John Adams is still far less celebrated than many of his contemporaries, such as Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin, but after a long period of relative neglect he has regained a highly respected place in American history. Most of Adams's popular reputation is the result of his political activities and public offices, including his role in the first Continental Congresses and his election to the vicepresidency and presidency; however, his importance as a writer and political thinker, which was eclipsed along with his political fortunes during the early-nineteenth century, has now been securely established.

John Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, where his paternal great-great-grandfather Henry Adams had settled in 1639. John's mother, Susanna Boylston, was descended from the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth in 1621. His father, also named John, was a prosperous farmer, a town selectman, and a church deacon. This Puritan ancestry is observable in the strong emphasis...