Charles Adams was the son of President John Adams and the brother of President John Quincy Adams. He lived a short tragic life. While young, he traveled in Europe. He later went to Harvard and became a lawyer. He married and had two daughters. However, he was a chronic alcoholic and he died from this condition at 30.
The John Adams series on HBO dealt with this on the most recent episode. It showed Charles in a drunken stupor begging his father for forgiveness as John Adams disowned him. It also showed Abigail Adams visiting her sick son begging him to "come back to us."
The final scene dealing with Charles Adams is when his parents receive word that he has died. Abigail is shown as being shaken by the news but President Adams is unmoved. Instead, he said, "I still will not forgive him."
This made me very curious about Charles Adams. There is not a lot on the Web about him. I hit some books dealing with John Adams and learned more. Charles is not covered in detail in any of them but glimpses of his childhood, his time in Europe, his relationship with his family, and his dying days do come through.
I found a letter from John Adams on the topic of the death of Charles Adams in John Adams: A Biography in His Own Words (1973) which was edited by James Bishop Peabody. President Adams had written a letter to his friend Adriaan Van der Kemp on December 28th, 1800. He wrote, "The affliction in my family from the melancholy death of a once beloved son, has been very great, and has required the consolation of religion, as well as philosophy, to enable to support us. The prospects of that unfortunate youth were very pleasing and promising, but have been cut off."
It is easy to see that President Adams was dealing with both grief for his son as well as his anger towards him too. 1800 was a tough year for John Adams. He lost the Presidency to Thomas Jefferson and he lost a son as well. The manner of his son's death made it even harder to take. I do not know if there is enough source material out there but a biography of Charles Adams would certainly be interesting. I hope someone writes one someday.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Charles Adams
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http://www.historynet.com/the-adams-family.htm
There may be some speculation that Charles Adams -- by all accounts a tormented young man -- drank himself to death because he was homosexual.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/adams/peopleevents/p_adamskids.html
I too am curious about Charles Adams. In the HBO series(John Adams) Charles does not accompany John Adams to France. Im confused about this because many articles speak of both Charles and John Quincy going with their Father. The series only speaks of John Quincy Adams being with his dad. I wonder if John Adams didnt favor his son John Quincy over Charles and perhaps Charles had a hard time living up to the expectations of his father and also filling the shoes of his big brother. He seemed (based on the HBO series) more sensitive to his father's long absences and not at all interested in the Law. Again, Im curious about Charles and his life - a sad and short one.
I too feel as others have stated here, that Charles who was estranged by his Father, and seemingly protected by his Mother.. Leaves one sensing that his torment could easily have come from being Homosexual.
Not a far cry of what continues for many Gay People today.
John seemed to be 'put off' by his son early on. Common behavior from a 'confused Father', thus the alienation.
I thought this from the very beginning of Part 1.. on the HBO Special.
By the End.. I was convinced.
I too noticed the discrepency on the HBO series..Johns Quincy travels with his father and Charles does not. However, I have also read that Nabby traveled also. I am not sure if there are travels by John Adams that are not listed in the movie, or if the children did join them at some time but did not stay. I do not feel Charles was gay. Like many middle children, sometimes feels "stuck in the middle". I do think Abigail had John take John Quincy not only to open his awareness to the world of politics, but to ensure the family tie family from Europe to America. There could be many reasons why he drank...wine was a common beverage while dining with family even at a young age. It would not be unheard of to drink at an early age and become an alcoholic. John Adams has "tough" love, there is no doubt about that!
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