Adams, John

John Adams (1735–1826) was the second president of the United States (1797–1801), having previously served as the first vice president of the United States under George Washington. Because of his influence on the Massachusetts Constitution, Adams was instrumental in establishing the search and seizure protections upon which the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is based.

Adams was born in what was Braintree (now known as Quincy), Massachusetts. He married Abigail Smith in 1764, and together they had six children, one of whom became the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams.

Adams attended Harvard University, became a prominent lawyer in Boston, and was a member of the Federalist Party—committed to a fiscally sound and nationalistic government. As a lawyer, he defended the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre. He also became a delegate representing Massachusetts in the Continental Congress, served as a diplomat to France, and helped negotiate the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain. A political theorist and historian, he had a large part in writing the Massachusetts state constitution in 1780 and was considered a leading figure in the independence movement in 1776 and a Founding Father of the United States.

Adams was present in the courtroom when James Otis petitioned the court in 1761 to hold hearings regarding English colonial policies—especially with regard to the sanction of general warrants and writs of assistance, which gave unlimited powers to interrogate colonists, search their homes, and seize any goods considered to be prohibited or that had not been subject to customs duty. What Adams witnessed that day led him to believe that these events would be the catalyst for change in the colonies. Adams wrote and had published his pamphlet titled “Thoughts on Government” in 1776—which was influential in the writing of many state constitutions—advocating the separation of powers, three branches of government, and bicameralism.

Adams contributed to the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780 by setting down the requirement that all searches must be “reasonable” and supported by probable cause made under law and be judicially sanctioned, a position that reflected his observations as to the legality of writs of assistance. Article XIV of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights enacted as part of the Massachusetts Constitution, as written by Adams, helped serve as basis for the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.