HBO’s John Adams TV series brings the harsh historical beginnings of the United States and gives its viewers a glance at the lives of many great historical figures such as John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. This film series is directed by Tom Hooper, Gary Goetzman, and Tom Hanks and is based on a book written by David McCullough (HBO, 2012). Paul Giamatti enacts the role of John Adams who respects his wife Abigail, who is portrayed by Laura Linney in the film (HBO, 2012). Other important characters in the series are Thomas Jefferson by Stephen Dillane, Benjamin Franklin, by Tom Wilkinson and George Washington who is portrayed by David Morse (HBO, 2012). These characters come together to bring the history of the United …show more content…
In this scene John Adams is passionate for independence and becomes enraged as many disagree with his ideas. If John Adams were alive today he may be disappointed by the corporate greed of America and become passionate about independence from our own government since it is acting like Great Britain was in the early days. For example, the government has increased taxes for the bottom 99% and while the top 1% receives subsidies and tax cuts while they make billions of dollars (Wolff, 2011). The self-government foundations that the United States was founded upon have been disoriented by corruption and greed that has increasingly run our country. Another principle that this country was founded on was equality for all but through anti-immigration laws, institutional racism, and racial profiling this founding principle has also become almost obsolete. New laws such as Arizona’s sb1060 and Alabama’s H.B. 56 have deliberately targeted immigrants and attribute the problems of America to immigrants (Center for American Progress Team, 2011; Archibold, 2010). We should be holding the rich accountable but instead we are divided and blaming low income individuals. This anti-immigration idea all goes back to racism. Throughout history in the United States, whites have been fearful of being outnumbered and have oppressed any one with colored skin. In Michelle
Despite our founding principle that “all men are created equal” (Jefferson), American life isn’t characterized by equality or fairness. Although we acknowledge that each member of humanity bears equal value, we fail to provide them with such equality in life. Racism and anti-immigrant sentiment are two factors that prevent America from being equal. Frederick Douglass identified this gap between value and reality for Americans when he found himself “not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary” (¶3) of the Fourth of July, “a day that reveals to [the American
The book, John Adams, by David McCullough, is a powerfully written biography of one of our nation’s greatest heroes. This biography explores Adams’ life in great depth, unveiling a side to his life unbeknownst to those who have never studied his life in great detail. Through diary entries, letters, and various other documents, the reader grasps a sense of what Adams’ day to day life was like, and is also able to grasp the enormity of his lifetime accomplishments.
John Quincy Adams was the only son of a president to become president. He had an impressive political background that began at the age of fourteen. He was an intelligent and industrious individual. He was a man of strong character and high principles. By all account, his presidency should have been a huge success, yet it wasn't. John Quincy Adams' presidency was frustrating and judged a failure because of the scandal, attached to his election, the pettiness of his political rivals, and his strong character. John Quincy Adams was born on July 1767, in Braintree Massachusetts. His parents were John and Abigail Adams. "Quincy, had every advantage as a youngster. At the time of his birth, his father was an increasingly
In 1776, Adams devoted himself completely into the issues about American independence. A resolution, namely the Declaration of Independence, claimed that actions should be taken to make sure that every citizen of the United States should live in the "happiness and safety", was passed by Congress. Adams, as the writer of the introduction of the Declaration as well as one of the editors of the draft, spelled out the principle of independence. While because of his belief that the cause of independence was more important than some phenomena at that time, he did not protest when Congress cut the denouncement of slavery from the Declaration, although he was a lifelong opponent of it. Even though he was considered to have made little contributions to the details of the Declaration of Independence, according to Thomas Jefferson, he served as "the pillar of its support on the floor Congress." (John Adams)
In the story "John Adams and the Coming of the Revolution”, author David McCullough discusses how John Adams was asked to defend the British soldiers in court of the soldier’s accusation of man slaughter, following the Boston Massacre. Being such a problematic case that could ruin his reputation, John Adams accepted to defend the soldiers because of his experience in difficult cases, and his strong principles and beliefs. John Adam’s reputation did not even tarnish because of how skillfully he handled the case gaining the respect of the people of Boston.
The title of the show I watched was Join or Die, a part of the John Adams series shown on HBO in 2008. The director of this series was Tom Hooper, who won an Emmy Award in 2006 for his directing of another miniseries. The major stars of Join or Die in the John Adams series were: Paul Giamatti (playing John Adams), Laura Linney (playing Abigail Adams), and Danny Huston (playing Samuel Adams). This series gives insight into John Adams’ life in a modern perspective.
In America, the land of the free, people believe that it’s the greatest place to be. And America would probably be what everyone believes, but it has a very serious problem that could eventually destroy the country as whole. America is built upon Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but it has a strong equality issue that has to be taken care of. Equality is a social contract in America and unfortunately it is a broken one. A social contract is an agreement amongst the members of a society, but equality is a serious issue. Equality poses the biggest problem to America simply because in any country the people make the country, and if the people can’t get along either internal conflicts occur, or people eventually leave. Throughout America everyone regardless of race, color, or sexual orientation has experienced inequality in some part of America. Words are exchanged, fists are thrown, and in serious cases lives are lost because people are racists to one another. Equality is a broken social contract in America that will eventually be its demise if not attended to.
Civil rights have been the example of our constitutional history. How we treat and respect others has been the foundation of American democracy, yet despite this constitutional and moral obligation, modern day anti-Hispanic racism continues to define who we
John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, on the family farm in the North Precinct of Braintree, Massachusetts. He was the second of five children to his parents John and Susanna Boylston Adams. John's father was his role model because he wasn't only a farmer by trade, but he also took on many other time consuming jobs around the community to help others. Everyone in his hometown in some way dealt with him because he owned the titles of: the deacon of the church, selectman, tax collector, constable, and the lieutenant of the militia. John's mother was from a very wealthy Boston family, but infamous for having a bad temper. She remarried in 1766 following the death of John's father five years earlier due to the flu epidemic. John
Abigail Adams was the wife of John Adams and was vital for his successes. Before she became his wife she was part of a “picture perfect nuclear family” (Biography), with her father being a minister; she was “early introduced to public service and civic responsibility” (Biography) and was self-educated. Even though John Adams wanted to be too because he didn’t get enough from schooling, he eventually went into law. She was an advocate
Do you know who had three sons and beat George Washington his second time running for president? Do u remember who was the first vice president. Also, who was the second president of the United States of America. But my report is on John Adams. John Adams is all the answers to all them questions.
John Adams explains how the revolution began when he says, "The Revolution was effected before the war commenced (37-38). The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the
In the middle of July of 1801, Adams was working the ground near his utilized hands. He considered his fundamental adversary to be Hamilton, who may have quickly dove the U.S. into war had Adams not fortified a course of action with France. On the other hand, he was perhaps most tormented by encounters of Jefferson, who had offended Adams and additionally sold out their own particular cooperation. In the correspondence, Adams considered how certain events of the Revolutionary period had the ability to be impulsive, while others had been dismissed. A legitimate sample, Jefferson's part in the Declaration of Independence was point of fact understood, while the inclination anxiety in the period had starting now been gleams by and by. Ellis prescribes
Samuel Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a well-known American patriot, which was a leader of the resistance to British policy before the American Revolution, throughout the colonies. Later, he became an active in Boston political circles. Consequently, in 1765, he was elected to the legislative body of Massachusetts, where he assumed leadership of the movement in Massachusetts that advocated independence from Great Britain. In 1767, measures were passed by the British Parliament, which was called the Townshend Acts. The first measure demanded for the suspension of the New York Assembly, thus penalizing it for not complying with a law. Then the second measure, which was called the Revenue Act, imposed
In this essay I will try to explain and critique the two dominant methods of constitutional interpretation. Which are originalism and non-originalism. I will do this by taking help from “How to Read the Constitution” by Christopher Wolfe, and different source’s from Internet. I will start by giving what Wolfe says originalism is, and then I will give some background to other ways to interpret the constitution, and the founders and interpretation and I will finish up with my view on originalism and non-originalism and the critics to that.