Posted on 03/15/2005 10:12:50 AM PST by quidnunc
Ole Ben Franklin loved the ladies, Adams hated Franklin too. Jefferson loved Jefferson. Adams initially hated Jefferson, then came to mend those fenses. Adams was mostly right about everything.
"fences" not fenses.....
The Minsters were ALL AMERICAN;even though grandpa still called Transylvania occasionally.
I like French toast.
That's FREEDOM toast now and don't you forget it. :-)
There is only one possible stage below the Moral Sense; that is the Immoral Sense. The Frenchman has it.
Adams was a man of vision, and he was especially confident in his opinion that America was destined to become a great nation. Therefore, he pursued the vision in the face of all opposition. He was a man of sound morals, self-discipline, and integrity. He was disliked for some of these very traits. He was viewed by many as arrogant and uncompromising.
But his vision and obstinacy were greatly beneficial to America. He persevered in the face of disrespect from European national leaders, betrayal from members of Congress at home and Franklin (among others) in Europe. He resisted at every turn the attempts of those in France and in America to submit the fledgling United States to France.
When Franklin undercut him in France, and made it impossible for him to be effective there, Adams took it upon himself to go to Holland. There, he went on a campaign to get the Dutch to recognize U.S. independence. When Cornwallis surrendered, there was shortly a change in parliament, and Adams was perfectly positioned. The Netherlands was the first country to recognize American independence. Adams later returned to Paris and participated in negotiation of a very favorable peace treaty with the British.
If we had been left to the devices of Benjamin Franklin and certain other Americans, we may well have ended up as a French colony, trading one master for another. We owe a lot to John Adams.
Adams was one of the commissioners sent to France during the Revolution (1778-79), and was back in Paris in 1782 as one of the team who negotiated the terms of peace with Britain. He was later the first US minister to Britain (1785-1788) when Jefferson was in France. At that point Adams and Jefferson were still on good terms.
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