There is no question
that George Washington was the true father of our country. His tireless
leadership in the American Revolution was critical to the successful forming of
our country.
He is the only US
President to ever be unanimously elected by the Electoral College (100% of the
electoral vote). He set precedence in almost every area of the office of
President which every US President has followed since.
What he did which was
truly remarkable was that after two terms as President he stepped down and
relinquished power. He did not run for a 3rd term. No revolution.
No coup. No hand-picked successor. Just an orderly transfer
of power through popular election. It is possible that this was the first
time this had occurred since the pure democracies of ancient Greece.
His Vice President, John
Adams, won the 2nd presidential election vs. Thomas Jefferson. John Adams
was a revolutionary patriot, founding father and my distant cousin.
President John Adams and
I share ancestors, Thomas Gardner and Lucy Smith. Thomas Gardner and Lucy
Smith were my 8th grandparents and President Adams' great-great grandparents.
This makes President Adams my 3rd cousin 6 times removed. So not a
close relative.
Here is the relationship
in a little more detail.
President John Adam his
parents were John Adams Sr. and Susanna Boylston
Susanna Boylston's
parents were Peter Boylston and Ann White
Peter Boylston’s parents
were Dr. Thomas Boylston and Mary Gardner
Mary Gardner's parents
were Thomas Gardner and Lucy Smith
Mary Gardner's sister
was Abigail Gardner. Abigail married Rev. John Wise (Rev Wise has some
good stories to tell which I will be detailing in future postings)
They had a daughter, Lucy
Wise who married Rev John White
Their son, William White
moved to Cape Elizabeth, Maine and married Christian Simonton
Their daughter, Anna
White married Israel Woodbury
Their daughter, Betsey
Woodbury married John Armstrong
Did I happen to mention
that President Adams' son, John Quincy Adams went on to be our 6th President?
When you find you are
related to someone (even distantly) it does increase your interest in that
historical figure.
One of John Adams
earliest known impact on history involved a famous event, but his role in that
event is not nearly as widely known.
The event was the Boston
Massacre.
On March 5, 1770,
British soldiers stationed in Boston shot and killed 5 civilians and wounded 6
others. British soldiers had been stationed in Boston due to increasing
unrest in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As the name "British Massacre"
would infer, there was widespread outrage over the killing of civilians by the
soldiers and the populace of Boston wanted to see the offending men hanged.
The British soldiers
maintained their innocence that they fired in self-defense.
There was little chance
of them receiving a fair or unbiased trial in Boston.
No one wanted to defend
the British soldiers at trial knowing that it could ruin their reputation and
their livelihood. Eventually, they found one lawyer who would defend them
in the search of the truth and justice....John Adams
During the trial, the future Pesident was
able to root out the actual series of events which led to
the shooting.
The incident started
when a group of men were harassing a British soldier named Private Hugh White
standing guard duty outside the Custom House on King's Street. The men
and the private exchanged insults. The private struck one of the men and
a mob started to form. Over 300-400 people of Boston started to hurl
insults, snow and small objects at the soldier as other soldier arrived to
support him.
The crowd taunted the
soldiers. It is even said that some of them shouted, "Fire!"
The soldiers stood their ground and waited for commands from Captain
Thomas Preston (who stood in front of his line of men). No command was
given to fire.
An object struck Private
Montgomery, knocking him to the ground. It is stated that he got up and
shouted, "Damn you, fire!" and shot into the crowd. From there
one of the civilians hit one of the soldiers with a club and it unraveled
quickly. Without orders some of the soldiers shot into the crowd.
The main issue to be decided was did Captain Preston order his men to
fire on unarmed civilians as the people of Boston believed or was this a
question of self-defense.
The trial began in
November 1770 and John Adams was able to prove to the jury that they had to
treat the British soldiers not as despised British, but as any men accused of
such as crime. He convinced the jury of the evidence that these men were
threatened and if they were guilty of anything it would be manslaughter and not
murder.
In the end, Adams
prevailed and six of the soldiers were found innocent of any wrong doing and
two others were found guilty of manslaughter.
As part of his defense
he issued his famous quote:
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever
may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they
cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
Try to think of the
times and the quality of the man who was John Adams. Revolutionary
feelings were growing and the British were reviled in many parts of Boston. It would have been easy to get caught up in the fervor of the times and wish ill on these men. Watch innocent men hang.
Unlike when the revolutionary feelings and events were rushing toward a Declaration of Independence, at this time and in this event, John Adams stood alone to stand for truth and justice. He showed a level of integrity which is always in short supply, whatever the time period.
It is heartening to know
that a few of the genes that made him a man of such sterling integrity also are
a part of my make-up. Something to be proud of and something to remember
when I am confronted with ethical problems and it is time for me to wonder, "What would John Adams
do?"
