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John Adams Under Fire
John Adams Under Fire: The Founding Father's Fight for Justice in the Boston Massacre Murder Trial | David Fisher, Dan Abrams
4 posts | 2 read | 1 reading | 2 to read
“An expert, extremely detailed account of John Adams’ finest hour.”—Kirkus Reviews Honoring the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Massacre The New York Times bestselling author of Lincoln’s Last Trial and host of LivePD Dan Abrams and David Fisher tell the story of a trial that would change history. History remembers John Adams as a Founding Father and our country’s second president. But in the tense years before the American Revolution, he was still just a lawyer, fighting for justice in one of the most explosive murder trials of the era. On the night of March 5, 1770, shots were fired by British soldiers on the streets of Boston, killing five civilians. The Boston Massacre has often been called the first shots of the American Revolution. As John Adams would later remember, “On that night the formation of American independence was born.” Yet when the British soldiers faced trial, the young lawyer Adams was determined that they receive a fair one. He volunteered to represent them, keeping the peace in a powder keg of a colony, and in the process created some of the foundations of what would become United States law. In this book, New York Times bestselling authors Dan Abrams and David Fisher draw on the trial transcript, using Adams’s own words to transport readers to colonial Boston, a city roiling with rebellion, where British military forces and American colonists lived side by side, waiting for the spark that would start a war.
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A mob, inflamed by England‘s stranglehold of Boston in 1770, attacks English soldiers who fire their guns & kill five. Did they commit murder or was it self-defense? John Adams-a true patriot-surprisingly defends the soldiers. There are important firsts for America & much on the foundation of legal principles. Unfortunately most of the book is straight from the trial transcript, which was meticulously detailed & repetitive. Interesting but dry.

Crazeedi So many important lessons to learn with this incident. Adams defense of the bad guys, a foundation for our republic, critical to remember, and didnt he successfully defend them too? Innocent till proven guilty, right to fair trial and to counsel. On and on, foundational principles 4y
sisilia I read David McCullough‘s biography on John Adams and I really like his character 4y
Texreader @Crazeedi Excellent recitation of some of the principles. The big ones were self-defense, unlawful assemblies, when do actions cross those lines, manslaughter versus murder, the ancient foundations of those principles, credibility of witnesses, the effect of outside propaganda (Samuel Adams could not shut up), etc. I wont reveal the results of the trial though. Spoilers. I didn‘t know going into the book and was glad I waited to find out. 4y
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Texreader @sisilia McCullough is such an excellent writer. I‘ve enjoyed everything I‘ve ever read by him. I haven‘t read the Adams biography though 4y
Crazeedi @Texreader I know the results of the trial, I've hear and read a lot about this episode in our history specifically, as it applies to much of our rights that are being trampled on in our society today. When I see people screaming guilty guilty and no due process being respected its abhorrent 4y
Texreader I agree 100%. It was very interesting that there were parallels with the capitol riot in January. I think it‘s an important story to be aware of—& I wasn‘t! I should have learned about it in law school but didn‘t! I just wish this author hadn‘t told it in such a dry and repetitive fashion. It makes it so inaccessible. 4y
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Texreader
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A bit of catch-up while I feeling better. Tagging my current audiobook. #two4tuesday

1) No, since I like to do something else while listening, like driving, housecleaning, or crafting. That‘s why I love audiobooks
2) yes, see no.1 because I can do multiple things. I like that I can speed up slow speakers & I like hearing pronunciations of foreign words. And some narrators are just heaven to listen to.

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView @Crazeedi

TheSpineView You're welcome and Thanks for playing! 4y
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Texreader
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In need of a new audiobook I started this one previously purchased today. I love it. The timing couldn‘t be better. A righteous mob—upset over a lot of foul conduct by Britain—assailed the British custom house. British soldiers, presumably in self defense—fired into the mob. John Adams defends the British soldiers in an extraordinarily important case about the rule of law: defending the unpopular British because they deserve to be defended.

Suet624 History that we never knew about, for $100. 4y
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Tkgbjenn1
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Mehso-so

I couldn‘t quite finish this one. I believe most Americans know that The Boston Massacre was the result of the aggressive behavior of a mob of Bostonians. And knowing that you know the John Adams successfully defended the British Soldiers. You know the background, beyond that the book contains essentially the testimony of every single witness in the trial. It got a little tedious. Well written, not a bad book, but I lost interest and moved on.

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