APP;; John Adams [ohgood_god]
Name: Sammo
Journal: fribbled
Email: liberalkitten@gmail.com
AIM: recumbence
Character Name: John Adams
Fandom: 1776 (film)
Timeline: Post-film
Appearance:
Placemarker.
History:
John Adams Jr. was born the oldest son of a farmer/deacon/militia lieutenant/councilman and his wife in the north precinct of Braintree, in the British colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1735. He grew up on the farm before going to Harvard College in 1751. He took a few years after graduating to teach, trying to figure out just what he wanted to do with his life. Eventually deciding to be a lawyer, he studied with James Putnam's Worcester firm and passed the bar exam in 1758. Six years later, he wed one Abigail Smith, a minister's daughter. They went on to have six children: Abigail, John Quincy, Susanna (died a toddler), Charles, Thomas Boylston, and Elizabeth (stillborn).
John rose to prominence through his work with constitutional law, his historical analysis, and his dedication to republicanism. His political career fully started with his opposition of the Stamp Act of 1765, put in place to help pay the massive cost of a standing colonial army; Adams wrote several articles, speeches, and letters, both signed and anonymous, stating that the act was invalid as Massachusetts Bay had no say in the Parliament which has passed it. Basically, taxation without representation. His name grew after taking up the defense of the British soldiers involved with the Boston Massacre in 1770, during which time he was elected to the Massachusetts General Court. Two years later, after the colonial governor announced he'd henceforth be paid out of custom revenues, John drafted objections on behalf of radicals opposing the change, stating that unless clear, workable lines of sovereignty could be drawn between the King, Parliament, and the colonies, the colonies' only choice could be independence. He gave point-for-point arguments against the governor's actions and held that the colonial legislatures were fully sovereign in matters of their own, internal affairs.
In 1774, Massachusetts Bay sent a delegation to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts. This delegation consisted of Thomas Cushing, Robert Paine, and the cousinly duo of Samuel and John Adams. This congress drafted an agreement between all thirteen colonies and the West Indies islands to boycott British goods, a published list of grievances against England, and a petition to King George III to address and amend said grievances. The following year, since England had not repealed or changed the Intolerable Acts, the Second Continental Congress was called. Once again, John was among those called to represent Massachusetts Bay. The revolution had already begun a month before with the skirmishes at Concord and Lexington, but the fighting was uncoordinated, unordered, and unfunded for the first several months. On June 14th, 1775, the Congress agreed to raise the Continental Army and Adams nominated George Washington of Virginia as head general. Less than a month later, they drafted and sent the Olive Branch Petition as a last chance for reconciling with England. For the next year, the Congress headed the war effort and dealt with national domestic issues, even though it had no real authority over any of the colonies.
From the very beginning of the Second Continental Congress, Adams went in with an ideal of the colonies united and independent from Great Britain. Not even a week into proceedings, he was begging the colonies to draft their own constitutions, seeing it as the first step to true independence. He spent over a year in Philadelphia trying to convince the other delegates of this view; however, his contentiousness and pigheadedness earned him few friends.
By May of 1776, he only has a handful of delegates behind him with most of the others despising him and shouting at him to sit down any time he opened his mouth. His closest ally is Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who thinks since Adams' multiple resolutions for independence have all been shot down, perhaps they'd have better luck having someone else propose. Thus the two enlist Richard Henry Lee to petition the Virginian House of Burgesses for such a resolution. Adams waits impatiently for a month, and Lee finally returns with the resolution on the sixth of June, and is quickly seconded by Adams. John Dickinson of Pennsylvania calls to kill the proposal and is seconded. The debate continues after a very close vote. Dickinson and Adams then each argue his own side vehemently, their passions boiling over into vicious name-calling and cane fights.
The row is only stopped by Caesar Rodney of Delaware's intervention/collapse and subsequent departure with Colonel McKean, another of Delaware's delegates. With only one, anti-independence delegate of that colony remaining, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina sees the scales are tipped against Adams and calls the vote on the resolution, knowing it will lose. But Delaware's loss is made up by the sudden arrival of the New Jersey delegation, which is pro-independence. Dickinson calls for a unanimous vote to keep the colonies from fighting each other in a possible war for independence (as well as stop the vote from passing), and the measure passes. In a last ditch effort since the current vote will kill them, Adams moves to postpone for the writing of a declaration stating their goals, grievances, and reasoning to the world. The motion passes and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia is recruited to write it. It takes some wifely encouragement, but it gets done and is put before the Congress for amendments, alterations, and approval.
After several days of quibbling, all issues are settled but a clause involving black slavery. Rutledge refuses to approve any document that abolishes this "peculiar institution" and walks out with the entire South after reminding them all that the Triangle Trade made up a good deal of income for all the colonies, and not just the South. Adams wants to fight for every American's independence, but all the other delegates give up the cause as lost without the South. After some hard wrangling with his conscience (in the form of his wife), he finally agrees to remove the clause and regains the South, but foresees war within a century over the issue.
Pennsylvania is the last to vote, with Franklin and Dickinson canceling each other out and the last say about the entire matter falling to Judge Wilson. Wilson, who's been Dickinson's yes-man since the beginning, votes yea as the responsibility of killing American independence is "more than [he] bargained for". Dickinson leaves to fight in the Continental Army, sure as he is it's the wrong course; Adams leads the Congress in an ovation to his patriotism. Two days later, the Declaration is signed and the delegates stand in tableau.
Personality/Psychology:
John is, as termed by multiple people including himself, obnoxious and disliked. He knows this, and so does anyone else after spending ten minutes with the man. He's stubborn, easily annoyed, blunt, pigheaded, opinionated, doggedly determined in whatever he puts his mind to, and good god, he is vocal about it. If he believes in a cause, he'll fight tooth and nail for it against any odds, and he's more than willing to knock a few heads together or talk your ear off order to get you to see his side. And it gets even worse if you dig his heels against him. He can get so caught up in whatever goal he's working toward that he'll rip on a dear friend in his zealousness, because he has bouts of feeling utterly alone in his convictions, feeling that he's the only one who's truly working for the cause.
Behind the urgent need to better what's around him and do the right thing, he's afraid that there's nothing more to him than discontentment and agitation. That he's too invested in complaining to ever actually stop and appreciate what he has. It's partly because of this fear that he's certain he won't be remembered for what he's done, eclipsed by greater men like Franklin and Jefferson and Washington. Because of this, he gives himself credit for what he does now because he thinks posterity won't.
John is also dosed with a good amount of both moral and common sense, and tries to balance the two. He believes that Christianity is imperfect, and should be able to adapt and evolve with society. This morality lends to his unyielding belief that all people should be free, no matter what. The compromise with Rutledge eats at him like a cancer, and will for some time. On a lighter note, his religious upbringing (he comes from Puritans, after all) can make him a bit of a prude, lending him easily to unknowing double entendres only to blush and flail after realizing.
He can be polite, but when he's trying to get his way he often forgets his manners minutes into the conversation. However, he never forgets them when presented with a member of the fairer sex. In fact, he can get quite flustered around women, often misspeaking and stumbling over his words. Unlike a lot men of his time, Adams has a massive amount of respect for intelligent women; however, he's not completely free of sexism, though perhaps it's closer to an overzealous sense of chivalry rather than outright misogyny. He considers his wife his greatest ally and sounding board, but even so he never actually argues with her - the closest he gets is the long discourses he engages her with via correspondence, but even then it's much gentler than his usual arguing style.
But that isn't to say he doesn't love his wife, far from it. John is absolutely, totally, and unbelievably devoted to Abigail. She's more than his wife and the mother of his children; she's his best friend, his confidante, his sounding board, his rock. She takes care of the family and the farm, and he wrote her practically every day when he's away, often asking her advice and help. Abby keeps his head on straight, keeps him on course, and smacks some sense into him when he's being too damn obnoxious.
Abilities:
◦ supernatural ability to pierce eardrums a very loud voice
◦ skilled debater/lawyer/writer/scholar/farmer
◦ unnatural sense of determination
Weaknesses:
◦ incredibly pigheaded, stubborn
◦ can get tunnel-vision when pursuing something
◦ horribly short temper
◦ middle-aged, short human man and thus easily puntable
First Person Sample:
- to be written pending game -
Third Person Sample:
As if it wasn't hot and humid enough in Philadelphia, he had to go and find the highest, stuffiest place with a giant metal bell that spent all day baking in the sun. Well, it could never be said that John Adams was a man who sought out the luxuries in life. The man from Massachusetts snorted, looking out over the rooftops seen from the Pennsylvania State House. At least the flies never came this high. John grimaced at the thought of the annoying insects and rapped twice on the wooden frame supporting the bell. The way his luck had been the past year, never mind the last week, he'd be beset upon with hordes of the winged biters.
This last week. John closed his eyes and smiled grimly at the thought. Yes, Howe was bearing down on Washington to the north, and God only knew what else fat George would throw at them across the ocean before this business was done. But he knew, deep in his bones, that they would come through it. These newly united states would weather the brewing British storm in a skiff of paper. The sail penned by Jefferson, the planks put together by Franklin, and if anything, he'd be the hot air blowing the damn thing through. John barked a laugh at that. Just went to show that Franklin wasn't the only one who could spew quotable nonsense.
And with that thought, the rarest of all things happened upon the city: a brisk, cool breeze. The wind gave a wonderful respite from the summer heat and cleared away the smoggy fumes for a moment. He blinked, taking in the view of the city with new eyes. All the time he had spent up here this past year, looking out this very window, but he'd never really seen it. Too focused on the debate, on the backdoor haggling, on independency and the future of this country. He had to admit, like this, without the smothering summer making its presence forcefully known, it wasn't that bad a place. But it still didn't compare to Braintree, and what was waiting for him once he got there.
"I'll be home soon, Abby," John whispered to the wind as it turned northeast. "As soon as I can make it." Maybe he could even cut it down to six days instead of the usual eight.
Journal: fribbled
Email: liberalkitten@gmail.com
AIM: recumbence
Character Name: John Adams
Fandom: 1776 (film)
Timeline: Post-film
Appearance:
Placemarker.
History:
John Adams Jr. was born the oldest son of a farmer/deacon/militia lieutenant/councilman and his wife in the north precinct of Braintree, in the British colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1735. He grew up on the farm before going to Harvard College in 1751. He took a few years after graduating to teach, trying to figure out just what he wanted to do with his life. Eventually deciding to be a lawyer, he studied with James Putnam's Worcester firm and passed the bar exam in 1758. Six years later, he wed one Abigail Smith, a minister's daughter. They went on to have six children: Abigail, John Quincy, Susanna (died a toddler), Charles, Thomas Boylston, and Elizabeth (stillborn).
John rose to prominence through his work with constitutional law, his historical analysis, and his dedication to republicanism. His political career fully started with his opposition of the Stamp Act of 1765, put in place to help pay the massive cost of a standing colonial army; Adams wrote several articles, speeches, and letters, both signed and anonymous, stating that the act was invalid as Massachusetts Bay had no say in the Parliament which has passed it. Basically, taxation without representation. His name grew after taking up the defense of the British soldiers involved with the Boston Massacre in 1770, during which time he was elected to the Massachusetts General Court. Two years later, after the colonial governor announced he'd henceforth be paid out of custom revenues, John drafted objections on behalf of radicals opposing the change, stating that unless clear, workable lines of sovereignty could be drawn between the King, Parliament, and the colonies, the colonies' only choice could be independence. He gave point-for-point arguments against the governor's actions and held that the colonial legislatures were fully sovereign in matters of their own, internal affairs.
In 1774, Massachusetts Bay sent a delegation to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, in response to the passage of the Intolerable Acts. This delegation consisted of Thomas Cushing, Robert Paine, and the cousinly duo of Samuel and John Adams. This congress drafted an agreement between all thirteen colonies and the West Indies islands to boycott British goods, a published list of grievances against England, and a petition to King George III to address and amend said grievances. The following year, since England had not repealed or changed the Intolerable Acts, the Second Continental Congress was called. Once again, John was among those called to represent Massachusetts Bay. The revolution had already begun a month before with the skirmishes at Concord and Lexington, but the fighting was uncoordinated, unordered, and unfunded for the first several months. On June 14th, 1775, the Congress agreed to raise the Continental Army and Adams nominated George Washington of Virginia as head general. Less than a month later, they drafted and sent the Olive Branch Petition as a last chance for reconciling with England. For the next year, the Congress headed the war effort and dealt with national domestic issues, even though it had no real authority over any of the colonies.
From the very beginning of the Second Continental Congress, Adams went in with an ideal of the colonies united and independent from Great Britain. Not even a week into proceedings, he was begging the colonies to draft their own constitutions, seeing it as the first step to true independence. He spent over a year in Philadelphia trying to convince the other delegates of this view; however, his contentiousness and pigheadedness earned him few friends.
By May of 1776, he only has a handful of delegates behind him with most of the others despising him and shouting at him to sit down any time he opened his mouth. His closest ally is Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who thinks since Adams' multiple resolutions for independence have all been shot down, perhaps they'd have better luck having someone else propose. Thus the two enlist Richard Henry Lee to petition the Virginian House of Burgesses for such a resolution. Adams waits impatiently for a month, and Lee finally returns with the resolution on the sixth of June, and is quickly seconded by Adams. John Dickinson of Pennsylvania calls to kill the proposal and is seconded. The debate continues after a very close vote. Dickinson and Adams then each argue his own side vehemently, their passions boiling over into vicious name-calling and cane fights.
The row is only stopped by Caesar Rodney of Delaware's intervention/collapse and subsequent departure with Colonel McKean, another of Delaware's delegates. With only one, anti-independence delegate of that colony remaining, Edward Rutledge of South Carolina sees the scales are tipped against Adams and calls the vote on the resolution, knowing it will lose. But Delaware's loss is made up by the sudden arrival of the New Jersey delegation, which is pro-independence. Dickinson calls for a unanimous vote to keep the colonies from fighting each other in a possible war for independence (as well as stop the vote from passing), and the measure passes. In a last ditch effort since the current vote will kill them, Adams moves to postpone for the writing of a declaration stating their goals, grievances, and reasoning to the world. The motion passes and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia is recruited to write it. It takes some wifely encouragement, but it gets done and is put before the Congress for amendments, alterations, and approval.
After several days of quibbling, all issues are settled but a clause involving black slavery. Rutledge refuses to approve any document that abolishes this "peculiar institution" and walks out with the entire South after reminding them all that the Triangle Trade made up a good deal of income for all the colonies, and not just the South. Adams wants to fight for every American's independence, but all the other delegates give up the cause as lost without the South. After some hard wrangling with his conscience (in the form of his wife), he finally agrees to remove the clause and regains the South, but foresees war within a century over the issue.
Pennsylvania is the last to vote, with Franklin and Dickinson canceling each other out and the last say about the entire matter falling to Judge Wilson. Wilson, who's been Dickinson's yes-man since the beginning, votes yea as the responsibility of killing American independence is "more than [he] bargained for". Dickinson leaves to fight in the Continental Army, sure as he is it's the wrong course; Adams leads the Congress in an ovation to his patriotism. Two days later, the Declaration is signed and the delegates stand in tableau.
Personality/Psychology:
John is, as termed by multiple people including himself, obnoxious and disliked. He knows this, and so does anyone else after spending ten minutes with the man. He's stubborn, easily annoyed, blunt, pigheaded, opinionated, doggedly determined in whatever he puts his mind to, and good god, he is vocal about it. If he believes in a cause, he'll fight tooth and nail for it against any odds, and he's more than willing to knock a few heads together or talk your ear off order to get you to see his side. And it gets even worse if you dig his heels against him. He can get so caught up in whatever goal he's working toward that he'll rip on a dear friend in his zealousness, because he has bouts of feeling utterly alone in his convictions, feeling that he's the only one who's truly working for the cause.
Behind the urgent need to better what's around him and do the right thing, he's afraid that there's nothing more to him than discontentment and agitation. That he's too invested in complaining to ever actually stop and appreciate what he has. It's partly because of this fear that he's certain he won't be remembered for what he's done, eclipsed by greater men like Franklin and Jefferson and Washington. Because of this, he gives himself credit for what he does now because he thinks posterity won't.
John is also dosed with a good amount of both moral and common sense, and tries to balance the two. He believes that Christianity is imperfect, and should be able to adapt and evolve with society. This morality lends to his unyielding belief that all people should be free, no matter what. The compromise with Rutledge eats at him like a cancer, and will for some time. On a lighter note, his religious upbringing (he comes from Puritans, after all) can make him a bit of a prude, lending him easily to unknowing double entendres only to blush and flail after realizing.
He can be polite, but when he's trying to get his way he often forgets his manners minutes into the conversation. However, he never forgets them when presented with a member of the fairer sex. In fact, he can get quite flustered around women, often misspeaking and stumbling over his words. Unlike a lot men of his time, Adams has a massive amount of respect for intelligent women; however, he's not completely free of sexism, though perhaps it's closer to an overzealous sense of chivalry rather than outright misogyny. He considers his wife his greatest ally and sounding board, but even so he never actually argues with her - the closest he gets is the long discourses he engages her with via correspondence, but even then it's much gentler than his usual arguing style.
But that isn't to say he doesn't love his wife, far from it. John is absolutely, totally, and unbelievably devoted to Abigail. She's more than his wife and the mother of his children; she's his best friend, his confidante, his sounding board, his rock. She takes care of the family and the farm, and he wrote her practically every day when he's away, often asking her advice and help. Abby keeps his head on straight, keeps him on course, and smacks some sense into him when he's being too damn obnoxious.
Abilities:
◦ supernatural ability to pierce eardrums a very loud voice
◦ skilled debater/lawyer/writer/scholar/farmer
◦ unnatural sense of determination
Weaknesses:
◦ incredibly pigheaded, stubborn
◦ can get tunnel-vision when pursuing something
◦ horribly short temper
◦ middle-aged, short human man and thus easily puntable
First Person Sample:
- to be written pending game -
Third Person Sample:
As if it wasn't hot and humid enough in Philadelphia, he had to go and find the highest, stuffiest place with a giant metal bell that spent all day baking in the sun. Well, it could never be said that John Adams was a man who sought out the luxuries in life. The man from Massachusetts snorted, looking out over the rooftops seen from the Pennsylvania State House. At least the flies never came this high. John grimaced at the thought of the annoying insects and rapped twice on the wooden frame supporting the bell. The way his luck had been the past year, never mind the last week, he'd be beset upon with hordes of the winged biters.
This last week. John closed his eyes and smiled grimly at the thought. Yes, Howe was bearing down on Washington to the north, and God only knew what else fat George would throw at them across the ocean before this business was done. But he knew, deep in his bones, that they would come through it. These newly united states would weather the brewing British storm in a skiff of paper. The sail penned by Jefferson, the planks put together by Franklin, and if anything, he'd be the hot air blowing the damn thing through. John barked a laugh at that. Just went to show that Franklin wasn't the only one who could spew quotable nonsense.
And with that thought, the rarest of all things happened upon the city: a brisk, cool breeze. The wind gave a wonderful respite from the summer heat and cleared away the smoggy fumes for a moment. He blinked, taking in the view of the city with new eyes. All the time he had spent up here this past year, looking out this very window, but he'd never really seen it. Too focused on the debate, on the backdoor haggling, on independency and the future of this country. He had to admit, like this, without the smothering summer making its presence forcefully known, it wasn't that bad a place. But it still didn't compare to Braintree, and what was waiting for him once he got there.
"I'll be home soon, Abby," John whispered to the wind as it turned northeast. "As soon as I can make it." Maybe he could even cut it down to six days instead of the usual eight.