It all sounded very exciting. Talk of war spread through Massachusetts and a militia was raised. As per usual, it was the men of the lower classes who signed up, looking for a decent income, basically. What's that? We get paid money? Of course.

Give me a gun. Yeah. Despite there being no expectation for Adams to sign up, he was very much a class that weren't really expected to fight. Adams still felt guilty about not signing up, writing that he longed to be a soldier more than a lawyer and that he feared he was a coward and unmanly. All there again. Yeah. Despite all this inner wrestling, however, he didn't sign up. There's nothing actually stopping him. He could have gone and done it, but he didn't sign up there's nothing actually stopping him he could have gone done it but he didn't it's like when when you i don't know if you see somebody struggling

with something like you walk you're walking through town we wherever you live and you see an old lady with massive heavy shopping bags and you kind of think i should offer to help but you don't do you not because you're on your way to the pub. That's a good point. And I know you're there, and I know you're waiting, and I'm late anyway for whatever reason. The beer's not going to drink itself. It's not.

No, it's not. So, yeah. Remind me how this is, but like John Adams. I thought you'd feel guilty for something you should have done. You could have done it, but... But you didn't. Yeah, OK, fair enough, yeah. Yeah, so he doesn't sign up.

He continues his training. I mean, to be fair, he is in the middle of training to be a lawyer. Kind of makes sense. He carries on with this. Like, we're in the middle of going to the pub. Yes, exactly. It's parallel. Yeah.

At one point during the war, he did take a military dispatch to Rhode Island. His diary entry makes it very clear he thought that this was important and almost a dangerous task. He found his life was in danger. His health was close to ruin. It wasn't. If you look at that map I drew and look where Rhode Island is compared to Massachusetts. Oh, Massachusetts. Rhode Island's the little one that just has RI in it.

You're looking far too far away there. Oh! Yeah. Next door? Yeah. Next door. So he's probably going to the safest place. Oh, yes. There's no fighting anywhere near them. Okay.

Yeah. But it was an adventure for him. That's like playing Risk, isn't it? And claiming you've been to war, isn't it? It's not far off. Yeah. But he felt like he'd taken part of the war. And that's what counts. He made himself a little badge and everything.

Yes. In 1758, he completed his training. He was now a lawyer. Well done. Knowing that he would fade into obscurity if he stayed in the sticks, he moves to Boston to make his name. Boston. Yeah.

This is where he packs everything up in his handkerchief on his stick. Aw. Yeah. Takes a cow with him just in case. Yeah. And off to the big city to find his fortune. Aw. We'll see how it goes.

Why the cow? Any practical jokes that might occur? Oh, of course, yes. This is his thing now. Okay, fair enough. At some point he's going to put a cow somewhere it shouldn't be. And save America. Yes.

So John found city life, much to his liking, and was soon playing cards, listening to music, etc, with a widening group of acquaintances. Nice. Yeah. Although he claims to have had few close friends. This new lifestyle distracted him from his dream of becoming a great man and he often told himself off in his diary

for getting distracted from his study. And I quote, I have smoked, chatted, trifled, loitered away this day. I'll be cursed if any young fellow can study in this town. Do you think he wrote this up at like 3am? Absolutely drunk out of his face. Oh yeah, yeah. That's what he wrote down.

He's got a big blackboard next to his bed that he just wants to sort your life out, John, before he falls asleep. He wakes up every morning staring at it and just goes out and plays cards and drinks again. Yeah. It sounded like we were being a bit harsh on him, which we really shouldn't,

because let's face it, this is our lives so far. He's sitting here drinking a beer while we're recording. Yeah, yeah. Still, he's got big dreams. But something else was distracting him at the time. Hannah Quincy. Ooh.

Young, intelligent, beautiful. She catches John's eye. The two start to correspond. Hints of marriage were thick in the writing. Will you marry me? Things like, if I were to get married, it would have to be after a period of two years. That was John writing.

He was thinking about his career. And she'd write back, oh, well, I wouldn't mind a long engagement myself. It was just stuff like that. Yeah. Really laying on thick. If I were to marry anyone, it would be you. Yeah. Oh, are we joking around?

That kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, aren't we joking around? That kind of thing. Yeah. But John was either blind to these hints or not able to bring himself to pop the question. Because eventually Hannah got bored of waiting and found someone else.

Oh. Someone John went to Harvard with. Ooh. Ooh. I'd like to think they rearranged cows together. Yeah. Yeah. One of his cow buddies. That's the cow we took with him to together. Yeah. One of his cow buddies.

That's the cow we took with him to Boston. Yeah. It's the same cow. And this guy now takes John's cow as well. Oh, no! I know. John's heartbroken. Not for Shantay.

Yes. But he conducts himself with dignity, you'll be pleased to know. Does he? No, he doesn't. He tells anyone who would listen that Hannah, and I quote, Yeah. Well done, John. It's doubtful anyone believed this,

especially as he also stopped drinking tea for over a year because it reminded him too much of her. Oh. They had tea together occasionally okay yeah yeah so he's full-on heartbroken moping around at this point saying she repelled me anyway i don't want to be getting drunk falling asleep waking up to a sign that says sort life out john yeah just uh she's not worth it. Yeah. Things aren't looking great, are they? No, no. So, he throws himself into his work at this point. Probably a sensible thing to do. Realising

that books were not everything, he starts observing other lawyers, claiming that he'd get more out of this than reading all of Emperor Justinian's volumes. Who? Yeah, so it's some emperor. Some guy. I believe we're doing an episode on him in a couple of weeks. That's why I have no idea who he is.

Yeah, well, we've not got to him yet. He liked his law books, he did. I'll bait rubbish. A little bit of a spoiler for you. So, in order to get his name out, he looks for a popular cause that he could help. And he found one. He spent a while campaigning to reduce the number of inns in Braintree.

What a monster. I know. Why would you do that? It's probably the only enjoyment they have in Braintree. Yeah. Apart from going to look at the tree. Anyway, this tactic works. He starts to get some cases.

After his first victory, he writes, and I quote, The story of yesterday's trial has spread. They say I was saucy. Wait. Yeah. I just like the fact that being saucy was clearly not the same as it is now. I'm thinking suspenders, my heels. Maybe he was. Whip. Maybe that's how he's getting his name out there. However, he was brought back down to earth with a bang at this point because his father dies. Yes, still life goes on.

And my next big change was just around the corner. In 1759, John meets Abigail. Abigail was Hannah's second cousin. And John spent the first few times meeting Abigail comparing the two. Oh. Hannah always won. Oh. Not to her face, I should hesitate to say.

Your cousin's far more attractive than you are. Oh, you mean in the diary? Oh, yeah, yeah. Not great. To be fair to Abigail here, she's only 15 at the time, and Hannah was in her early 20s. It's very clear that John's still very hung up over Hannah. And I guess we need to point out that they married a lot younger then.

Oh, well, they don't get married at this point. No, no, I mean, generally people did, though, didn't they? Yes, yes, they did. Life expectancy short. Yeah, 15 would not have been seen as an unusual age that girls slash women were starting to be seen as eligible for marriage. The two didn't meet again, however, for two years. Abigail, perhaps due to no longer reminding John of a child,

came off better in John's estimations. That's good. She was educated and bright, and the two found themselves thoroughly enjoying each other's company. A wedding day was set. Oh, you finally got the confidence to ask. The confidence, yes. Before they married, however, John decided to get inoculated from smallpox.

Oh, that's a new. Yeah, sensible thing to do. He goes to a doctor who cuts a small incision into his arm and then placed an infected thread within it. Ugh. John then spends a month in hospital hanging out with the other smallpox inoculation patients. Not a fun time. No.

But worth it in the end. Yeah, I imagine they got a bit ill at that time as well. Yes, you get ill, you feel really bad. But there's a chance you could die. It was tense. At least be hideously scarred. I'm guessing Abigail was a bit nervous about what was going to come out the

hospital. But it's fine. John gets inoculated. It all works perfectly. John is released, has a plate of oysters and then they get married. Oysters has that effect. That's covering about several months there

Yeah But I just like the small detail That he had a plate of oysters as soon as he got out to celebrate Nice So the wedding was at Abigail's home And in one historian's words It was short and painless Which I thought was an interesting

Summary of a wedding. The two then move to Braintree and they start family life. Removed from the city, John found more time to write. By this point, John takes a keen interest in politics and decides to join the small but popular group of men who would write anonymously into newspapers, commenting on current affairs. As we saw in Washington's episode,

the Roman-obsessed Americans often took names of famous Romans as pseudonyms. What was his? Well, Adams thought about this. What could he call himself? And he comes up with the brilliant name Humphrey Plowjogger. That's one of the lesser known Romans. I believe he worked for Sulla. Where the hell did that come from?

Humphrey Ploughjogger. It makes a bit more sense when I give you a bit more context. There's no way that's going to make sense. Right, Humphrey Ploughjogger, the character, was a semi-literate farmer who would humorously mock the more serious letter writers of the day. It was filled with deliberate grammar mistakes, and

Adams could hide behind the humour to make points that he wanted to. Okay, so a bit like a... Oh, a bit like a Stephen Colbert. Yes, John Adams was the original Colbert Report. Yeah. Yeah, sort of.

But yeah, it was that kind of thing. Steve Coogan, kind of. Yeah, that's probably a better analogy. Humphrey Plough Jogger was a character and not meant to be serious, hence the frankly stupid name. So actually, he should get credit for coming up with the silly name because it is a good silly name. So actually, he should get credit for coming up with the silly name because it is a good silly name. Anyway, Humphrey Plough

Jogger's essays become more serious in tone until the character was finally dropped. You get the feeling this is him finding his feet, hiding behind humour a bit before he feels like he can be serious. Anyway, back to his home life. Before long, Abigail was pregnant. A girl named Abigail, or

Nabi, was born. Family life has begun. And then the Stamp Act came out. Rumours of unrest, even war, starts to spread. Humphrey Ploughjogger soon was writing to oppose this tax and found himself increasingly talking of politics. Someone he could talk to about politics was his second cousin. Time to introduce Samuel Adams.

The beer. The beer, yes. Thirteen years older than John, Samuel had not achieved much in life at this point. He was struggling financially. However, when the British started tightening their screws on the colonies, Sam finds his calling. He became one of the leading politicians fighting against the various acts that were introduced. His opponents soon were accusing Samuel Adams of encouraging mob violence, even that he controlled Boston through his

control of the people. Oh, he's like the first Don, wasn't he? The first gangster boss. According to his enemies, possibly. Oh, he definitely was. Bit of a demagogue. He was. Yeah. This is almost certainly not true, however, just the fears of the more conservative factions of Boston. But there's very little doubt he has political influence. He was a hugely influential figure at the time, becoming the leader of the

Massachusetts Whigs Party. John described him as a wedge of steel. Yeah. Don't really know. Maybe like stopping things from moving like a door wedge. But, you know, it's a door wedge of steel. Opinionated.

Unbending. Yeah. Yeah. He did criticise Samuel, however, for letting his love of politics lead to him neglecting his family. And in the distance you could hear the sound of the irony bong, bonging from the future. Bong. Yeah.

So John writes against the Stamp Act, but apart from that, doesn't really get involved in the increasing unrest that was gathering around Boston. Eventually, the crisis passed. We're Britain backing down. It was around this time that Abigail gives birth to a second child, a son this time, named John Adams. Oh. Or John Quincy Adams.

You might want to put a box around his name. John. Remember him. He comes back. Does he? Oh, yes. In what way? He does something later on.

All right. Yeah. John missed the birth of his son because he was doing the legal rounds, but when he was returned, he was very pleased to see his son was healthy. Perhaps it was his increasing interest in politics that led John to move his family back to Boston at this time, in 1768. Things had looked calm for a

while after the stamp crisis. Little did John realise that this was perhaps a bad time to move into the city. Tensions were rising again as scores of British redcoats were turning up. The people of Boston darkly muttered that this was the start of tyrannical oppression. John again worked behind the scenes for some protest movements, but nothing huge here.

He opposed any kind of British opposition, but at the same time was not really openly discussing it with anyone. One theory is that Samuel Adams had convinced his cousin to keep a clean record and that might be useful to any protest movement later on but this seems a bit far fetched this is the Samuel Adams mastermind conspiracy basically it seems more likely that John was just

understandably cautious he had a young family and a career that was improving why really risk upsetting too many people? That's true. Yeah, he's an appeaser at the moment, isn't he? Yeah. Meanwhile, tensions were rising in the city.

The British soldiers were taking second jobs to get some disposable income, depriving locals of work. Not only that, they were using that income to impress the ladies. Coming over here, taking our jobs, impressing our women. Yeah. By 1770, scuffles and protests were common. And about eight o'clock on the 5th of March, Abigail, once again pregnant and once again home alone, was putting her children to bed when she heard the commotion.

There was noises coming from the streets outside. It was getting louder and then suddenly faded, leaving only the sound of a bell tolling. Abigail wisely stayed indoors with the doors locked. Meanwhile, John was out in a social meeting. They did not hear the sound of the mob. They were a bit further away, but the bell did reach them. Fearing it was a fire, the men left the meeting and headed towards the sound. It's like I'm getting closer. Yeah.

And then the bell stopped. Good. It was not long before news started hitting them. The British had shot into an unarmed crowd. Many were dead. When John arrived at the scene, there were a handful of bodies on the ground and blood was freezing

in the snow. There were more soldiers arriving and the British governor was on his way. John decided he'd best go home. Check if the family's alright. Yeah. The next day, John discovered more of what had happened. A disagreement with a merchant and a soldier had escalated. A crowd had gathered, and before anyone realised what was happening,

there were eight soldiers and their commander facing a crowd of up to 400 men with their rifles raised. Oh, dear. The crowd jeered them. Some threw snowballs, and some even dared the soldiers to shoot them. You don't do that. You don't do that. Some, like the young Henry Knox, tried to defuse the situation.

If you remember him from last episode. Yeah. He was the one who found the cannons for Washington, brought them back. Oh, Knoxie! Knoxie, yeah. Good old strong Knox, built like an ox. Yeah, became a... Ox the Knox. Secretary of War. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Good old strong Knox, built like an ox. Yeah, became a... Ox the Knox, Secretary of War. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, that one. He's young at this point, he's running a bookshop in Boston. Yeah, he's trying to defuse the situation. But the soldiers had been ordered to defend the Custom House, so they weren't going to budge, basically. They were going to stand there and defend it. Knox told Preston, the commander of these soldiers,

that if the soldiers fired, they would be torn apart. Preston curtly replied, I'm aware of that. Preston in a sticky situation here. Yeah. Yeah, he can't abandon his post, but he also knows that this isn't going well. No. No, you've got jeering crowds,

you've got eight nervous-looking soldiers with their rifles raised. All you've got jeering crowds, you've got eight nervous looking soldiers with their rifles raised. All you need is a tiny spark and it's all going to go south. Yes. And at this point some idiot in the crowd threw a club at one of the soldiers. Oh man. Or possibly a snowball, I've seen mixed reports here.

The soldier dropped his rifle, hastily picked it back up again, shouted, damn you, fire! And then shot into the crowd. Oh, man. And then there was a deadly pause. Each side waiting to see what was about to happen. After a while of the stalemate, the nerves of another soldier frayed,

and he shot, and then they all did. Oh. Yeah. The crowd fled. Three lay dead, several lay screaming, two were mortally wounded. Preston saw a gap in the crowd and quickly ordered his men to just get away.

Come on, let's go. Let's leave right now. Within an hour, more soldiers and a larger crowd had gathered, including John's brief inspection of the scene. The governor was able to defuse the situation by promising that Preston and his men would stand trial. The crowd mollified for now, but still very angry

retreated. As long as a trial was had, it would be fine. Good luck to the poor sod who had to defend the redcoat scum. Who's that? Go on, give your one guess. John Adams. Oh yes.

There were several reasons why John decides to take this case. Well, he took it. Oh, yes. I imagine he'd have gone home, like, muttering to himself, oh, feels sorry for that poor idiot there. Then a knock on his door at two in the morning. Well, you can choose why he takes this. Here are some options.

Number one, he believes in the law, damn it. No. No. Okay. Number two, secret Sam Adams plot to make John Adams seem more reasonable when they want to use him at a later date. Possibly. I'm not leaning towards that.

Number three, John wants to be regarded as great and such a high profile case will surely get his name out and about. That's what I'm going for. Number four, he was persuaded to take the case in exchange for a seat in the local government. Well, that kind of links a little bit into the third one as well. Yeah, and the secret Sam Adams plot,

I mean, it's not unbelievable, but... No, I'm not going for that one either. I think a mixture of three and four because he was given a seat in government afterwards. Yeah. And he wants to be great. Yeah and he's more interested in politics and the leg up with that.

Yeah. With his standing in society. So yeah. Yeah. Three or four. So he is now defending the Redcoats. Good luck. John starts the case very well.

He manages to separate Preston's case from the rest of the soldiers. This way, he was able to argue in Preston's case that the men had shot without following orders. So it wasn't Preston's fault. Okay. And then in the trial of the men, he was able to claim that they were simply following orders. The two trials are separate. That's perfect lawyering. Oh, yes.

Now, Preston's case was over very quickly. He was found not guilty. It was very obvious he hadn't actually done anything to kill anyone here. Maybe not the best captain, but yeah, he wasn't found guilty anyway. The trial of the men was harder. It helped that the prosecution were having to rely on terrible witnesses. After John was able to get their first witness to admit that he wasn't actually there at the

time of the shooting, things went well for the defence. Well, their second witness, Blind Maggie. Yeah, that one. I saw him! Yeah. Didn't go well. It also didn't help that it was well documented that people in the crowd were shouting fire at the soldiers.

They were just following orders. Exactly. I was doing what you told me to. Yeah. Public service. If it wasn't for this being enough, Adams was also able to use his right to challenge the members of the jury to effectively pack the jury with British sympathisers.

Yeah. Six were acquitted. Nice. Two were found guilty of manslaughter and got their sentences reduced through the Benefit of Clergy law and were only branded on their thumbs. Ooh.

Yeah. That's a bit annoying, though. Yeah, annoying, but... Sting. ...a lot better than anyone was expecting. Yeah. So there you go. John pretty much gets everyone off.

Nice. Yeah, well done to John. Although the three murdered men, they were... Their families probably less than pleased. Well, I'm guessing they were found guilty by citing riot. Yeah. Guilty of getting in the way of a bullet. Yeah. Yeah. So this works out really well for Adams. His name was now far more well known. He was practically given a seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the possible backlash never really materialised. He was worried that people would accuse him of being a Tory and defending the British.

But it would appear by the time the trial ended many months later, people were just wary of it all and just wanted to put it all behind them. So, yeah, he does well out of this. By this point, his and Abigail's third child had been born, a girl named Susanna. Unfortunately, she was very sickly from the start and did not survive for very long. Outwardly, the Adams household seemed to recover from this bloke quite quickly, and Abigail was soon pregnant again. Adams then throws himself into his work once more, making himself ill at times. Over the next few months, John spent more and more time away from his pregnant wife. He then announced that he was sending his family back to Braintree whilst he stayed in Boston.

There seems to be some tensions between him and Abigail, possibly due to the death of their daughter. It's hard to tell. Yeah. Over the next year, John becomes more and more despondent. His career had done well, but no longer seemed to be going anywhere. He decides he needs a change, and he moves back to Plaintree with Abigail, which is nice. He seemed a lot happier

after the move, so things seem to be patched up, and they have another son. Oh, yeah. Then they spend about a year until John gets itchy feet again, and moves back to Boston. Yeah, okay. Yeah. He was determined not to get sucked back into politics. Well, either I can tell you, he's not successful.

Yeah, this is something he realised that led him to be overworked and miserable. So he was just, no more politics for him. Let's focus on the family. That's not to say he didn't have political thoughts anymore. In the last few years, his diary entries become more and more radical in his anti-British feelings. His own thoughts become closer to those of his cousin Samuel. But apart from that, John and Abigail seem to have a nice summer without too much stress. And then the Tea Act is passed. Oh yeah. Yes. As we've seen, the colonists did not like the fact that their tea would now have a reduced tax on it,

stopping their smuggling trade. And this very reason is why we have Starbucks. Yes. Most port cities refused to let the tea ships dock. However, in Boston, the governor was determined to let the tea through. The Dartmouth, a ship full of tea, pulled into port and found itself stuck. It could not leave because it needed to clear customs, but it could not clear customs without the tea being removed. The governor, who had demanded the tea come into port, fled into the country when he realised that the passions of the mob were running high. They have sharp things, you know. Let's go away.

The people were not keen on the idea of this tea being removed from the ship. So the stalemate settles But it did not last long Samuel Adams was leading a protest group And it was soon decided that the tea be destroyed And to be fair to them, they did send a message to the governor Who was in hiding Giving him one last chance to send the ship back to London

But the governor was not inclined to do so Now John had not been in the city at this point He was out doing the rounds, his legal rounds, and when he returned he learned that the previous day a group of men had boarded the ship and destroyed approximately a million dollars worth of tea. As a British man, and as someone that loves their tea, who literally can't start, not figuratively, literally cannot start a day, a good day without a cup of tea, literally cannot start a day a good day with that cup of tea that breaks my heart

I love tea think of all the fish they'd be loving it or it would kill them that caffeine really energetic fish John was shocked but also saw the act as necessary even if it did lead to

and I quote important consequences these consequences took a while, but they were coming. In January 1774, a ship arrived in London with news of the Tea Party. The King and Parliament hit the roof. They were not happy. It was time to show those colonists who was boss. The intolerably gittish acts were passed. Boston port was to be closed until they repaid all the money and the colony lost their right to self-govern. Meanwhile, it became very clear to those in Massachusetts that things were about to go south. John and his family moved back to Braintree, just get out of Boston. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Massachusetts resistance realised they

need some help from other colonies if they're going to get through this. Feelers were sent out, and the results were disappointing. Rhode Island said, yeah, we'll help out if, like, everyone else does. And this was the most positive answer from the other colonies. Oh, dear. Yeah. But then, news of the intolerably Gittish acts hit the colonies. And Samuel Adams and the others had all the ammunition that they needed

to recruit people to their cause. A national congress was called for. Sam Adams was worried that more conservative states would take over if there was a congress, but it's the only real way forward. All they needed to do was decide who would represent Massachusetts. Samuel, obviously, plus a couple of others, and also John. Yay! After all, he couldn't be called a radical by the other, more conservative states

had he not just defended the crown a few years ago. John quickly accepted, but was personally worried. This was essentially treason. Yeah, yeah. And he was also worried about how his actions could have unforeseen consequences. And I quote, What would the multitude, the vulgar, the herd, the rabble, the mob do when they saw their politicians advocating rebellion?

It's true. Nice insight to how John saw the common man. Yeah. The Massachusetts delegation arrived in Philadelphia. On the way they discussed their plan of action. They were there essentially to ask for help, but if they leaned too heavily they'd be branded as dangerous rebels. So it's decided they're just going to

take a passive role in this. The Congress met on the 5th of September. After political niceties and prayers the Congress got down to some good old fashioned political stalemate. They could not decide how many votes each state present got. After two days of this debate, the matter was just about settled when a man came rushing into the meeting with some urgent news. The Massachusetts and British forces had fought. Gage, the commander of the British forces,

was shanning Boston. War had started. For two days, Philadelphia was in absolute mayhem. Battles told, militia men were called up, men talked of revenge. And then another courier arrived, or I'd like to think it's the same guy. Oh, let's give him a name. Roger? Roger. I can go, Roger, Roger, whenever he arrives.

Yeah, so Roger arrives, whenever he arrives. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so Roger arrives, and he's looking really sheepish. Because you remember that report that we're at war with Britain? Sorry, guys. That's all false. No one's attacked anyone. It was a prank.

April fools. It's September. Yeah. Still, everyone was very relieved. April fools It's September Yeah Still, everyone was very relieved And as it happened, news of imminent invasion Did wonders to focus the delegates Yeah So maybe this was actually a good thing

It was still slow going though, as politics always is Eventually it was decided that from the 1st December 1774, the colonies Would boycott British goods Then, if the intolerably Gittish acts were not repealed, they would stop selling to Britain in September 1775.

John was over the moon, describing this, and I quote, as one of the happiest days of my life. He'd started off the Congress feeling nervous and inadequate, but soon found his feet and realised that he was a match for anyone else there. Nice. Almost. There were some who really impressed him, however. In particular was the Virginian

delegate, George Washington, who seemed very reserved and stately. He was a manly man. Oh yeah. With his uniform on. Oh no, that's not this meeting. Yeah, he must be wearing it. Probably. Any opportunity. Yeah, he must be wearing it. Probably.

Any opportunity. John headed home and got on with his life while awaiting the Second Continental Congress that was due in a year's time. He carries on with his legal and political work, which involved getting up the Minutemen, a militia that could be activated within minutes. The naming curse strikes again. Yeah. The Second Continental Congress approached,

and John was thinking about setting off when stunning news reached him. The British and militia had fought a battle near Lexington and Concord, practically just down the road from him. Ooh. As we've covered before, this is where the British sent in men to acquire the ammunition stockpiles

in the area. They'd taken it easily enough, but then the minute men had fought back 200 wounded or dead in the British side compared to the it easily enough, but then the Minutemen had fought back. 200 wounded or dead in the British side compared to the colonial side of 100 wounded or dead. Nice. Yeah, pretty good. Adams was amazed. He jumped on his horse and set off to see for himself.

Once there, he discussed what had happened with eyewitnesses. It became clear the stories were true. Fighting had indeed started. The war was on. Yay. The Massachusetts was on. Hooray. The Massachusetts delegation hurried to Philadelphia. John was ill all of a sudden, though, and had to catch up a couple of days later. But he caught up just in time.

Ah, hello. Running along the road behind him. Wait for me. Coughing into his handkerchief. The Second Continental Congress looked a bit different to the first. This time, fighting had started. It was no longer hypothetical. This did not mean that everyone was on board with the idea of war, however.

A large amount of delegates wanted to attempt to reconcile with the British before things got out of hand. Yeah. It's only been a couple of skirmishes. We don't need to go to war over this. When news came through that Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen had taken a British fort in Ticonderoga, the Conservative delegates were horrified.

No, this is just escalating the situation. However, no one suggested giving the fort back to the British. Let's just keep that one, shall we? Yeah, fair swear. Debates were heated, spilled out of the chamber at times. One Pennsylvanian delegate called

Dickinson confronted John at one point and shouted, What is the reason that you new Englishmen oppose our measure of reconciliation? John was not happy at being shouted at in the corridor and refused to speak to a member again. Oh, nice. Yes.

That's almost British level of... Yes, it is. Eventually, a compromise took place. They'd send a letter to George III. Surely their king would listen to reason. Obviously, the dastardly politicians in Britain causing this. Of course. In the meantime, things slowed to a crawl.

It was decided that a leader would need to run the armies. As we covered in last episode, Washington sitting in his uniform was the obvious choice. What we didn't cover, however, that it was John himself who first got up to nominate him. By this point, John had become the most outspoken man in the anti-British camp. He was no longer seen as just another delegate, but he was actually one of the leading men there. His voice had started to carry a lot of weight. After a lot of wrangling, as we saw last week, Washington was indeed selected. The delegates

watch as Washington heads north to Boston to go and despair at how awful his army is. Yeah. No cannons. John stayed behind, and again he struggled with the fact he was not a soldier, writing Oh that I were a soldier. But again, he made no

steps to actually go and join the front lines. That'd be foolish by now. Yeah. Still, work must go on. John found himself working in more committees than perhaps anyone else, helping amongst many other things to draft rules for regulating a navy. Wow. Yeah. Also, around this time, he begins to agree that full independence is the only way forward.

He agreed with those that said that this is the only way that they could get the much-needed foreign aid. They've got to cut ties with Britain completely if they want France or Spain to help them. So he wanted to start negotiating with France and Spain straight away. This was seen as a step too far by most. Bit of a radical at the moment, isn't he? Yeah, yeah, he's full in the independence camp by this point. Yeah, we've seen a shift in the last few years of him going, oh, stay out of it. He's full on.

He's like wearing badges, lapels, bunting and everything. He's like, independence. Yeah. He's full on. He's committed. He is. The North and the South were thinking

that independence might be a good thing. Yeah. The middle colonies, however, they've got strong commercial ties with Britain. They're not too sure. They're selling a lot of the movies. The worst thing to do would be to drop out. Still, after some political wrangling, on June 7th,

Henry Lee of Virginia puts forth a motion that the colonies declare independence and create a confederation. Adams seconds the motion. A panel was created to discuss this motion, and Adams was on it. The debate was tough. Early on, John was asked, do you want to write the Declaration of Independence, John? John, however, was very busy and went, nah, it's all right.

Who's going to remember that document? Yeah. Ended up in a trash heap. Yeah. So the job went to Jefferson instead, who was also there. Thomas? There you go, Tom. You can do this. Yeah. So the job went to Jefferson instead, who was also there. Thomas? There you go, Tom. You can do this.

Okay. Political fighting continued, but slowly, colony by colony, those states that were against independence turned. By this time, Jefferson had finished his declaration. It was shown to John, who made a couple of minor tweaks, but this is definitely Jefferson's document. Putting his name on it. Yes.

At last, the final debate took place. Anti-independence Dickinson, the guy who shouted at him earlier. Dickinson by name. Yeah. Spoke for a very long time, making some quite reasonable points. Britain was clearly going places. It was the greatest

empire on Earth. Why would we not be part of that? Why should we fight it? Also, there is no way we can win against a global superpower. Our cities will be completely destroyed by the British ships. We have no way of stopping them. The very best that we can hope for is to get aid from another European superpower, but then how would the war actually end? As they all do in Europe with a treaty where land is exchanged. The colonies will be divided up by European powers and we'll end up with nothing at all.

We cannot win this war. Look at us. That's a very reasonable argument. After we finished, there was silence for quite some time. Everyone's going, I think he's right. He's got a point. And you know what? He is right. He's got a point. And you know what? He is right. I mean, come on.

Why on earth did they try and fight at this point? I mean, our army consists of three muskets and Jeff. What are we going to do? You can only hold one at a time. Yeah, it's not looking good. Our navy? It's a paddle boat. Yeah, pretty much.

And they wanted to fight Britain. It's a stupid idea yeah pretty much and they wanted to fight britain it's a stupid idea of course they're going to lose but then john stands up and delivers his own speech dickinson's the loser well yeah the whole he's not a man does not even look at dickinson he's still angry at him just just stares away i mean this has got to be one hell of a speech yeah this is independence day levels speech this is oh yeah quite literally because this is independence yeah yeah so he says that freedom from tyranny had to always be fought for the nation would be freed then to chart its own course it was simply unacceptable that britain a tiny island a thousand miles away, could tell them what to do. Halfway through the speech, a messenger arrived to inform the Maryland

delegates that they were free to vote for independence. They got word back from their home state, yeah, if you want to vote for independence, go for it. Feeling the momentum with him, Adams was able to deliver what is seen as his best ever speech. All but New York vote for independence. And New York abstained. So no one voted against it. John, over the moon again, stating that this day would go on to be remembered as the most revered day in all of American history.

The day they declared independence. A day of games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations. An Independence Day if you will. July the 2nd. And to this day that's when all Americans celebrate. Some might hear some get the date wrong by a couple of days but no one tells them because it'd be embarrassing for them. And they're having a nice time. So I'm guessing it was decided on the 2nd, was it signed on the 4th? Yeah, you've got it. Two days later on the 4th, they all signed Jefferson's Declaration. Once they'd all given it a once over. But work did not stop. John carries on. Arguably the most important thing

he did at this time was to publish his Thoughts on Government paper, where he outlines how he thought a future government could look. This helps to shape the views of many and eventually leads to the structure debated after the war in the Constitutional Confederation just before Washington becomes president. This is where we first start hearing about an executive branch, a separated judicial system. So it's his sort of baby. Yeah, I mean, there were many people talking about it,

he pushed it, and a lot of people agreed with him. Also, he becomes the de facto war secretary at this point, running the admin for the war that was increasingly looking bad. An attempt to get Canada had failed. Adams was working hard most of the hours of the day, a point that he used often in his diaries to justify why he wasn't at the front lines. He around this time compares himself to Cincinnatus. Yes, they were obsessed. No, man. Everyone wants to be Cincinnatus, apparently.

Tolling away for his country despite his wish for his farm. He also claimed that he, and I quote, worked like a gaddy slave bent on his oar. Telling you he'd clearly never seen a galley slave before. You just imagine a few slaves standing around him as he's writing that. Take this parchment and get it published. The slave just reads it, scoffs. Yeah, you're working hard with your quilt and your fine silk clothing.

Must be so difficult raising yourself out of your feather bed at seven in the morning. Boo hoo. Perhaps should be pointed out at this point, John does not own any slaves. That's good. Yeah, no. Him and Abigail don't believe in owning slaves. Might as well cut out the last whole two minute rant then. Yeah.

Abigail, talking of Abigail, fully running things at home, dealing with a smallpox outbreak and all the problems that come with living close to the front lines. Remember, she's right next to Boston. Of course, yeah. Which is being sieged. Ooh, alright. Yeah, it's not great.

She often writes to John, asking for him to come home for a while. Help! To see her and the children. John very rarely bothered to write back. Oh, he's nice. Yeah. News of Washington's victory cheers up Philadelphia. Washington takes Boston, remember.

Yeah. But when the British walk into New York, effectively, moods darken again. John was chosen then to go on a diplomatic mission to New York, where he meets the British Admiral Howe. He goes right into New York, past all of the Redcoats. It's a bit nerve-wracking. But there you go, he's gone to the front line now. The meeting was polite, but doesn't go anywhere.

But it does give John the closest view he's had of the war. He was disgusted to see and hear reports of Continental troops running away from the British. And I quote, I can bear almost anything better than disgrace. Once back in Philadelphia, he suggests that officers found guilty of cowardice be executed. Also, the death penalty should go to any officer taken unaware by the enemy

in the field. What? Some brilliant armchair generaling there. Well done, John. Oh, yeah. You can just imagine Washington's face when he hears that. Yeah. After all, Washington himself has been taken by surprise a few times. Yeah.

Yeah. By the end of the war, none of the officer classes were executed. Good. Quite a few soldiers in lower classes. Of course they were. Of course. Delegation. Yes. I hereby delegate my sentence to my lieutenant.

It's a sign of a good leader. Yeah. Yeah. But one silver lining from this journey, looking at the state of the army convinces John that they really do need to do something to improve this army. So more funds were found for Washington. That's good.

Yeah. We're giving you more than Jeff. Yes. Around this time, John finds time to visit home after a few months away. Abigail was still writing to him, herself very interested in the state of Congress. She once wrote to John asking him and Congress to, and I quote, remember the ladies, as men were by nature tyrannical

and they needed protection from men's unlimited power. Taking an interest. That's good, yeah. Women's rights. Yeah. John, hardly the winner of Best Husband of the Year award, writes back, I cannot help but laugh at such notions.

Crazy women rantings. Yeah. You must have a fever. I fear you are unwell, my dear. Now, he had promised that once he returned to Braintree, his family would go back with him to Philadelphia. But when John goes back to Congress, he went alone. So things either didn't go well, or perhaps, to give John some credit, he realised that the British were closing in on Philadelphia. It's now safer near Boston. Perhaps they should stay. In fact, things were so dangerous in Philadelphia, he doesn't return to Philadelphia, but to Baltimore.

Congress were worried that the capital was about to be taken. This did not last long, however. Politicians soon migrated back to Philadelphia. Again, John throws himself into his work. He sits on 26 committees. He chairs eight of them. He, again, is pretty much running the war committee. And some good news comes through from Washington.

He'd scored a couple of victories. One in Trenton that we talked about. Yes. But John seemed in a bleak mood, personally. Again, he wrote as if he was actually on the front line, cursing all the work he was forced to do. However, he still had confidence in the war, especially if France were to get involved.

The French were holding back at the moment, but surely it's only a matter of time. Any day now. Yes. Please, France. Come on. He was still advocating tougher measures on his own troops, however. Shoot a general, he said at one point,

as a way of focusing everyone's attention to the job at hand. Oh, dear. I think they're well aware of the job at hand. Yeah, he was worried the idle generals not taking their job seriously. They needed to have an example made of them. Yeah. We've all worked under somebody like that, haven't we? Oh, yes. He was increasingly frustrated at what seemed like Washington's hesitation. Why is Washington not doing anything? Why is he sitting around not fighting the British? Not understanding, as we now know after

Washington's episode, Washington was barely able to hold his forces together at this point. Everyone is starving, freezing to death. They don't have the numbers, they don't have the weapons. If Britain walked over and had a good look at them, they'd realise that they could destroy them in a matter of moments. John doesn't really see this, despite the fact he's running the war committee. Yeah. Yeah. Then news comes through that the British were indeed on their way to Philadelphia.

John was awoken in the middle of the night. He hurriedly packs up all his things and rides on horseback to Trenton. Things look bleak once more. But once more, some good news arrives soon afterwards. Horatio Gates had captured 6,000 men in Saratoga. Nice. Yeah, stunning victory. This is exactly what the Americans need, a large victory to convince potential allies that they were capable of winning this war, if only they had a bit of help. So talk once more turns to the possibility of France getting involved. Adams was at the forefront of this, discussing and debating how it could happen. And then the rumour mill starts up.

Silas Dean, a diplomat in Paris was being recalled and they needed a replacement. It was about this time that John writes to Abigail to say he's coming home. Yay! Don't worry, Abigail. I will be back soon and I'm not going to ask to be re-elected to Congress. It's time

I stop. She was overjoyed. He returned. And there was merriment by all. And then two weeks later, a letter arrived when John was out. Abigail opens the letter. John was chosen to go to Paris. Yay!

Now, Abigail obviously realised there's no way John would not have known about this. Probably not best pleased. No. No. A bit miffed. She demands that she is to go with him.

If you're going to Paris, you're taking me with you. I'm not staying here on this farm on my own, raising a family and trying to keep a farm operating. She just needs to do something else for a while. John, however, refuses, arguing that it's far too dangerous. And he has got a point here. If they get caught in the crossing, she would be in danger.

He's a leading member of Congress, there's a target on his back, and therefore on her back. All very valid arguments. If it wasn't for the fact he then said he would take his ten-year-old son, John Quincy, Oh! What an absolute pillock.

Yeah, far too dangerous, my dear. I suppose you've got a point, but I'm taking wee John with me. That's your Lego boy. So, father and son head to the ship called the Boston, which is not confusing in the slightest.

They wait for two days on the ship for the ship to move. The tension must have been unbearable. Neither father or son had ever done anything like this before. No. It's a whole new world for them, isn't it? Yeah. It's a real world.

But the weather's just not favourable. They can't move, so they wait there for two days. The trip would last a month at best, possibly even two. It's winter. The seas are all the more dangerous and they're just waiting to leave. And eventually on the 15th of February, the ship

starts to move. It sailed all the way to just north of Boston and then stopped again to let some crew on and then the weather turned again so another 48 hour delay. Adams was in a foul mood by this point, stating that the Navy board would hear about such delays. He's one of these people that send these letters into these magazines

saying the quality of the rail service is terrible. I don't care if cows throw themselves on the line. My train was 10 minutes late. Yeah, you get that impression. However, at last they were on their way. Within two days, the dangers of the journey struck home. British ships were spotted on the horizon

and they were giving chase. Oh dear. Adams knew that he would be a prize catch for the enemy, but there was nothing he could do for the next forty-odd hours but watch as they get closer and closer. Eventually, however, a storm appeared that separated the ships. They were safe from capture.

For now. But they did face the storm. Three of the crew were struck by lightning. One of them was killed. Bloody hell. Yeah, this is... It was dangerous crossing the Atlantic. They were struck by lightning. Yeah. this is... It was dangerous crossing the Atlantic. We were struck by lightning.

Yeah. What are the odds? Well, when you're the only ship in the middle of the ocean, probably quite high if you're in the middle of a storm. And I guess they're, you know, using their new iron boats as well. Yeah, and wearing their big pointy metal hats. Yeah, it's not helpful. Big umbrellas.

All of them blaspheming as well. And hiding under the trees on board. Yeah. It's not helpful. Big umbrellas. All of them blaspheming as well. And hiding under the trees on board. Yeah. Tempting fate, really. But yeah, eventually they come out the other side of the storm and the British ships were gone. Yay! They were safe. Boredom followed.

Unable to read due to the movement of the ship, John had nothing to do for days at a time. Eventually, however, there was some excitement when another ship was spotted. This time, it was the Boston's turn to hunt. It was a small merchant vessel. The captain figured, yeah, we could take that.

Nice to see that everyone's just pretty much a pirate these days. Yarr! I suppose they are at war with the British, so it makes sense. John and his son were ordered to stay below deck as the Boston caught up with the smaller vessel. But John couldn't help himself and sneaks back upstairs. Horrified at what he saw? Once on deck, a cannonball from the other ship screamed just past his head.

After all this, the captain angrily demanded why John was out on deck. A dazed John grinned and replied, I ought to do my share of fighting. What? Just imagine him, just glazed look. Yeah, smile on his face. Just doesn't matter who's talking to him, he's just staring at where the cannonball hit the mast. Yeah. Six weeks after setting off, John and little John arrive in France, ready to get the French to aid the Americans

in their quest for independence. Wow. And there we go. That is where we will leave it for today. He's in a little bobble, isn't he? Yes. He doesn in a little bubble, isn't he? Yes. He doesn't get it. He's not really getting it, no.

He's a talented guy, and he obviously has got a goal and wants that, and is talented at achieving certain things, but he doesn't get it. Yeah, he definitely has a reputation by this point of being stubborn, a bit obnoxious, hard to get on with. But equally, people realise that he knows what he's talking about. He works damn hard and he gets the job done.

Yeah. So he's sort of equally respected and... He's good at the admin, that's where he needs to stay at. You just get the impression whenever he walks into the room, people go, oh, that's where he needs to stay at you just get the impression whenever he walks into the room people go, oh it's John brilliant oh so if this meeting would last half an hour

it's now not yeah oh he's going through the minutes, brilliant oh you just know that he's the kind of person where someone wraps up the meeting and says, so unless there's anything else, I think we're all done here. Yes, John.

I've been thinking about these cowardly generals. Oh, God, John. He did this last week. Yeah. He's a bit pompous. Yes. Yeah. But not in a lovable way that Washington...

Washington learnt. Yeah. He grew as a Yes. Yeah. But not in a lovable way that Washington learned. Yeah. He grew as a person. Yeah. But we'll see. Because he's still got a whole episode. That's true. So he might turn. Might turn your opinion of him. Hopefully.

Yeah. So predictions then. Are you thinking? I don't think he will. I think he's going to be he'll get obviously get to the top yeah but he might be a bit annoying I don't know

I don't know he's a bit all up in the air I'm not sure well we will find out next time yeah with John Adams part 2 part 2 so thank you very much for listening

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POTUS a really fun podcast where they look more at what happened during the presidency of the presidents rather than the biography so yeah check them out right all that needs to be said then is Look more at what happened during the presidency of the presidents rather than the biography. So, yeah, check them out. Right, all that needs to be said then is goodbye. Mr. and Mrs. Adams, thank you so much for coming in at such short notice.

Of course, I take my son's education very seriously, and if he's been up to no good and I want to know about it, then he shall be punished. Punished? Yes, punished. Be quiet, little John. Let the adults talk. Yes, now, as you know, his grades are doing fine. He knows his Latin.

His classic studies are mediocre. Well, I'm glad to hear he was doing well, although I wish he was doing better. But it's not his, let's be honest, standard test results that I'm here to talk about. It's his behaviour, I'm afraid to say, Mr. Adams. It upsets me that his behavior is subpar. I expected better from you, young John.

Carpe diem. Yes, well, it's this report I got from his Greek teacher, Mr. Simmons. Ah. Yes, Mr. Simmons was very disappointed and, dare I say, distressed the other day when he discovered a live chicken in the stock cupboard. He found a chicken? Did you put a chicken in Mr. Simmons' cupboard? No, that's not true.

It was a duck. That's hardly the point, young man. Fact is, there was an avian presence in the stock room and there should not have been. Very disappointed. And I'll be honest, this is not the first time certain livestock has been discovered in areas that one would not wish for livestock to be.

This has happened before? Yes, unfortunately, there's been a string of these incidences. Mr Filch has had to have some time off when he found a sheep in his outhouse. You put a sheep in Mr Filch's outhouse? Yes. Well, three. Had to pack them in quite a lot. I'm not denying there was a certain element of ingenuity about it. I mean, how they got that donkey down the chimney, I'm not sure I'll ever figure out. Is it still there?

Oh, unfortunately so. I hear it baying at night. Quite frankly, it's becoming disturbingly surreal. Oh? If you have a look in my inkwell here... Who did? God. Yes, I'm not entirely sure that's even physically possible, but there it is.

Stop breaking the laws of physics. We're in the north. Chuff it, heck there it is. Stop breaking the laws of physics. We're in the North. Chuff it, heck. Different North. Oh, okay. Oh, you've got my map. Which North are we in? Massachusetts.

Where the hell's that? It's the one that says Mass. Yeah, okay. I thought it was somewhere here. That's Virginia. That's where Washington was last time so i thought virginia was there i my geography is terrible just a quick question does virginia count as the south yes because for me that's it's almost on the border of it's on the the borderline i'd say north carolina is the south virginia is part of the north i should probably point out for the listeners that jenny is now looking at the map that i've drawn of the united states you've got to remember the south is the south of the original states okay yeah because it's like kentucky they're they're the

north see missouri that's that splits it up a little bit because it dips around part of kentucky i guess as well then still on that line you you've got Kansas is north, Colorado is north, then Nevada, that ruins it, because it dips into the south. Then what the hell's going on with California there? It's all over the place. I see your point, but it's wrong. But we split there, okay.

Yes. We'll talk about the development of states as they come. Okay. But for now, yeah, Virginia is south because it's one of the southern states for the original 13 states. Okay? Alright. Yeah? Well, it's not okay, but I'll get on board.

It's the northernmost southern state. How about that? What? Okay. Yeah? Or the southernmost northern state. No, because it's a southern state. Right. Carry on. Okay. Or the southernmost northern state. No, because it's the southern states. Carry on. Okay.

It's going to be a long episode. So, we are in the north today. No. Just joking. Why is there a cow in my lasagna? But cows should be in lasagna. Not if it's mooey.