Adams, a successful lawyer and Harvard graduate, came to view the British imposition of taxes and tariffs as a tool of oppression, and no longer believed that the government in England had the colonists’ interests in mind.  The mounting transgressions of his mother country were too much for Adams, resulting in his assistance in drafting and signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  He went on to serve as a member of the Continental Congress, drummed up support for the war effort as a diplomat to France, and even operated as the United States’ first ambassador to Great Britain following the Treaty of Paris.  Adams was elected vice president during the Washington's term, and was elected President himself in 1797.