Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0159
[dateline] Bilboa October 26. 1781
[salute] Dear Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0160
[dateline] Boston Octobr. 29. 1781
[salute] Dear Sir
[salute] Fine Crops this Year—Plenty of Provisions—Paper Money abolished &c. Yr. Affct. Friend & Obt. Sert.,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0161
[dateline] Boston Octr. 30th. 1781
[salute] Dear Bror.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0162
[dateline] Boston Novr. 3d 1781
[salute] Dear Bror.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0163
[dateline] Amsterdam November 14. 1781
[salute] Dr. Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0164
[dateline] November 15th 1781
There is a Lust in Man no Charm can tame
of loudly publishing his Neighbours Shame
on Eagles wings immortal scandles fly
whilst virtuous actions are but born and die.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0165
[dateline] Philada. Novr. 26th. 1781
[salute] Madam
[salute] Your most humble Servant,
[dateline] Decr. 2d. 1781
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0166
[dateline] Novr. 29 1781
[salute] Madam
[salute] I hope you are not very ill. You are surely not very well. Yr. m h Servant,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0167
[dateline] Bilbao the 30th. Novr. 1781
[salute] Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0168
[dateline] Bilbao November 30. 1781
[salute] Dear Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0169
[dateline] Amsterdam Dcr. 1. 1781
[salute] Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0170
[dateline] Cambridge Dec. 1. 1781
[salute] My Dear Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0171
[dateline] Amsterdam Decr. 2 1781
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0172
[dateline] Amsterdam Decr. 2d. 1781
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0173
[dateline] Decr. 4th. 1781
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0174
[dateline] December 9 1781
[salute] My Dearest Friend
“an elegant Sufficency, content
Retirement, Rural quiet, Friendship, Books
Ease and alternate Labour, usefull Life
progressive Virtue and approveing Heaven.”
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0175
[dateline] December 9 1781
[salute] My dear Sir
[salute] Let me beg of you to be punctual in writing and let no opportunity slip by which you may convey comfort and satisfaction to your Friends particularly to your ever affectionate Friend,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0176
[dateline] Amsterdam Decr. 14. 1781
[salute] My dear Son
[salute] It is not necessary to add my Name, when I assure you of my Affection.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0177
[dateline] Amsterdam Decr. 15. 1781
[salute] My dear Child
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0178
[dateline] Amsterdam Decr. 18 1781
[salute] My dearest friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0179
[dateline] Amsterdam Decr. 18 1781
[salute] My dear Brother
[salute] Remember me to every Body.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0180
[dateline] Amsterdam Decr. 19th. 1781
[salute] Madam
[salute] Much Duty and Love where due. I have the honor to be, with the most perfect Esteem & Respect, Madam, your most humble Servant,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0181
[dateline] Amsterdam ce 22. Decembre 1781
[salute] Mon cher Ami
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0182
[dateline] December 23. 1781
[salute] My Dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0183
[dateline] Amsterdam Jany. 4. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Yours forever,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0184
[dateline] Amsterdam Jan. 4. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Most affectionately Yours,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0185
[dateline] [Braintree 8? January 17821]
[salute] Sir
[dateline] Janry 8. 1782
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0186
[dateline] St. Petersbourg Jany. 1/12 1782
[salute] Honoured Sir
[salute] I am your dutiful Son.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0187
[dateline] A St: Petersbourg ce 2/13 Janvier 1782
[salute] Mon cher Monsieur
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0188
[dateline] Boston January the 23d. 1782
[salute] I am Sr. Yr. [humble?] servant,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0189
[dateline] Boston Jany. 31st. 1782
[salute] Dear Bror.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0190
[dateline] Feb. 5. 1782
[salute] My dear Boy
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0191
[dateline] Feb. 28. 1782
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0192
[dateline] [Braintree, February–March 17821]
[salute] My dear sister
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0193
[dateline] St. Petersbourg
February 21 / March 4 1782
[salute] Honoured Sir
[salute] I am your dutiful Son,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0194
[dateline] Amsterdam 7th. March 1782
[salute] Madam
[dateline] Saturday. March 23d.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0195
[dateline] March 17th 1782
[salute] My Dearest Friend
[dateline] March 25th
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0196
[dateline] St. Petersbourg March 6/17 1782
[salute] My dear Cousin
“What cannot active government perform,
New moulding man? wide stretching from these shores
A people savage from remotest time.
A huge, neglected empire, ONE VAST MIND
By heaven inspired from Gothic darkness call'd.
Immortal Peter! first of Monarchs! He
His stubborn country tamed, her rocks, her fens;
Her floods, her seas, her ill submitting sons;
And while the fierce Barbarian he subdued,
To more exalted soul he rais'd the Man.
Ye shades of antient heroes, ye who toil'd
Thro' long successive ages to build up
A labouring plan of state, behold at once
The wonder done! behold the matchless prince!
Who left his native throne where reign'd till then
A mighty shadow of unreal power;
Who greatly spurn'd the slothful pomp of courts;
And roaming every land, in every port
His sceptre laid aside, with glorious hand
Unwearied, plying the mechanic tool,
Gather'd the seeds of trade, of useful arts
Of civil wisdom, and of martial skill.
Charg'd with the stores of Europe, home he goes!
Then cities rise amid th'illumined wastes
O'er joyless desarts smiles the rural reign;
Far distant flood to flood is social joined,
Th'astonished Euxine hears the Baltick roar,
Proud navies ride on seas that never foam'd
With daring keel before; and armies stretch
Each way their dazzling files, repressing here
The frantic Alexander of the North,
And awing there stern Othman's shrinking sons.
Sloth flies the land, and ignorance, and vice
Of old dishonour proud: it glows around. { 299 }
Taught by the ROYAL HAND that rous'd the whole,
One scene of arts, of arms, of rising trade:
For what his wisdom plann'd and power enforc'd
More potent still, his great example shew'd.1
[salute] I am your affectionate Cousin.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0197
[dateline] A St. Petersbourg ce
7/18 Mars 1782
[salute] Mon cher Monsieur
[salute] Je n'ai plus de terns pour écrire, ainsi je finirai en vous assurant que je suis vôtre trés humble et trés obéissant serviteur.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0198
[dateline] Amsterdam March 22. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Adieu Adieu.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0199
[dateline] Amsterdam March 23d. 1782
[salute] Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0200
[dateline] 29 March 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0201
[dateline] St. Petersbourg March 20/31 1782
[salute] Honoured Sir
[salute] I am your dutiful Son,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0202
[dateline] April 1. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Adieu—Adieu!4
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0203
[dateline] April 10th. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
“Oh! haste to me! A Little longer Stay
Will ev'ry grace, each fancy'd charm decay:
Increasing cares, and times resistless rage
Will waste my bloom, and wither it to age.”
“While pride, oppression and injustice reign
the World will still demand her Catos presence.”
[salute] I cheer my Heart with the distant prospect. All that I can hope for at present, is to hear of your welfare which of all things lies nearest the Heart of Your ever affectionate
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0204
[dateline] Braintree [ca. 10] April [1782]
[salute] Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0205
[dateline] Boston April 10th. 1782
[salute] Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0206
[dateline] [Braintree, ante 16 April 1782]1
[salute] Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0207
[dateline] April the 16th. 1782
[salute] Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0208
[dateline] Amsterdam 20th. April 1782
[salute] Sir
[salute] I am with an invariable Attachment, Sir, &c.,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0209
[dateline] April 25 1782
[salute] My Dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0210
[dateline] [Amsterdam, 28 April 1782]1
[salute] My Child
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0211
[dateline] Saturday [April 1782]
[dateline] Monday afternoon
[salute] Yours,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0212
[dateline] Braintree May 3d. 1782
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0213
[dateline] Amsterdam 4th. May 1782
[salute] Sir
[salute] With an invariable Respect & Attachment I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient & most humble Servant,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0214
[dateline] Amsterdam 6th. May 1782
[salute] Sir
[salute] I have the Honor to be, with the greatest Respect, Sir, &c.,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0215
[dateline] Hotel des Etats Unis, a la Haye May 13. 1782
[salute] My dear Son
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0216
[dateline] The Hague May 14 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0217
[dateline] Hotel des Etats Unis a la Haye June 16. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Adieu, Adieu, Adieu.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0218
[dateline] June 17. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0219
[dateline] June 17, 1782
[salute] My dear Sir
[salute] Should it find its way to you receive it with the affectionate Regard and Sisterly Love of
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0220
[dateline] [The Hague, 17 June 1782]
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0221
[dateline] Amsterdam 23d. June 1782
[salute] Madam
[salute] I have the Honor to be, with an invariable Respect, Madam, your most obed. Servt.,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0222
[dateline] London June 28th 1782
[salute] Dear Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0223
[dateline] Wedensday June [1782]
[salute] My Dear Eliza
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0224
[dateline] The Hague July 1. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0225
[dateline] Amstdm. 1st. July. 1782.
[salute] Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0226
[dateline] [The Hague, 2 July 1782]
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0227
[dateline] The Hague July 5. 1782
[salute] Dear Sir
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0228-0001
[dateline] July 17 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
“Man wants but little here below
Nor wants that little long.”
[dateline] July 18th
[salute] Adieu my dearest Friend, and Believe me your Most affectionate
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0228-0002
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0229
[dateline] July 18th 1782
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0230
[dateline] Cambridge July 19th 1782
[salute] Dear Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0231
[dateline] A St. Petersbourg 11/22 Juillet 1782
[salute] Mon cher Monsieur
[salute] Je finis en vous souhaitant une traversée courte et heureuse, et en vous assurant que je suis vôtre trés humble et trés obéissant serviteur.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0232
[dateline] Hague 25 July 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0233
[dateline] The Hague 27th. July 1782
[salute] Madam
[salute] Remember me, if You please, dutifully and respectfully where due. My most affectionate Regards to the fair of my Acquaintance. Miss N[abby], Masters Charley and Thommy claim the Remembrance and Affection of him who has the honor to be, with the most perfect Esteem & Respect, Madam, your most Ob. & most Hble. Servt.,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0234
[dateline] August 5th 1[7]82
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0235
[dateline] Hague 14th August 1782
[salute] My dear Jack
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0236
[dateline] [The Hague, ca. 15 August 1782]1
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Adieu, tenderly Adieu.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0237
[dateline] Hague 16th. August 1782
[salute] Madam
[dateline] August 18th.
[dateline] 19th.
[salute] I have the honor to be, with an invariable Respect & Esteem, Madam, your most Ob. & M. H. S.,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0238
[dateline] August 17. 17821
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Adieu.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0239
[dateline] August 17. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0240
[dateline] Aug. 18. 1782
[salute] My dear Son
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0241
[dateline] The Hague August 28 1782
[salute] My dear Friend
[salute] Mean while Adieu.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0242
[dateline] Aug. 31. 1782
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0243
[dateline] [The Hague, August? 1782]1
[salute] My dear Dr.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0244
[dateline] Sepbr. 3. 1782
[salute] My Dearest Friend
[salute] Adieu my dearest Friend and be assured of the Strongest attachment and warmest affection of your
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0245
[dateline] Hague 3d. Septr. 1782
[salute] Madam
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0246
[dateline] Sepbr. 5 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
[salute] Once more adieu. The Messenger waits and hurrys me.—Ever Ever yours,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0247
[dateline] St: Petersbourg August 26. / September 6 1782
[salute] Honoured Sir
[salute] I am your dutiful Son,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0248
[dateline] Boston Sept. 7th. 1782
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0249
[dateline] Newport Sepbr. 10th: 1782
[salute] Madam
[salute] I am with every sentiment of respect Madam your most obedient humble servt.,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0250
[dateline] Hague Sept. 17 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0251
[dateline] Sept. 24. 1782
[salute] My dearest Friend
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0252
[dateline] The Hague, September 26, 1782
[salute] My dear Daughter
[salute] With inexpressible tenderness of heart, I am Your affectionate father,
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0253
[dateline] Weymouth Sept. 26. 1782
[salute] Dear Sir
[salute] I am Sir with great Respect Yours.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0254
[dateline] St. Petersbourg Septr. 27th. 1782
[salute] Sir
[salute] Permit me to reiterate the assurance of my best wishes for your safe return to our dear country, and believe me to be Sir Your most obedient humble servant.
Docno: ADMS-04-04-02-0255
[dateline] [Braintree, September 1782]
[salute] My Dear Eliza
1761 | Feb. | John Adams (JA) records arguments in Superior Court of Judicature on writs of assistance (Petition of Lechmere). | |||||||||||||||||
1761 | May | Upon the death of his father, JA inherits Braintree property (later known as the John Quincy Adams Birthplace). | |||||||||||||||||
1761 | Nov. | JA admitted to practice in the Superior Court of Judicature. | |||||||||||||||||
1762 | Spring | JA begins serving on town committees and traveling the Inferior and Superior Court circuits. His circuit riding continues for fourteen years. | |||||||||||||||||
1762 | Aug. | JA admitted barrister in the Superior Court of Judicature. | |||||||||||||||||
1762 | Oct. | Courtship correspondence of JA and Abigail, daughter of Rev. William Smith of Weymouth, begins. | |||||||||||||||||
1763 | Feb. | Treaty of Paris concluded, by which France cedes Canada, and Spain cedes the Floridas, to Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||
1763 | March | JA's first known newspaper contribution, signed “Humphrey Ploughjogger,” is published in the Boston Evening Post. | |||||||||||||||||
1764 | Feb. | Beginning of smallpox epidemic in Boston which was to last throughout the year. | |||||||||||||||||
1764 | April–May | JA inoculated in Boston for the smallpox, conducting almost daily correspondence with his fiancée at Weymouth. | |||||||||||||||||
1764 | Oct. 25 | JA and Abigail Smith (AA) marry and make their home in the house inherited from JA's father. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 404 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1765 | Jan. | JA joins a lawyers' “sodality” in Boston for the study of legal history and theory. | |||||||||||||||||
1765 | March | JA elected surveyor of highways in Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1765 | March | Stamp Act passed by the British Parliament; repealed in March 1766, but repeal is accompanied by the Declaratory Act. | |||||||||||||||||
1765 | June | JA travels the eastern court circuit to Maine for the first time. | |||||||||||||||||
1765 | July 14 | Abigail (AA2), 1st daughter and eldest child of JA and AA, is born at Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1765 | Aug.–Oct. | JA publishes “A Dissertation on the Canon and the Feudal Law” in installments in the Boston Gazette. | |||||||||||||||||
1765 | Sept. | JA composes the Braintree Instructions denouncing the Stamp Act. | |||||||||||||||||
1765 | Dec. | JA named of counsel for Boston to plead for reopening of the courts. | |||||||||||||||||
1766 | March | JA elected a Braintree selectman. | |||||||||||||||||
1766 | July | JA becomes active in the improvement of professional practice of the law through the Suffolk bar association. | |||||||||||||||||
1766 | Aug. | Benjamin Blyth executes portraits of JA and AA. | |||||||||||||||||
1767 | July 11 | John Quincy (JQA), 1st son of JA and AA, is born at Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1768 | April | The Adamses move to the “White House” in Brattle Square, Boston. | |||||||||||||||||
1768 | June | JA writes instructions for the Boston representatives to the General Court protesting the seizure of John Hancock's sloop Liberty. Later in the year he successfully defends Hancock in admiralty court against charges of smuggling in connection with the Liberty. | |||||||||||||||||
1768 | Sept. | British troops arrive in Boston Harbor to control resistance to Townshend Act duties, which are repealed, except for the tax on tea, in 1769. | |||||||||||||||||
1768 | Dec. 28 | Susanna (d. 4 Feb. 1770), 2d daughter of JA and AA, is born in Boston. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 405 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1769 | Spring | The Adamses move to Cole (or Cold) Lane, Boston. | |||||||||||||||||
1769 | May | JA writes instructions for the Boston representatives to the General Court protesting the presence of British troops and the growing power of admiralty courts. | |||||||||||||||||
1769 | May–June | JA successfully defends Michael Corbet and three other sailors in admiralty court for the killing of Lt. Henry Panton of the British Navy. | |||||||||||||||||
1770 | March | JA agrees to defend Capt. Thomas Preston and the British soldiers involved in the “Boston Massacre.” | |||||||||||||||||
1770 | May 29 | Charles (CA), 2d son of JA and AA, is born in Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1770 | June | JA elected a representative to the General Court from Boston; serves until April 1771. | |||||||||||||||||
1770 | Oct.–Nov. | JA successfully defends Preston and the soldiers in the “Boston Massacre” trials. | |||||||||||||||||
1770 | The Adamses move during this year to “another House in Brattle Square.” | ||||||||||||||||||
1771 | April | The Adamses move back to Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1771 | June | JA travels to Connecticut for his health and takes the mineral waters at Stafford Springs. | |||||||||||||||||
1772 | Sept. 15 | Thomas Boylston (TBA), 3d son of JA and AA, is born in Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1772 | Nov. | The Adamses move to Queen Street (later Court Street) in Boston, and JA maintains his law office there until the outbreak of hostilities. | |||||||||||||||||
1773 | Jan.–Feb. | JA publishes articles in the Boston Gazette answering William Brattle and opposing crown salaries to Superior Court judges. | |||||||||||||||||
1773 | May | JA elected by the House a member of the Massachusetts Council but is negatived by Gov. Thomas Hutchinson. | |||||||||||||||||
1773 | Dec. 16 | Boston Tea Party. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 406 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1774 | Feb. | JA buys his father's homestead (later known as the John Adams Birthplace) from his brother Peter Boylston Adams. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | March | JA furnishes legal authorities for impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Peter Oliver. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | March | Boston Port Act passed by Parliament, closing port of Boston in June. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | May | JA elected by the House a member of the Council but is negatived by Gov. Thomas Gage. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | June | JA elected a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress. The family returns to Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | June–July | JA travels “for the tenth and last time on the Eastern Circuit” in Maine, and parts with his loyalist friend Jonathan Sewall at Falmouth. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | Aug. | JA travels from Boston to Philadelphia with the Massachusetts delegation to the Continental Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | Sept.–Oct | JA attends first Continental Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | Oct.–Nov. | JA returns from Philadelphia to Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | Nov.–Dec. | JA attends first Provincial Congress in Cambridge as a member from Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1774 | Dec. | JA reelected to the Continental Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | Jan.–April | JA publishes essays signed “Novanglus” in Boston Gazette in answer to Daniel Leonard's “Massachusettensis” articles. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | April 19 | Lexington and Concord fights; first blood of the Revolution is spilled. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | April–May | JA travels from Braintree to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | May | Colonial forces lay siege to British army in Boston, now under the command of Howe and Clinton. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | May–July | JA attends second Continental Congress; makes first proposal of Washington as commander in chief of a Continental Army. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | June 17 | AA and JQA watch Bunker Hill battle from Penn's Hill above their house. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | July 3 | Washington takes command of Continental forces at Cambridge. AA conveys a high opinion of him to JA in a letter of 16 July. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | July | JA elected by the House a member of the Council; resigns in April 1776. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 407 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1775 | July | JA writes letters to AA and James Warren ridiculing John Dickinson's conciliatory views; the letters are intercepted and published by the British in August and produce a lasting sensation that promotes the idea of independence. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | Aug. | JA returns from Philadelphia to Braintree, attends the Massachusetts Council in Watertown, and is reelected to the Continental Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | Aug.–Sept. | JA travels from Boston to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | Late summer and fall | Dysentery epidemic in Boston; JA's brother Elihu dies in camp in August, and AA's mother dies October 1. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | Sept–Dec. | JA attends the Continental Congress and plays a principal part in the measures leading to the establishment of an American navy. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | Oct. | JA appointed Chief Justice of Massachusetts; resigns in Feb. 1777 without ever serving. | |||||||||||||||||
1775 | Dec. | JA obtains leave from Congress and returns from Philadelphia to Braintree, attends the Massachusetts Council in Watertown, visits the army headquarters in Cambridge, and is reelected to the Continental Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | Jan. | JA drafts for the General Court a proclamation to be read at the opening of courts of justice and town meetings. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | Jan.–Feb. | JA travels from Braintree to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | Feb.–Oct. | JA attends the Continental Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | March 17 | The British evacuate Boston. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | March–April | After reading Paine's Common Sense, JA writes Thoughts on Government, published anonymously. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | Spring and summer | Smallpox epidemic in Boston. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | May | JA advocates establishment of new state governments and writes preamble to the resolution of 15 May recommending such action to the states. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | June | JA appointed president of the newly formed Continental Board of War and Ordnance. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | June–July | JA appointed to committee to draft a declaration of independence and makes the principal speech in favor of the resolution for independence, adopted on 2 July, followed by adoption of the Declaration of Independence, 4 July. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 408 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1776 | June–Sept. | JA drafts a “Plan of Treaties” and instructions to the first American Commissioners to France. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | July | AA and children inoculated for smallpox. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | Sept. | JA journeys to Staten Island with Benjamin Franklin and Edward Rutledge as a committee of Congress to confer with Admiral Lord Howe. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | Oct. | JA obtains leave from Congress and returns from Philadelphia to Braintree. | |||||||||||||||||
1776 | Nov. | JA reelected to the Continental Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1777 | Jan. | JA travels from Braintree to attend the Continental Congress sitting in Baltimore. | |||||||||||||||||
1777 | March | JA travels to Philadelphia when Congress adjourns to that city. | |||||||||||||||||
1777 | July 11 | AA gives birth to a stillborn daughter, Elizabeth. | |||||||||||||||||
1777 | Aug. | Beginning of correspondence between AA and James Lovell, a Massachusetts delegate to the Continental Congress; the correspondence continues with growing frequency and intimacy through early 1782, when Lovell leaves Congress. | |||||||||||||||||
1777 | Sept. | JA leaves Philadelphia upon the adjournment of Congress after the American defeat at Brandywine Creek, and travels to York, Penna., where Congress reconvenes. | |||||||||||||||||
1777 | Oct. 16 | Burgoyne surrenders his northern army to the American forces under Gates at Saratoga. | |||||||||||||||||
1777 | Nov. | JA obtains leave from Congress, returns to Braintree, and resumes his law practice, traveling to Portsmouth in December to defend the owners of the Lusanna, He there learns he has been elected by Congress a joint commissioner (with Franklin and Arthur Lee) to France, replacing Silas Deane. | |||||||||||||||||
1778 | Feb. 6 | Treaties of alliance and of amity and commerce between France and the United States signed at Versailles. | |||||||||||||||||
1778 | Feb.–March | JA and JQA sail from Quincy Bay aboard the Continental frigate Boston, Capt. Samuel Tucker, to Bordeaux. | |||||||||||||||||
1778 | April | JA and JQA join Franklin's household at the Hôtel de Valentinois in Passy; JA begins his efforts to put the affairs of the American joint mission on a businesslike footing. His personal tensions with Franklin begin. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 409 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1778 | April | JQA enters M. Le Coeur's pension academy in Passy. | |||||||||||||||||
1778 | May | JA has his first audience with Louis XVI at Versailles. | |||||||||||||||||
1778 | Sept. | Joint commission dissolved and Franklin named sole minister to France. | |||||||||||||||||
1778 | Dec. | AA2 makes extended visit to the James Warrens in Plymouth, not returning to Braintree until May 1779. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | Jan. | AA writes to a member of the Continental Congress severely criticizing Silas Deane's controversial address in defense of his conduct in France. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | March | JA takes leave of the French court. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | March–June | JA, accompanied by JQA, in Nantes, Brest, Lorient, Saint Nazaire, and on board the Alliance arranging for the exchange of prisoners of war and awaiting passage to America. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | April | JA makes acquaintance with the Joshua Johnson family at Lorient, perhaps providing JQA with the opportunity of meeting Louisa Catherine Johnson (later his wife, LCA), then aged four. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | April | By secret treaty Spain becomes a co-belligerent with France in the war against England. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | June–Aug. | JA and JQA sail from Lorient to Boston with the Chevalier de La Luzerne, French minister to the United States, aboard the French frigate La Sensible, arriving home on 3 August. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | Aug. | JA proposes founding the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, incorporated May 1780. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | Aug.–Nov. | JA elected to represent Braintree in convention to frame a new state constitution; attends the convention and drafts The Report of a Constitution. . . for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is adopted, after alterations, by the convention and by the towns of Massachusetts in June 1780. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | Sept. | JA elected minister by Congress with sole powers to negotiate treaties of peace and commerce with Great Britain; commissions revoked June–July 1781. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | Nov.–Dec. | JA, JQA, and CA, accompanied by John Thaxter as JA's private secretary, sail from Boston aboard La Sensible to El Ferrol, Spain. | |||||||||||||||||
1779 | Dec.–Jan. | The Adams party travels across northern Spain. From Bilbao JA sends the first of his consignments of European goods to AA, of which a number more were to follow from time to time from mercantile firms in Spain, France, and the Netherlands. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 410 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1780 | Jan.–Feb. | The Adams party travels from Bayonne to Paris and takes up residence at the Hôtel de Valois in Rue de Richelieu. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | Feb. | JQA and CA enter an academy in Passy conducted by M. Pechigny. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | Feb.–March | Russian Declaration of Armed Neutrality at sea, aimed at Great Britain and later joined by various northern powers; it eventually proves ineffective. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | May 19 | A meteorological phenomenon occurs in New England: “the Dark Day.” | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | Spring and summer | The correspondence between JA and the Comte de Vergennes on such topics as the former's announcing his mission, Congress' devaluation of Continental currency, and French naval strategy in American waters leads to an open breach between them. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | June | JA commissioned an agent by Congress to negotiate a Dutch loan. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | July–Aug. | Accompanied by his sons, JA travels from Paris to Amsterdam, before learning of his commission, to explore the possibility of Dutch financial aid to the United States. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | Aug.–Nov. | JQA and CA attend the Latin School on the Singel in Amsterdam. They are withdrawn when JQA proves insubordinate. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | Oct. | Treason of Benedict Arnold. Capture of Henry Laurens, with incriminating papers, at sea. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | Dec. | Francis Dana elected by Congress American minister to Russia; he proceeds there in 1781 but is never officially recognized. | |||||||||||||||||
1780 | Dec.–Jan. | JA elected minister by Congress, in the place of Henry Laurens, to negotiate a treaty of amity and commerce with the Netherlands. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | Jan. | JQA, CA, and John Thaxter matriculate as students at the University of Leyden through arrangements made by Benjamin Waterhouse. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | Jan.–Feb. | Great Britain begins hostilities against the Netherlands, using the captured papers of Henry Laurens as a pretext. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | March | Maryland's ratification of the Articles of Confederation, adopted by Congress in 1777, makes the confederation of American states complete. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 411 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1781 | March–May | JA drafts, submits, and prints a Memorial to the States-General urging Dutch recognition of American sovereignty. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | April | JA rents and furnishes a house on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. CA, because of illness and homesickness, leaves Leyden and comes to live with his father. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | April | AA makes plans to buy land in Vermont and in the following year does so. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | May | James and Mercy Otis Warren and their family move to Milton, occupying former Governor Hutchinson's house on Neponset Hill and thus becoming neighbors of AA. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | June | JA elected by Congress first among five joint commissioners (JA, Franklin, Jay, Laurens, and Jefferson) to treat for peace with Great Britain. Their instructions make them strictly dependent on French advice and approval. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | June | Austrian and Russian courts offer their services as mediators between the belligerents. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | July | JA returns to Paris to discuss with Vergennes the proposed mediation of the Austrian and Russian courts; rejects Vergennes' proposals and returns to Amsterdam. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | July | JA awarded LL.D. in absentia by Harvard College; not conferred until December. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | July | AA writes letters to Lovell and to Elbridge Gerry, defending JA against aspersions cast on him by Franklin's letter to Congress of 9 Aug. 1780, written at the behest of Vergennes. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | July–Aug. | JQA travels overland from Amsterdam to St. Petersburg as companion, interpreter, and clerk to Francis Dana. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | Aug. | JA commissioned by Congress to negotiate a triple or quadruple alliance between the Netherlands, France, Spain, and the United States. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | Aug. | CA starts his voyage home, traveling from the Texel aboard the South Carolina, Commodore Alexander Gillon, but disembarks at La Coruñia in September; completes his voyage, beginning in December, from Bilbao on the Cicero, Capt. Hugh Hill, arriving home late in January. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | Aug.–Oct. | JA suffers severely from a nervous fever. | |||||||||||||||||
1781 | Sept.–Oct. | Siege of Yorktown ends in Cornwallis' surrender, 19 Oct., to the Franco-American allies. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | Jan.–March | With the aid of Dutch friends, JA presses for recognition at The Hague. | |||||||||||||||||
{ 412 } | |||||||||||||||||||
1782 | Feb.–March | North's ministry resigns and is replaced by that of Rockingham, which shortly sends peace emissaries to France. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | April | JA is recognized by the States General as minister plenipotentiary to the Netherlands and granted an audience with the Stadholder, Willem V. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | May | JA takes up residence at the Hôtel des Etats-Unis at The Hague, purchased by him as the first legation building owned by the United States in Europe. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | June | JA contracts with a syndicate of Amsterdam bankers to raise the first Dutch loan to the United States, 5,000,000 guilders. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | June(?) | JA publishes anonymously A Collection of State-Papers, Relative to the First Acknowledgment of the Sovereignity of the United States of America, and the Reception of Their Minister Plenipotentiary, by Their High-Mightinesses the States-General of the United Netherlands, The Hague, 1782. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | June | First mention in the Adams correspondence of Royall Tyler, who later becomes engaged to AA2. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | July | Shelburne succeeds as British prime minister following death of Rockingham. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | Summer | JA conducts lengthy negotiations for a treaty of amity and commerce between the Netherlands and the United States, signed at The Hague, 8 October. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | Oct. | JA travels from The Hague to Paris. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | Oct.–Nov. | JA participates in negotiating and, with his fellow commissioners, signs at Paris, 30 Nov., the Preliminary Treaty of Peace between the United States and Great Britain. He remains in Paris. | |||||||||||||||||
1782 | Oct.–Nov. | JQA leaves St. Petersburg and travels via Finland and the Åland Islands to Stockholm, where he remains until the end of the year. |