On this day in 1735, John Adams, the son of a farmer and a
descendant of Plymouth Rock pilgrims, is born in Braintree,
Massachusetts. He enrolled in Harvard University at16 and went
on to teach school and study law before becoming America's
second president. Adams did not fight in the Revolutionary War,
but was instrumental in crafting the foundation of the American
government. In 1776, he anonymously published Thoughts on
Government, which proposed the three-tiered system upon which
the United States government is modeled: a bicameral
legislature, independent judiciary and strong executive. In
1783, Adams brokered the peace treaty with Britain that ended
the American Revolution. Fellow founding father Thomas Jefferson
once referred to Adams as "the colossus of independence." The
two men developed a deep friendship during the Revolutionary era
and both served in George Washington's first cabinet--Adams as
vice president and Jefferson as secretary of state. Adams,
Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton a