In time for the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Massacre, Dan Abrams, the country's foremost expert on American jurisprudence, delivers the first ever in-depth look at the trial that singlehandedly changed the course of the American legal system and the
very foundation of our country. With John Adams Under Fire: The Founding Father's Fight for Justice in the Boston Massacre Murder Trial (March 3, 2020; Hanover Square Press; $28.99), nationally bestselling author Abrams gives a curated view of a Founding
Father defending his enemy for the good of a young nation.
When the Boston Massacre happened on March 5, 1770, John Adams was a 34-year-old up-and-coming attorney, and in the name of justice, gambled his career on the most controversial murder case of the day. In
John Adams Under Fire, Abrams and co-writer David Fisher draw on the largely forgotten trial transcript, using Adams' own words to transport readers to colonial Boston, a city roiling with rebellion. Abrams looks at the trial through the lens of the
entirety of American history, using his expert legal mind to stress important revelations, including:
. The first use of "reasonable doubt" in legal history
. The first ever sequestration of a jury
. The pieces drawn from the British legal system
. The early precedents for what would become our modern legal system
The longest trial in history at the time, the legal proceedings after the Boston Massacre put John Adams in a public spotlight that he would never relinquish. He knew that in the burgeoning nation, even the worst people must have access to a fair trial.
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