Abijah Adams (1754May 18, 1816) was a journalist who frequently found himself involved in controversies. He was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. He was trained as a tailor, and married Lucy Ballard in 1790. In 1799, he took a job with the newspaper the ''Independent Chronicle'', a Jeffersonian newspaper controlled by his brother, Thomas Adams. That year he was convicted of libel against the

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

-controlled state government for his role in the newspaper's vocal opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts. He was sentenced to thirty days in jail. The following year, he was promoted to the position of editor, which he shared with Ebenezer Rhodes. In 1811, he received a conviction for libel arising from his comments on the conduct in office of Theophilus Parsons, who was at the time the Chief Justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

, but was later pardoned. He died in 1816.

References

Contemporary Opinion of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

", F. M. Anderson. ''The American Historical Review'', Vol. 5, 62–63, 225–28. *''Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896.'' Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963. 1754 births 1816 deaths People from colonial Boston 18th-century American people 19th-century American journalists American tailors American male journalists 19th-century American male writers {{US-journalist-stub