History Series / JohnAdams

* DutchAngle: So, so many of these.

** John Trumbull himself is portrayed as a middle-aged naive artist who has no understanding of the true history of the revolution. The reality is that he was eleven years older than the current president John Quincy Adams with whom he shares the scene along with John Adams. Also, Trumbull actually [[BeenThereShapedHistory served in the continental army as Washington's aide in the revolutionary war,]] meaning that he did not need Adams to remind him that the war was already underway during the time of the treaty signing. Finally, Trumbull had lost one of his eyes in childhood and thus had limited depth-perception, making the Elder Adams' into a massive {{Jerkass}} for criticizing the painter's ability to "comprehend a large space".

** John Trumbull himself is portrayed as a middle-aged naive artist who has no understanding of the true history of the revolution. The reality is that he was eleven years older than the current president John Quincy Adams with whom he shares the scene along with John Adams. Also, Trumbull actually [[BeenThereShapedHistory served in the continental army as Washington's aide in the revolutionary war,]] meaning that he had direct experience of that history. Finally, Trumbull had lost one of his eyes in childhood and thus had limited depth-perception, making the Elder Adams' into a massive {{Jerkass}} for criticizing the painter's inability to "comprehend a large space".

* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: In the run-up to the vote on independence, John Dickinson points out that, by his opponents' own admission, forgien aid will be required to fight the British and the fledgling United States could be willing trading the "light yoke" of Britain for the heavy influence of an alien nation.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: The entire scene where John Adams and Thomas Jefferson reconcile through an exchange of letters. In one scene, it's revealed that Jefferson has a bust of Adams in Monticello.

%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Charles to John Quincy.

%%* CoolOldGuy: Dr. Benjamin Franklin, [[TruthInTelevision natch.]]

%%* DaddysGirl: Nabby.
%%* DecadentCourt: ''Vive la France'', baby.

%%* TheDutifulSon: John Quincy.

%%* PrettyBoy: Edward Rutledge, most definitely.

%%* TheQuietOne: UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson. TruthInTelevision, natch, and lampshaded by Adams.

%%* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The Boston Militia.

%%* RedOniBlueOni: John Adams is Red to Thomas Jefferson's Blue. Also, UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton is the Red to Jefferson's Blue.

%%* SmallNameBigEgo: Ambassador Genêt

%%* [[ManBehindTheMan Woman Behind The Man]]: Abigail, so very much.

** Adams, to a degree while representing America in France. Franklin eventually gets him removed because of it. Though it's played with; while Adams does generally come across as rather high-and-mighty and overall fails to ingratiate himself, his main problem is that he's a sober, practical-minded man of business who just wants to knuckle down and get his job done, which would normally make him the opposite of this trope were he not ambassador to a court generally devoted to hedonistic indulgence.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: The trial of the Boston Massacre soldiers hinges on Adams' belief that mob rule cannot be allowed to ignore the facts of the case, and his defense hinges on the eyewitness testimony of a black freedman. In reality, Adams' defense relied heavily on [[ValuesDissonance race-baiting]], arguing that the mob was composed of "saucy boys, negroes, and molattoes, Irish teagues[[note]]An old slur for the Irish, based on the Irish name Tadhg[[/note]] and outlandish Jack Tarrs[[note]]Sailors, with "outlandish" having the connotation of [[HelloSailor ''gay'' sailors]][[/note]." He also characterizes Crispus Attucks, a man of black and American Indian ancestry who was one of the five dead, as a ScaryBlackMan who incited the mob and was only shot after he physically assaulted the soldiers. Prosecution witnesses claimed that Attucks was fifteen feet away from the soldiers when they opened fire.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: The trial of the Boston Massacre soldiers hinges on Adams' belief that mob rule cannot be allowed to ignore the facts of the case. But the series avoids showing how Adams made that argument [[ValuesDissonance on a racial basis]], arguing that the mob was composed of "saucy boys, negroes, and molattoes, Irish teagues[[note]]An old slur for the Irish, based on the Irish name Tadhg[[/note]] and outlandish Jack Tarrs[[note]]Sailors, and the 'outlandish' points to ''gay'' sailors[[/note]]" and by characterising Crispus Attucks, one of the five dead, as a ScaryBlackMan who intimidated the soldiers and roused the mob (despite two eyewitness accounts saying Attucks was back amongst the crowd and not particularly prominent.)