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Causes of the American Revolution
"Before I end my letter, I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
- John Adams, November 1, 1800, in a letter to his wife Abigail, written during his second night in the still unfinished White House
John Adams by
David
McCullough
New York: Simon and Shuster, 2001
It can be fairly argued that Pulitzer Prize-winning David McCullough's John Adams does not belong in a collection of historical fiction. The book is meticulously researched and the sources, many of which are primary, are extensively utilized and noted, as is McCullough's extensive bibliography. However, McCullough's biography is highly entertaining and is written to read like a novel. While it is unlikely that the many conversations described in the book are literally correct in all cases, they are largely based upon John Adams diary and the thousands of letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams, as well as correspondence addressed to their friends and colleagues. McCullough correctly notes in his acknowledgements that the Adams papers are unequalled in their quantity, depth and personal insights among all of the papers left by leading Americans from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They papers are, as McCullough notes, truly a "national treasure."
Because the book spans Adams entire life, it chronicles virtually all of the significant events that shaped the formation of our nation. McCullough describes Adams critical role in orchestrating the Declaration of Independence, his ultimate success in helping secure the aid of the French during the Revolutionary War, and of course, his term as the second president of the United States. Equally fascinating are his relationships with his fellow "founding fathers," including George Washington (Adams served as the first Vice-president), Benjamin Franklin, and of course his tumultuous relationship with his sometimes friend, sometimes foe, Thomas Jefferson.Comment
While John Adams is not historical fiction in the strictest sense of the word, I highly recommend the book because it presents real history in a fashion likely to captivate readers interested in learning more about early America than just a list of key dates, names and battle sites. John Adams real strength is that it offers great insight into the personalities and motivations of the men and women who founded our nation. Furthermore, perhaps more than any book reviewed on this web site, it supports a broad range of US History I objectives as noted below.Reading Level: Young Adult
Interest Level: Adult
651 pages (excluding notes)Supports the following Instructional Objectives:
Analyze the Causes of the American Revolution
Organize and Evaluate the Significant Events of the American Revolution
Discuss the Economic Issues that Motivated Americans to Revolt and Sustain a War
Chart the Strategies of the Different Military Factions in the Revolution
Analyze the Significant Contributions of the Founding Fathers in Creating the Constitution
Evaluate the Problems with the Articles of Confederation that Led to the Need for a New Government
Know how the Constitution Structured a System of Democracy for the United States
Excerpt
Adams was on the move again, gobbling up the miles. The weather was clear and cool, the road dry. "Our horses go like birds," he wrote. Some days they made thirty miles. "We glided along unforeseen, unexpected, and have avoided all noise, show, pomp, and parade," he reported to Abigail from Connecticut.
He wrote nearly a letter a day. His teeth and gums ached; one side of his face was badly swollen. Yet, he assured her, he was neither "fretful nor peevish." Indeed, the speed at which he moved, his joy in horses that could fly like birds, suggest he was heading for the capital knowing there was a way out of the impasse he had faced since taking office - that out of the gloomiest of times at home had come a first real sense that he might succeed after all in his main objective.Picture of John Adams used with permission from the White House web site at:
www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ja2.html
Accessed June 21, 2002Historical Fiction and Idaho U.S. History Curriculum
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E-mail Blaine Davies at blainedavies@cableone.net