Rachel Browning’s Legal Blog

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been reading the biography of John Adams, written by historian David McCullough.  I’ve had this book for several years, but not had the time to read it, mainly because of law school time constraints.  Of course, I’ve been out of law school for over a year now, but three years of constant studying nearly burned me out from reading anything other than what was actually required of me.  Time spent outside of the classroom or library, or away from studying, was devoted to pure relaxation – TV watching, listening to music, downing glasses of wine, etc.  The end result was that several books that I’ve been meaning read over the last couple of years have remained unopened on the book shelf; until now. 

I decided to turn to John Adams because of the historic election we’ve just witnessed and because I believe our country is at a crossroads – economically, socially, and politically.  In many ways, we’ve all been, and will continue to be tested.  I think John Adams, and the men and women who helped to found our country knew what it was to look in the face of insurmountable odds and risk all they had, in order to create something new, in the hopes of building a union that would actually implement those ideals that had before been only a distant vision.  So when I’m being tested, or challenged in ways that are unfamiliar or daunting to me, I often look to history to remind me of all the things to which I can aspire, as a lawyer and as a person. 

John Adams, our second president of the United States and native of Braintree, Massachusetts, was also a lawyer.  The first few chapters of McCullough’s book document the time in Adams’ life in which he was beginning his career as a lawyer.  The devotion with which Adams tackled his cases and advocated for his clients is admirable.  There didn’t seem to be an area of the law he wouldn’t learn and pursue on a client’s behalf.  Adams quickly became one of the most popular and well respected attorneys in Boston among his peers.  During this time, our country was still only a collection of colonies under the British crown, and the impending “revolution” was in its infancy.  But trying cases and analyzing the law as it existed in the colonies at that time enlightened Adams to the concepts of liberty and freedom and showed him concrete ways in which these ideals could become reality, and form the basis of a new way of governance.  To Adams, no individual, no matter what their origin or standing, was beyond the reach of what we would come to know as our “inalienable rights.”

Case in point: 

If you’ve studied the early history of this country and the events leading up to the Revolutionary War, then you’ve probably heard of the Boston Massacre, the killing of five colonists by British soldiers on March 5, 1770.   The riot was a result of the escalating tensions between the British officials and the colonists beginning with the arrival of royal troops in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce new taxes imposed by the Townshend Acts.  The soldiers allegedly responsible for the killings were all charged and placed on trial for murder.  Captain Thomas Preston, the leader, and the other soldiers accused were defended in court by John Adams.  Six of the soldiers were acquitted.  The two soldiers who had fired directly into the crowd were charged with murder but were convicted only of manslaughter. 

Despite the unpopular choice of defending these men in court and the potential damage it could have had to his reputation, especially given the politics of the time, Adams believed there were higher principles at stake.  And he was willing to put his popularity on the line in order to ensure that the men accused of these crimes were granted their day in court.  He would later write “The Part I took in Defense of Captn. Preston and the Soldiers procured me Anxiety, and Obloquy enough. It was, however, one of the most gallant, generous, manly, and disinterested Actions of my whole Life, and one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my Country.”  Obviously, there would be much more that Adams would do for our country, but this is an example of Adams’ integrity and of his belief in and respect for what would eventually become our judicial system.  Justice wasn’t just a concept to Adams.  It was something to be practiced, and defended.

I hope that during this Thanksgiving holiday, we all take the time to remember and honor the sacrifices so many individuals have made to create the country we are today.  Our journey is not complete. We are a work in progress; but as our new President-Elect has reminded us, nothing is ever beyond our reach.  Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!