Atlas of Independence: John Adams and the American Revolution

Join historian Chris Mackowski as he weaves the story of President John Adams into the American Revolution. When the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, no one doubted who was responsible. Said one delegate: “The man to whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of independence is Mr. John Adams. . . . I call him the Atlas of American independence.” Born of humble means outside Boston, Massachusetts, Adams’s work ethic led him to become one of the colony’s most successful attorneys. Yet he burned with a powerful ambition and yearned for more. “I never shall shine, till some animating Occasion calls forth all my Powers,” he fretted. Festering tensions with Great Britain provided the occasion Adam longed for, and soon he found himself at the center of the storm, thrust onto the national stage where all his “Powers” transformed him into the intellectual architect of American independence. Perhaps more than any other American, he rose to the historical moment, urging his contemporaries into the unknown future. The program will be followed by a book signing.

FREE/ Gettysburg History Members
$10/ General Admission
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