John Adams (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: John Ferling
- First Published: 1992
- Type of Work: Biography
- Time of Work: 1735-1826
- Setting: Massachusetts, Philadelphia, Paris, Holland, London, and Washington, D.C.
- Principal Characters: John Adams, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson
- Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography
- Subjects: Freedom, United States or Americans, Europe or Europeans, American Revolution, Nationalism, Lawyers, Democracy, Presidents, Wealth, Unitarianism, Orators or orations
- Locales: Paris, France, Philadelphia, PA, Washington, D.C., London, England, Massachusetts, Holland
As portrayed by John Ferling, author of a biography of George Washington and of numerous works on the American Revolution, John Adams was a tissue of contradictions—a reluctant revolutionary who feared the “excesses” of democracy, a radical who was so conservative that at times he advocated a hereditary monarchy, a Puritan who became a Unitarian, a man who at times celebrated the basic decency of humanity and at other times viewed human nature as depraved, a politician who feared that too much democracy would enable the “poor and vicious” to plunder “the rich and virtuous”...
[The entire page is 2411 words long]
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