Charles Adams (1770–1800)
Charles Adams (May 29, 1770 – November 30, 1800) was the second son of the second United States president, John Adams, and his wife, Abigail Adams (née Smith). He was also the younger brother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams.[1]
For other people named Charles Adams, see Charles Adams (disambiguation).
Charles Adams
May 29, 1770
November 30, 1800 (aged 30)
- Susanna
- Abigail
Early life[edit]
When Charles was a child, a smallpox epidemic broke out, killing many. Charles and his family were inoculated for the disease. He and his younger brother Thomas were not showing the expected response, so they both had the procedure done a few more times. His mother, Abigail Adams, his younger brother Thomas and older brother John Quincy had mild symptoms, but he and his older sister Nabby were both very sick, though both recovered within weeks.
At the age of nine, he traveled with his father and older brother, John Quincy, to Europe, studying in Passy, Amsterdam, and Leiden. He matriculated in Leiden on January 29, 1781.[2][3] In December 1781, 11-year-old Charles returned to America unaccompanied by family members. He had been feeling homesick and returned. In 1784, Abigail and Nabby moved to England to live with John Adams, who was working there at the time. John Quincy would join them later.
College[edit]
In June of 1789, while attending Harvard College, where he began at age 15 in 1785, Charles and his friends got into a scrape for drinking heavily and running naked through Harvard Yard. One of his friends was expelled. This night was the first recorded case of Primal Scream. John Quincy and Thomas would later attend Harvard after Charles.
In popular culture[edit]
In 2008, HBO presented the miniseries entitled John Adams based on the book by David McCullough. The biographical presentation depicts John Adams as a neglectful father to Charles and suggests that the elder Adams's failures as a father negatively influenced Charles's development. Historians have pointed out the inaccuracies of the series' representation of their relationship.[10]