Thank you John Adams

In my mind the Founding Fathers all were a laminating wall painted one shade, with the same texture, and even strokes. They were the blob in history that helped to start our country, and even though I recognized that they were different people I did not bother to establish those differences. This week as we studied John Adams in American Heritage I realized that if all of the Founding Fathers were one mold the Declaration of Independence would never have been completed, and the “what ifs” would resolve in an endless argument altering the course of our history as we know it.
When Professor H put in a movie during class I sat in the dark wondering if I was really in collage or not. Most movies I have watched in class depict raspy voiced old men wearing white wigs centered on top of their powdered faces, and some mellow dramatic voice in the background narrating the obvious events on the screen. None of them have impacted me as much as the movie John Adams that we watched last week. Suddenly the Founding Fathers became plural.
John Adams particularly stood out. It was strange to see him working as a farmer in the opening scene, and I tried to imagine senators today turning manure over with their bare hands. I had a hard time imagining myself turning manure over bare handed. There is more to it than just saying that John Adams was working with what he had. Modern equipment makes it so that farmers can bail hay, feed, milk, and scrap corals for daily thousands of animals. It is difficult for me to comprehend doing everything by had, but John Adams owned and managed a respected farm. Obviously John Adams knew how to work, but it is important to note that he worked well. He also expanded his education, and was involved in politics. From the life that he lived I have a feeling he worked just as hard in these studies as he did in his milk barn.
Abigail Adams was probably my favorite character in the movie, and it was all the more reason to respect John Adams. It seemed that the majority of the information I read about John Adams came from letters that he had written to his wife. History recognizes their relationships as an example of a healthy husband and wife relationship. John Adams and Abigail Adams were able to discuss family, politics, and social issues in their letters. In the movie when Abigail asks Washington to deliver her letters to her husband he comments on how not only would John Adams benefit from her advise, but the rest of them would also. John Adams must have talked about his wife enough for Washington to recognize that her opinion was valuable to her husband. To me this portrayed that not only her Husband respected her, but other established members of society did also. When learning about historical figures I like to learn about their wives, because I find it revealing. John Adams established remarkable things in public, but what makes me really awed is that he was able to establish a relationship with his wife.
When John Adams went to congress in 1775 after the Lexington and Concord shootings he wanted the members there to realize that they were not simply dealing with a political issue, but they were dealing with people’s lives. Another time he showed this concern was when George Washington’s troops needed food, clothing, cannons, and ammunition. John Adams pleaded to send the requested equipment there, because he knew that people were suffering. While drafting the Declaration of Independence John Adams mentioned the inhumane act of slavers, and during his speech to persuade the delegates to vote for independence he recognized that lives would be taken on both sides. He valued life, and what caused me to ponder is that he believed that freedom was worth the price. John Adams was not simply willing to let others give up their lives for freedom, but he was willing to give up his. It took years before our country felt prepared to go to war, and it would take several more before this great country would be established. Throughout all of that John Adams remained dedicated to his dream of freedom, and spent hours laboring to ensure that I, a Brigham Young University collage student, had that freedom. Thank you John Adams.