|
The Education of John Adams
R.B. Bernstein
New York: Oxford University Press, 2020 Hardcover. viii+349 pages. ISBN 9780199740239. $27.50
Reviewed by Christopher N. Fritsch Independent Scholar
Over the last two decades, there has been an enormous interest in the early American republic. This included a number of studies exploring John Adams’s attitudes toward slavery and race, oligarchy, and his relationship to other Founders, such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Richard Bernstein’s concise, but complete study of Adams, is based upon Adams’s diary, correspondence, and writings. From all of this, Bernstein concluded, “We may know John Adams better than he knew himself” [239]. Adams provided a marked trail to all of his passions, frustrations, loves and angers. A diary begun quite young, a mountain of letters, and published works provide a clear, if not rocky path, to understanding the man. In this regard, Bernstein uses very familiar material, but it is context which he looks to construct and present. The idea of education becomes the backdrop for Bernstein’s study of Adams, and for Adams, education was where you found it. Adams, born in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1735, had a small hand in fashioning his formal education, as a youth, and a young man at Harvard College. If this was the extent of Adams’s education, Bernstein’s work would have been more journal article, than book. As Bernstein shows, Adams learned lessons, often very hard lessons, throughout his life. After graduating from Harvard, Adams began his life as a school master. During this time, he took the opportunity to read and learn in order to choose a profession. As he had ruled out a life in the ministry, he explored the world of medicine, but this was an educational path that held no long-term interest. However, it was not long before he found his way to the third and final choice of a profession—attorney. This choice, though, demanded as much time as Adams could bring to it, while he continued to teach. As he recorded in his diary, he began his study of the law with Coke, and eventually, his education encompassed much of English and, to an extent, Roman law. Given Bernstein’s perspective on Adams’s and his education, once Adams made his decision to become an attorney, and later, to participate in colonial and imperial politics, he was under the microscope. Adams passionately worked for the American cause, and although he needed no external validation for his actions, his letters reflected his fear of being overshadowed by George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and thus, forgotten. This did not happen; Mercy Otis Warren evaluated Adams’s participation in the American Revolution in her history. Warren concluded that upon his return from Europe, Adams arrived more enamoured with monarchy and aristocracy. According to her, he renounced his revolutionary origins, and succumbed to the evils of European society; Adams betrayed all that he helped to build. In these moments, Adams learned some harsh lessons. Although Warren’s accusations were not new, some of these existed from his terms as vice president and president, but Adams felt the sting and the pain by seeing these accusations in print [214-217]. His ten letters to Warren looked to rectify her misinterpretation. However, no argument could overcome her doubts. Experience and social contact were great teachers for Adams, and his correspondence and books taught him a great deal. Adams’s letters served to both educate others about his ideas and positions, and they brought him a great deal to consider and discuss. The greatest of these were the personal and intellectual letters from his wife, Abigail. She often educated John about events in Massachusetts, news from Congress and Philadelphia, and the children. Jefferson was a second contributor to Adams’s education through their correspondence. After they both retired, they discussed their perspectives upon the Revolution, France, and books. His books were as valued as his private correspondence. As a reader, Adams conversed with his books and their authors, and to a point, himself, through his marginalia. Then, he often discussed both the author!s ideas and his own, through his own books and essays, and in his letters. Reading and writing held a preeminent place for Adams and for Bernstein’s understanding of his education. However, since his death in 1826, historians see Adams in a very conflicted ways, and often conclude that he had betrayed the Revolution—an increasing trend in modern historiography. Bernstein, too, sees the conflicted Adams, and addresses this problem in his “Epilogue.” In Bernstein's analysis, he sees historical studies of Adams in two categories—works focused on Adams’s personal life and those focused upon his political life. Bernstein concludes that, in either case, the presentation of Adams is incomplete. More than these insufficiencies, these studies served to either apologize or condemn Adams. Each in their own way failed to fully appreciate and understand the man and his complex nature; both sides seemed controlled by contemporary circumstances which drew Adams out of context. Bernstein’s goal, then, is to bring context to Adams. In a sense, the author wants to present Adams in as complete a fashion as possible. Bernstein, then, broadly defines education, and his Adams as continually educated. From his initial chapter describing Adam’s formal education as a youth, Bernstein describes John’s advocacy for a better educational environment, and later, his attempt to prove that Harvard College was not the choice for him, but farming was, forcing his father to set John to work on the farm for a day. Adams quickly learned what it meant to be a farmer. One might conclude that throughout Adams’s life, part of his education came through the choices he faced and made, as it surely does for all of us. From his education, to the choice of a career, to finding a wife, to accepting new public service positions, and to the resumption of his correspondence with Jefferson, Adams seemingly educated himself at each decision. When presented with the option of studying medicine, Adams took full advantage of the medical library in the home where he stayed as a teacher. In the same way, he often sought the advice and counsel of others, but often, as Bernstein shows, his own perception of men and events clouded his decisions. By his own hand, then, these moments often left him appearing as an unskilled, mentally hampered man. It was difficult to see the impact of his education and learning. Adams often charged, when walking away might have afforded him less conflict. These, also, were informal lessons compared to his formal education as a boy, or his day of farm work with his father. For Bernstein, the sources of Adams’s education and learning varied from his reading of the law in preparation for the bar, or, his education at the hands of European counsellors as an American diplomat to France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Adams continued to obtain an education. This work, then, fits well with the more recent work that looks to move Adams into better, more complete, context.
Bernstein’s presentation is well written, and he does not let us lose sight of
Adams, the man. Adams’s writings and his actions can be seen as Warren stated—a
man who lost his revolutionary spirit, but Bernstein reminds us of how difficult
the path was for Adams, as well as the rest of the Founders. Thus, there were
times when Adams received an education, even if he believed it as unnecessary.
Adams’s fear of being forgotten and the misconceptions of his writings and
statements, these all form Bernstein’s interpretation. Compared to many other
historians and biographers, Bernstein shows us a complex man who held strengths
and weaknesses, but found an outlet to teach, to argue, and continue to gain an
education—a life of constant learning.
All rights are reserved and no reproduction from this site for whatever purpose is permitted without the permission of the copyright owner. Please contact us before using any material on this website.
|
|
|
