John Adams isn’t always remembered as readily as the rest of the Founders, but there would have been no United States of America without him.

A new book by Dr. Chris Mackowski, writing professor and associate dean of undergraduate programs in St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication, invites readers to take a fresh look just in time for America’s 250th birthday.

“Atlas of Independence: John Adams and the American Revolution” traces Adams’s story from the tumultuous early days of protest in Boston through his negotiation of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. Along the way, he nominates George Washington to command the Continental Army and Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. “The man to whom the country is most indebted for the great measure of independence is Mr. John Adams ...” one of his colleagues attested. “I call him the Atlas of American independence.”

Mackowski says only Washington played a larger role in securing American independence.

“Adams was the leading voice for independence in the Continental Congress. Sometimes that meant dragging his more reluctant colleagues with him into the future,” said Mackowski. “When it came time to argue the point of independence, he was, in Jefferson’s words, ‘a Colossus on the floor,’ speaking ‘with a power of thought and expression, that moved us from our seats.’ Adams made it happen.”

“Atlas of Independence” presents a reader-friendly telling of the Adams story, drawing extensively from his own letters.

“Each chapter tells a part of the Revolution, but each one also keys in on a relationship that put Adams in partnership or rivalry with other important figures of the time: Sam Adams, John Dickinson, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ben Franklin. The most important of these, of course, was his relationship with his wife, Abigail.

“Abigail is the co-star of the book. She is really one of the most remarkable figures in American history,” said Mackowski. “Their correspondence is wonderful to read. They considered each other equal partners, and so they laid everything out for each other in their letters, and John took what Abigail had to say seriously. ‘I can do nothing without you,’ he once told her. But they were also very playful and lively.”

Most people don’t think of the Founders as “playful and lively,” Mackowski said, noting that they knew they were living through momentous times and consciously chose to “pose for history.” “Except for Adams,” he added. “Adams hated the idea that history would be remembered as a ‘romance’ rather than in a factual way. He was too outspoken to be turned into an American saint. I hope people who read the book get to see just how wonderfully human he was.”

Published by Savas Beatie, LLC, “Atlas of Independence” is the eighth book in the Emerging Revolutionary War Series, edited by Robert Orrison.

Mackowski has taught at St. Bonaventure since the fall of 2000. 

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #8 for value and #19 overall by U.S. News and World Report (2025).