What if the Declaration of Independence wasn’t just Jefferson’s triumph, but John Adams’s victory too? In this episode of This Constitution, Savannah Eccles Johnston and Matthew Brogdon make the case for giving John Adams his due. Often remembered as prickly, pompous, or perpetually overshadowed, Adams was in fact one of the most important and hardest-working architects of American independence. Savannah and Matthew trace Adams’s rise from a New England farmer’s son to the fiercest and most relentless advocate for independence in the Continental Congress. Long before July 4, 1776, Adams was pushing Congress toward self-government, drafting foundational documents, organizing the war effort, and building the coalition that made independence possible. The episode explores Adams’s deep commitment to the rule of law, his principled defense of the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, and his decisive role in nominating George Washington as commander in chief. It also reveals how Adams shaped the Declaration itself, not just as Jefferson’s editor, but as the strategist who insisted a Virginian write it, helped outline its structure, supplied key ideas and language, and then defended it on the floor of Congress as its fiercest champion. Along the way, Savannah and Matthew unpack Adams’s political philosophy, especially his emphasis on consent, safety, and happiness as the true ends of government, and show how his thinking echoes throughout the Declaration and later American constitutional design. The episode concludes with Adams’s enduring legacy, a founder who may never have been popular, but whose ambition, integrity, and relentless work helped create a nation and who deserves far more credit than history often gives him. In This Episode [00:10 Introduction and justice for John Adams[01:20] Adams’s early life and background[03:14] Personality and public perception[07:17] Principles and the Boston Massacre defense[08:23] Role in the Continental Congress[09:21] Adams’s push for new governments[12:55] Lee’s resolution and Adams’s advocacy[15:48] Adams’s personality and coalition building[18:23] Formation of the Committee of Five[22:43] Adams’s self-awareness and Jefferson’s drafting[24:20] The drafting process and Adams’s influence[27:13] Adams as defender of the Declaration[28:10] Adams’s language and philosophy in the Declaration[32:59] Adams’s post-revolution contributions[34:27] Adams’s legacy and death[35:28] Adams in popular culture and the need for a monument[38:04] Conclusion and call for justiceNotable Quotes (00:21) “The theme of this episode is justice for John Adams.”— Savannah Eccles Johnston(11:07) “Adams pushed Congress in the fall of 1775. We're months, half a year from independence. And Adams is saying Congress should tell states to establish new governments based on the consent of their own people, exercising their own judgment with the idea that they would conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents and America in general.”— Matthew Brogdon(18:07) “It does take a person like John Adams who will just ignore the social cues, like ignore all of the social opprobrium attached to being caught making trouble, to actually induce everybody to move, get the job done right.”— Matthew Brogdon(23:00) “You are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business.”— John Adams(27:50) “In many ways, yes, Jefferson wrote the Declaration, but it’s Adams’s Declaration too.”— Savannah Eccles Johnston(34:29)“John Adams deserves a lot more credit for the Declaration of Independence and for the American system of government in general.”— Savannah Eccles Johnston
