The American Revolution - Video Presentation
"American Experience: John and Abigail Adams (2006)"
The Adams story provides a strikingly intimate look inside a marriage of true companions, says Deane, for whom life included not just the great events memorialized in textbooks, but also laughter, loneliness and family tragedy.To present the couple's story in their own words, Deane drew extensively on the more than 1,000 Adams letters that survive, born of their lengthy time apart, as John served his country at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and as a diplomat in Europe. Their revealing, often deeply personal correspondence, chronicles an inspiring political marriage along with the birth of a nation. A visionary and gifted political thinker, Adams moved a reluctant Congress to declare independence from England, and single-handedly secured millions of dollars in loans to keep the American army from collapse during the Revolutionary War. Later, he was named the first US ambassador to England. He penned the Massachusetts constitution, which would serve as the basis for the US constitution. He was the nation's first vice president and its second president. Through it all, Abigail remained his most trusted political advisor and confidante, as well as his dearest friend. She adored him and he adored her. It's a great love story.
PBS | NPR Forum Network program with WGBH Lectures
Boston Public Library
2006 Jan 10
This movie is part of the collection:PBS | NPR Forum Network History
Producer: WGBH
Production Company: WGBH Forum Network
Audio/Visual: sound, color