Thebiopic of Adams and the story of the first 50 years of the United States was broadcast in seven parts byHBO between March 16 and April 27, 2008.John Adams received generally positive reviews and many prestigious awards. The show won fourGolden Globe awards and thirteenEmmy awards, more than any other miniseries in history.
In 1770John Adams is a respected lawyer in his mid-30s known for his dedication to the law and justice. Adams is sought as a defense counsel for the soldiers involved in theBoston Massacre by their commander, CaptainThomas Preston. Reluctant at first, he agrees despite knowing this will antagonize his neighbors and friends.
Adams clashes with his cousinSamuel Adams over his decision to take the case. Samuel is one of the executive members of theSons of Liberty, an organization dedicated to getting the colonies proper representation in theParliament of Great Britain. After many sessions in court, the jury returns a verdict of not guilty of murder for each defendant, thanks to Adams' arguments.
Adams' friendJonathon Sewall reveals that Massachusetts governorFrancis Bernard andKing George III have approved Adams' appointment to theCourt of Admiralty. Adams wrestles with the decision, seeing fault both with the Sons of Liberty and with the British Crown, and ultimately refuses. He admits to his wifeAbigail that he thinks the colony is in need of "strong governance" but that the Sons of Liberty are not up to the task.
After theBoston Tea Party, theParliament of Great Britain passes theIntolerable Acts to the fury of the Sons of Liberty and many Bostonians. Samuel nominates Adams to represent Massachusetts in theFirst Continental Congress. Adams expresses doubt about its legality, but accepts. He reluctantly leaves a pregnant Abigail in Boston and departs for the Congress.
In Philadelphia, Adams finds himself disappointed with both the Congress’ inability to make quick decisions and their unwillingness to support military action against Britain. His vocal dissent makes him unpopular among his fellow delegates, particularlyJohn Dickinson of Pennsylvania,Edward Rutledge of South Carolina, andJames Duane of New York.
The Adams family has moved back to their farm outside Boston for safety reasons as the conflict with Britain in Massachusetts has continued to escalate. Adams’ faith in Boston’s cause is renewed upon the victory of the Massachusetts militia in theBattles of Lexington and Concord.
Due to Adams' unpopularity and the powerful position held by Virginia, Jefferson is chosen to draft theDeclaration of Independence. Adams gives an impassioned speech before Congress which sways the majority opinion in favor of the document. He reconciles with Rutledge, Duane and Dickinson in order to achieve a unanimous vote. The Declaration is read both before the city of Philadelphia and across the country, including by the Adams family in Massachusetts.
In Episode 3, Adams travels to Europe with his young sonJohn Quincy during theRevolutionary War seeking alliances with foreign nations, during which the ship transporting them battles a Britishfrigate. It first shows Adams' embassy withBenjamin Franklin in the court ofLouis XVI. The oldFrench nobility, who are in the last decade before being consumed by theFrench Revolution, are portrayed as effete and decadent. They meet cheerfully with Franklin, seeing him as a romantic figure, little noting the democratic infection he brings with him. Adams, on the other hand, is a plain spoken and faithful man, who finds himself out of his depth surrounded by an entertainment- and sex-driven culture among the French elite. Adams finds himself at sharp odds with Benjamin Franklin, who has adapted himself to the French, seeking to obtain by seduction what Adams would gain through histrionics. Franklin sharply rebukes Adams for his lack of diplomatic acumen, describing it as a "direct insult followed by a petulant whine". Franklin soon has Adams removed from any position of diplomatic authority in Paris. His approach is ultimately successful and was to result in the conclusiveFranco-American victory atYorktown.
Adams, chastened and dismayed but learning from his mistakes, then travels to theDutch Republic to obtain monetary support for the Revolution. Although the Dutch agree with the American cause, they do not consider the new union a reliable and credit-worthy client. Adams ends his time in the Netherlands in a state of progressive illness, having sent his son away as a diplomatic secretary to theRussian Empire.
The fourth episode shows John Adams being notified of the end of the Revolutionary War and the defeat of the British. He is then sent to Paris to negotiate theTreaty of Paris in 1783. While overseas, he spends time with Benjamin Franklin andThomas Jefferson and Abigail visits him. Franklin informs John Adams that he was appointed as the first AmericanAmbassador to Great Britain and thus has to relocate toLondon. John Adams is poorly received by the British during this time—he is the representative for a recently hostile power, and represents in his person what many British at the time regarded as a disastrous end to itsearly Empire. He meets with his former sovereign,George III, and while the meeting is not a disaster, he is excoriated in British newspapers. In 1789, he returns to Massachusetts for thefirst presidential election and he and Abigail are reunited with their children, now grown. George Washington is elected the firstPresident of the United States and John Adams as the firstVice President.
Initially, Adams is disappointed and wishes to reject the post of Vice President because he feels there is a disproportionate number of electoral votes in favor of George Washington (Adams' number of votes pales in comparison to those garnered by Washington). In addition, John feels the position of Vice President is not a proper reflection of all the years of service he has dedicated to his nation. However, Abigail successfully influences him to accept the nomination.
The fifth episode begins with Vice President John Adams presiding over theSenate and the debate over what to call the new president. It depicts Adams as frustrated in this role: His opinions are ignored and he has no actual power, except in the case of a tied vote. He's excluded from George Washington's inner circle of cabinet members, and his relationships with Thomas Jefferson andAlexander Hamilton are strained. Even Washington himself gently rebukes him for his efforts to "royalize" the office of the Presidency, although Washington values Adams' counsel in other areas, considering him to be "reasonable company" when compared with Jefferson and Hamilton. A key event shown is the struggle to enact theJay Treaty with Britain, which Adams himself must ratify before a deadlocked Senate (although historically his vote was not required). The episode concludes with his inauguration as the second president—and his subsequent arrival in a plunderedexecutive mansion.
The sixth episode covers Adams's term as president and the rift between the Hamilton-ledFederalists and Jefferson-ledRepublicans. Adams's neutrality pleases neither side and often angers both. His shaky relationship with Vice President Thomas Jefferson worsens after taking defensive actions against theFrench Republic because offailed diplomatic attempts and the signing of theAlien and Sedition Acts. Adams also alienates himself from the anti-French Alexander Hamilton after taking all actions possible to prevent a war with France. He disowns his sonCharles, who soon dies as an alcoholic vagrant. Adams sees success late in his presidency with his campaign of preventing a war with France, but his success is clouded after losing thepresidential election of 1800. After receiving so much bad publicity while in office, Adams loses the election against his vice-president, Thomas Jefferson, and runner-upAaron Burr (both from the same party). Adams leaves the Presidential Palace (now known as theWhite House) in March 1801 and retires to his personal life in Massachusetts.
The final episode covers Adams's retirement years. His home life atPeacefield is full of pain and sorrow as his daughter, Nabby, dies ofbreast cancer and Abigail succumbs totyphoid fever. Adams does live to see theelection of his son,John Quincy, as president, but is too ill to attend theinauguration. Adams and Jefferson are reconciled through correspondence in their last years. Both die hours apart onJuly 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and Adams were 83 and 90, respectively.
A Continental Army war room was filmed in the Robert Carter house in Virginia. Williamsburg's Public Hospital was in the background of the tent encampment of the Continental Army which Adams visited in the winter of 1776, which was replicated using special-effects snow. The College of William and Mary's Wren Building represented a Harvard interior. Scenes were also filmed at the Governor's Palace.[6]
Sets, stage space, backlot and production offices were housed in an old Mechanicsville AMF warehouse in Richmond, Virginia. Some street scenes with cobblestone pavements and colonial storefronts were shot in historic neighborhoods of Washington, D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia. Countryside surrounding Richmond in Hanover County and Powhatan County was chosen to represent areas surrounding early Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.[7][8]
The critical reception to the miniseries was predominantly positive. On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the series has a rating of 82% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 8.56/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Elegantly shot and relatively educational,John Adams is a worthy addition to the genre -- though its casting leaves something to be desired."[9]Metacritic assigned the series a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]
Ken Tucker ofEntertainment Weekly rated the miniseries A−,[11] and Matt Roush ofTV Guide praised the lead performances of Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney.[12] David Hinckley of theNew York Daily News feltJohn Adams "is, quite simply, as good as TV gets ... Best of all are two extraordinary performances at the center: Paul Giamatti as Adams and Laura Linney as his wife, Abigail ... To the extent thatJohn Adams is aperiod piece, it isn't quite as lush as, say, someBBC productions. But it looks fine, and it feels right, and sometimes what's good for you can also be just plain good."[13]
Alessandra Stanley ofThe New York Times had mixed feelings. She said the miniseries has "aMasterpiece Theatre gravity and takes a more somber, detailed and sepia-tinted look at the dawn of American democracy. It gives viewers a vivid sense of the isolation and physical hardships of the period, as well as the mores, but it does not offer significantly different or deeper insights into the personalities of the men — and at least one woman — who worked so hard for liberty ... [It] is certainly worthy and beautifully made, and it has many masterly touches at the edges, especially Laura Linney as Abigail. But Paul Giamatti is the wrong choice for the hero ... And that leaves the mini-series with a gaping hole at its center. What should be an exhilarating, absorbing ride across history alongside one of the least understood and most intriguing leaders of the American Revolution is instead a struggle."[14]
Among those unimpressed with the miniseries were Mary McNamara of theLos Angeles Times[15] and Tim Goodman of theSan Francisco Chronicle.[16] Both cited poor casting and the favoring of style over storytelling.
Stephen Hunter Flick, Vanessa Lapato, Kira Roessler, Curt Schulkey, Randy Kelley, Ken Johnson, Paul Berolzheimer, Dean Beville, Bryan Bowen, Patricio Libenson, Solange S. Schwalbe, David Fein, Hilda Hodges, and Alex Gibson(for "Don't Tread on Me")
Won
Jon Johnson, Bryan Bowen, Kira Roessler, Vanessa Lapato, Eileen Horta, Virginia Cook McGowan, Samuel C. Crutcher, Mark Messick, Martin Maryska, Greg Stacy, Patricio Libenson, Solange S. Schwalbe, David Fein, Hilda Hodges, and Nicholas Vitarelli(for "Unnecessary War")
Erik Henry, Jeff Goldman, Paul Graff, Steve Kullback, Christina Graff, David Van Dyke,Robert Stromberg, Edwardo Mendez, and Ken Gorrell (for "Join or Die")
Gemma Jackson, David Crank, Christina Moore, John P. Goldsmith, Tibor Lázár, Dan Kuchar, Michael H. Ward, Ted Haigh, Richard Salinas, Kathy Lucas, and Sarah Whittle
The score for the miniseries was composed by Robert Lane and Joseph Vitarelli. Lane wrote the main theme and scored "Join or Die," "Independence," "Unite or Die" and "Peacefield," with Vitarelli doing "Don't Tread on Me," "Reunion" and "Unnecessary War." The two composers worked independently of each other, with Lane writing and recording his segments inLondon and Vitarelli inLos Angeles. There are also pieces by classical composers, includingMozart,Boccherini,Gluck,Handel andSchubert.[42] The soundtrack was released on theVarèse Sarabande label.
John Adams addresses Captain Preston immediately after the massacre, while deliberating whether to defend the soldier; he says: "As of this morning, five are dead". Only three men were killed immediately: Samuel Maverick died the next morning, andPatrick Carr did not die until two weeks later.
Around the time of the trial, John Adams's sonCharles is depicted playing with his sister, though he was not born until May 29, 1770 (making him still an infant). Likewise, his older sonJohn Quincy Adams was born in July 1767, but he is depicted as a near-adolescent.
Samuel Adams is depicted as disapproving of John Adams's decision to defend Captain Preston and the other Boston Massacre soldiers, when no other lawyer would act as their counsel. It is implied that theSons of Liberty also disapproved, and that John for his part disapproved of their group. In fact, Samuel Adams encouraged his cousin John to take the case.[44] John and other leading members of the Sons of Liberty also convincedJosiah Quincy II, another cousin who was a lawyer, to aid Adams in his preparation of the case.[45]
Captain Preston and the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre are shown being tried in a single trial in what seems to be the dead of winter, and declared not guilty of all charges. In actuality, Captain Preston's trial took place on October 24 and ran through October 29, when he was found not guilty. The eight soldiers were brought to trial weeks later in a separate trial that concluded on November 29. Six of the soldiers were found not guilty, but Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Killroy were convicted of manslaughter. They both received brands on their right thumbs as punishment.[46]
John Hancock is confronted by a British customs official, and he orders the crowd to "teach him a lesson, tar the bastard". Hancock andSamuel Adams then look on while the official istarred and feathered, to the disapproval of John Adams. The scene is fictional and does not appear in McCullough's book. According to Samuel Adams biographerIra Stoll, there is no evidence that Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were opposed to mob violence, were ever present at a tarring and feathering, and so the scene succeeds in "tarring the reputations of Hancock and Samuel Adams".[47] Jeremy Stern writes, "Despite popular mythology, tarrings were never common in Revolutionary Boston, and were not promoted by the opposition leadership. The entire sequence is pure and pernicious fiction."[43] According to Stern, the scene is used to highlight a schism between Samuel and John Adams, which is entirely fictional.[43]
The tar and feather scene also improperly uses a black, modern tar. In reality, the liquid known as tar in the 18th century waspine tar, a liquid which is more often light-brown in color. The tar that we know today is actually called petroleum tar or bitumen. Pine tar also has a low melting point, and would not burn the skin the way that hot petroleum tar would.
While in bed, Adams mentions his parents, saying his mother could not read. However, in his memoirs, John Adams himself wrote that "as my parents were both fond of reading...I was very early taught to read at home," indicating that his mother likely possessed at least a basic level of literacy.[48] However, in the book McCullough does speculate that Adams's mother may have been illiterate, citing the lack of written correspondence either to or from her and evidence that she had letters read aloud to her.[49]
David McCullough's biography makes no mention of a pulpit speech by John Adams after being chosen, in summer 1774, to be one of Massachusetts' representatives to theFirst Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The text for that speech, at the end of Part I, comes mainly from two documents Adams penned during theStamp Act crisis eight years earlier, apparently stitched together in the film so as to evoke the similar-sounding famous passage in theUnited States Declaration of Independence, about men being created equal and endowed thereby with unalienable rights. Adams (instead of Jefferson) might have served as lead author of the Declaration two years later, and might have foreshadowed key portions of it oratorically before leaving Massachusetts for Philadelphia, but actually did neither. The climactic final words of that speech, "Liberty will reign in America," appear to be a dramatic invention, not a passage Adams is known to have ever spoken or written.[50]
When Adams is set off to join the 1774First Continental Congress,Abigail Adams is shown pregnant with a child. Adams is seen saying if the child was a girl, they would name her Elizabeth. While Abigail did give birth to a stillborn daughter they named Elizabeth, this happened in 1777, not 1774.
In the opening scene, the final meeting site of theFirst Continental Congress is incorrectly shown as the Pennsylvania State House (now known asIndependence Hall). In fact, the First Continental Congress was held inCarpenters' Hall, located approximately 250 yards (230 m) east of the state house, along Chestnut Street. Carpenters' Hall was and still is privately owned by The Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia. It offered more privacy than the Pennsylvania State House. The venue depicted for the Second Continental Congress, however, is correctly depicted as the Pennsylvania State House.[51]
Benjamin Franklin is shown being brought to the Continental Congress in alitter, but he did not use this mode of transport in Philadelphia until the Constitutional Convention, 11 years later.
John Adams did not ride toLexington and Concord while the battle was still in progress; he visited on April 22, several days later.[52]
The first version of theDeclaration of Independence read by Adams' family was depicted as a printed copy; in reality, it was a copy in Adams' own hand, which led Mrs. Adams to believe that he had written it himself.[53]
GeneralHenry Knox's ox-driven caravan of cannon (taken fromFort Ticonderoga) is depicted passing by the Adams' house inBraintree, Massachusetts en route toCambridge, Massachusetts. In reality, General Knox's caravan almost certainly did not pass through Braintree. Fort Ticonderoga is in upstate New York, northwest of Cambridge, and Knox is assumed to have taken the most likely routes of the day, from the New York border through western and central Massachusetts via what are now Routes 23, 9, and 20, never entering Braintree, which is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Cambridge.[54]
General Knox is played by actor Del Pentecost (b. 1963), who at the time of filming was age 45, far older than the 25 years old that Henry Knox was in 1775.[55]
The illness of the daughter following the inoculation ofsmallpox was inaccurate. In fact, it was their son Charles who developed the pox and who was unconscious and delirious for 48 hours.[56][57]
Adams is shown departing forEurope without an upset nine-year-old son Charles, leaving only with older son John Quincy Adams. Adams actually took multiple trips to Europe. According to David McCullough's book, on one such trip young Charles accompanied his brother and father to Paris. He later became ill in Holland, and traveled alone on the troubled vesselSouth Carolina. After an extended journey of five months, Charles returned to Braintree at 11 years of age.
During Adams's first voyage to France, his ship engages a British ship in a fierce battle while Adams assists a surgeon performing an amputation on a patient who dies. In reality, Adams helped perform the amputation several days after the capture of the British ship, following an unrelated accident. The patient died a week after the amputation, rather than during the operation as shown in the episode.[58]
Abigail and John are depicted reuniting outside Paris after many years, but in reality were first reunited in London and traveled to Paris together.
Abigail Adams is depicted reprimandingBenjamin Franklin for cheating onhis wife in France, but his wife died seven years earlier in 1774.
Abigail and John are depicted reuniting with their grown up children Nabby, John Quincy, Charles, and Thomas Boylston after returning to the United States, but in reality Nabby accompanied her mother Abigail to London where they reunited with John, and after joined by John Quincy, the four traveled to Paris where they stayed for a year until 1785 when John was appointed the first American ambassador to Great Britain, at which Nabby accompanied her parents to England while John Quincy returned home to Massachusetts to attend Harvard.
Multiple references are made in dialogue throughout the episode to the impending "Constitutional Convention." In reality, theConstitutional Convention was only referred to as such after it disbanded, since the Philadelphia convention was originally called only to revise theArticles of Confederation. When the Convention met, strict secrecy was imposed on its proceedings. It was only under this veil of secrecy that the convention goers changed their mission from one of revising the Articles to one of crafting a new constitution.
Timothy Pickering is shown to be present during what appears intended to be the first cabinet meeting of the Washington administration; this is supported by dialogue during the meeting such as George Washington formally welcoming Thomas Jefferson, who was present at that first cabinet meeting, home from France. This meeting took place on November 26, 1791.[59] Timothy Pickering was not present at this meeting, as he was not appointed to the cabinet until January 2, 1795, when he replaced Henry Knox as the Secretary of War. Additionally, Knox's apparent absence at the meeting is inaccurate.[60]
Vice President John Adams is shown casting the tiebreaker vote in favor of ratifying theJay Treaty. In reality, his vote was never required as the Senate passed the resolution by 20–10.[61] Furthermore, the vice president would never be required to cast a vote in a treaty ratification because Article II of the Constitution requires that treaties receive a two-thirds vote.
Thomas Pinckney is portrayed as a Senator. Pinckney was never a Senator, though he would be appointed Ambassador to Great Britain by Washington in 1792.
Nabby Adams meets and marries ColonelWilliam Stephens Smith upon her parents' return to America from London. John Adams is depicted as refusing to use his influence to obtain political positions for his daughter's new husband, though Colonel Smith requests his father-in-law's assistance repeatedly with an almost grasping demeanor. Mr. Adams upbraids his son-in-law each time for even making the request, stating that Colonel Smith should find himself an honest trade or career and not depend uponspeculation. In reality, Nabby met Colonel Smith abroad while her father was serving as United States minister to France and Great Britain, and the couple married in London prior to the end of John Adams' diplomatic posting to the Court of St. James. Both John and Abigail used their influence to assist Colonel Smith and obtain political appointments for him, although this did not curb Colonel Smith's tendency to invest unwisely.[citation needed]
Following his election as president, John Adams is shown delivering his inauguration speech in the Senate chamber, on the second floor ofCongress Hall, to an audience of senators. The speech was actually given in the much larger House of Representatives chamber on the first floor of Congress Hall.[62] The room was filled to capacity with members of both the House and Senate, justices of the Supreme Court, heads of departments, the diplomatic corps, and others.[63]
After President Adams refuses to assist Colonel Smith for the last time, Smith is depicted as leaving Nabby and their children in the care of the Adams family at Peacefield; according to the scene, his intention is to seek opportunities to the west and either return or send for his family once he can provide for them. In reality, Smith brought his family with him from one venture to the next, and Nabby only returned to her father's home in Massachusetts after it was determined that she would undergo a mastectomy rather than continue with the potions and poultices prescribed by other doctors at that time.
After President Adams consults with his wife as to whether he should sign the laws, Adams is seen affixing his name to the ‘Punishment for Certain Crimes Against the United States’. In reality, it is entitled ‘An Act in addition to an Act entitled “An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States”. The “Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States” was done during the second session of the first congress on April 30, 1790, by President Washington.[64][65]
Though Adams was inaugurated as president on March 4, 1797, Washington, DC would not become the capital city until November 1, 1800. John and Abigail Adams moved in to thePresident's House in Philadelphia where he had been inaugurated as it was still the temporary capital city. Adams had moved to a private home in Washington, DC during the summer of 1800 and under the provisions of the plans for Washington to become the capital, took up residency in the unfinished President's House (renamed the White House later in the century) on November 1, 1800. His wife was home in Quincy. She was not with him as depicted in the series. This is especially important to note because due to her not being with him, President Adams wrote a letter to Abigail on his second night in the mansion that included a very famous quote which President Franklin Roosevelt had inscribed in the fireplace mantle in the State Dining Room—"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof."
Nabby is living with her family when she discerns the lump in her right breast, has hermastectomy, and dies two years later. Smith does not return until after Nabby's death and it is implied that he has finally established a stable form of income; whether he was returning for his family as he had promised or was summoned ahead of his own schedule by the Adamses pursuant to Nabby's death is not specified. Smith was with her during and after the mastectomy, and by all accounts had thrown himself into extensive research in attempts to find any reputable alternative to treating his wife's cancer via mastectomy. The mastectomy was not depicted in the series as it is described in historical documents. In fact, Nabby's tumor was in the left breast. She returned to the Smith family home after her operation and died in her father's home at Peacefield only because she expressed a wish to die there, knowing that her cancer had returned and would kill her, and her husband acceded to her request. Dr.Benjamin Rush was also not the surgeon who conducted the operation which was actually performed by the noted surgeon Dr.John Warren.[66] Throughout the miniseries, Dr. Rush is shown making occasional house calls to the Adams residence. However, this is highly unlikely as Rush's practice was in far-away Philadelphia, not New England. That said, John and Abigail did consult with Rush regarding Nabby's condition, albeit this consultation was done through the mail.
Adams is shown inspectingJohn Trumbull's paintingDeclaration of Independence (1817) and stating that he and Thomas Jefferson are the last surviving people depicted. This is inaccurate sinceCharles Carroll of Carrollton, who is also depicted in the painting, survived until 1832. In fact, Adams never made such a remark. In reality, when he inspected Trumbull's painting, Adams' only comment was to point to a door in the background of the painting and state, "When I nominated George Washington of Virginia for Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, he took his hat and rushed out that door."[67]
Benjamin Rush is portrayed as encouraging Adams to start a correspondence with Thomas Jefferson after the death of Abigail Adams. Abigail's death occurred in 1818 but the Adams-Jefferson correspondence started in 1812, and Rush died in 1813.[43]
