John Adams served as the first vice president of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and as the second president from 1797 to 1801. He was born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree, Massachusetts, at a time when the population of Colonial America was estimated to be between 629,445 (in 1730) and 905,563 (in 1740). By the time of his death in 1826, at age 90, the population of the United States had grown to over 9.6 million.

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Born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, Adams graduated from Harvard University in 1755. He taught school in Worcester and began studying law there the following year. He earned a master’s degree in law from Harvard in 1758 and was admitted to the bar in 1759. Early in his career, he earned a reputation for advocating equality before the law. While many colonists favored protests and violence in response to British policies, Adams championed fair and peaceful resolutions. He opposed the 1765 Stamp Act, which levied taxes without colonial consent and was enforced by juryless British courts. His arguments, published in the Boston Gazette under the pseudonym "Humphrey Ploughjogger," helped galvanize peaceful opposition. Although Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, it soon passed the more oppressive Townshend Acts, imposing new taxes and administrative controls.

On March 5, 1770, tensions between colonists and British troops erupted in violence when soldiers killed five civilians in what became known as the Boston Massacre. Adams offered to defend the British soldiers, winning acquittals for the commander and six of the accused. Two soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and branded with the letter "M" on their thumbs, avoiding the death penalty.

As British policies grew more punitive, Adams increasingly aligned with colonists advocating organized resistance and independence. Following the 1773 Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party on December 16, Adams called the destruction of British tea "an Epocha in History" for its role in uniting colonial opposition. In retaliation, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Colonists responded by convening the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, where Adams was one of four delegates from Massachusetts. He coauthored a petition to King George III urging repeal of the Intolerable Acts, which Parliament ignored.

Three weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, Adams returned to Philadelphia to lead the Massachusetts delegation at the Second Continental Congress. In June, he nominated George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The following year, Adams joined Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman in drafting the Declaration of Independence, which was unanimously adopted on July 4, 1776.

From 1778 to 1788, Adams spent much of his time in Europe securing financial support for the war, negotiating the Treaty of Paris, and serving as the first U.S. minister to Great Britain. He returned to his family and farm in Massachusetts in 1788. 

In the 1789 Presidential Election, George Washington was elected president and Adams became vice president. His only constitutionally mandated role was to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate. In 1796, he narrowly defeated Thomas Jefferson to become the second president of the United States. During his presidency, he led the nation through an undeclared naval war with France, which ended with the 1800 Treaty of Mortefontaine. He expanded the Army and Navy, supported the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and oversaw the relocation of the U.S. capital from Philadelphia to Washington, DC, becoming the first resident of the White House on November 1, 1800.

The 1800 presidential election was bitterly contested by Jefferson, Aaron Burr, and Charles Pinckney. Jefferson and Burr each received 73 electoral votes, while Adams and Pinckney trailed. The House of Representatives broke the tie in Jefferson's favor after 36 ballots. Adams retired to his farm in Quincy, Massachusetts.

In later years, Adams and Jefferson reconciled and corresponded frequently, agreeing to avoid political debates. He lived to see his son, John Quincy Adams, elected as the sixth president of the United States in 1824. On July 4, 1826—exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted—Adams died of a heart attack at Peacefield. His final words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives,” unaware that Jefferson had died just hours earlier.

You can learn more about Founding Father, diplomat, and President John Adams using Census Bureau data and records. For example:

• John Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1735. President Adams was living in Philadelphia when Braintree first appeared in the 1800 Census. That year, the Norfolk County town had a population of 1,285. Braintree's population reached 5,981 in 1900; 23,161 in 1950; and 39,143 in 2020.
• Adams was the first vice president of the United States under George Washington. As vice president, Adams also served as ex officio president of the U.S. Senate with the power to cast tie-breaking votes. Between 1789 and 1797, Adams cast 29 tie-breaking votes, including votes opposing the establishment of the nation's capital in New York City, NY, and against suspending trade with Great Britain in 1794 and likely averting war. Only Vice Presidents Kamala Harris (2021-2025, 33 votes) and John C. Calhoun (1825-1832, 31 votes) cast more tie-breaking votes than John Adams.
• Adams was vice president when he, President George Washington, and Speaker of the House Frederick Muhlenberg signed the 1790 Census Act (Page 1 / Page 2) on March 1, 1790. During Adams terms as vice president and president, the United States conducted the 1790 and 1800 Censuses, which showed the population over the decade grew from 3,929,214 to 5,308,483.
• Adams spent the majority of his presidency in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which served as the capital of the United States during the 1790 and 1800 Censuses. During those censuses Philadelphia was the nation's second largest city with a population of 28,522 people in 1790 and 41,220 in 1800. In 2020, Philadelphia was the sixth largest city in the United States with a population of 1,603,797. As of July 2024, the Census Bureau estimated that 1,573,916 people called the "Cradle of Liberty" home.
• Adams moved from the President's House in Philadelphia to the White House in Washington, DC, in November 1800. The 1800 Census counted 8,144 people living in the nation's new capital city.  By 1850, the city was home to 51,687 and 278,718 in 1900. The capital city's population peaked in 1950 at 802,178. The 2020 Census counted 689,545 people in Washington, DC. In 2024, the Census Bureau estimated that 702,250 Washingtonians lived in the District of Columbia.
• Adams died on July 4, 1826, at his home in Quincy. The North Precinct of Quincy was part of Braintree until incorporated as a separate town in 1792. In 1800, 1,081 people lived in Quincy. From 1820 to 1830 the town's population increased from 1,623 to 2,201. Braintree's population grew to 10,570 in 1880, and 71,983 in 1930. In addition to being home to the National Park Service's Adams National Historical Park, Quincy was home to an estimated population of 101,636 in 2020. 
• John Adams survived to see his son John Quincy Adams serve as Secretary of State in charge of the 1820 Census and the 6th President of the United States during the 1824 presidential election. During the 1824 election, Andrew Jackson (Page 1 / Page 2) received more popular votes, but not the majority of electoral votes. As a result, the election was decided by the U.S. House of Representatives which chose John Quincy Adams to become president and John C. Calhoun as vice president on February 9, 1825. In his fourth address to the U.S. Congress on December 28, 1828, Adams recommended starting the census earlier than the first Monday of August to give enumerators more time to complete their work. As a result of his request, Congress passed the Census Act of 1830 that authorized moving "Census Day" to June 1.
• Presidency must run in the family! In addition to John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, several other U.S. presidents have shared familial connections. For example, father George H.W. Bush and son George W. Bush were the 41st and 43rd Presidents of the United States, respectively. Ninth president William Henry Harrison was the grandfather of 23rd president Benjamin Harrison. Founding Father and 5th president James Madison and 12th president Zachary Taylor were second cousins, and 26th president Theodore Roosevelt and 32nd president Franklin Roosevelt were fifth cousins.
• Did you know that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 - 50 years after the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. Following their deaths, only Charles Carroll remained as the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence. Carroll died at his Baltimore, Maryland, home in November 1832.

On October 5, 1978, Public Law 95-416—commonly known as the "72-Year Rule"—was enacted.

The 72-Year Rule states that the U.S. government will not release personally identifiable information collected during the decennial census until 72 years have passed.

During this 72-year period, access to census records is restricted to the individual named in the record or their legal heir.

After 72 years, census records are released to the public by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In accordance with this rule, the National Archives released the 1940 Census records on April 2, 2012, and the 1950 Census records on April 1, 2022. Records from the 1960 Census will be made available to the public in April 2032.