John Adams Academy | The Classics

Classics are the greatest works of creation.

They encompass great art, music, literature, documents, speeches, experiments, proofs, natural wonders, and the virtuous deeds and figures in history.

A classic inspires the very best within us by revealing what is essentially true, good, and beautiful. It exhibits the virtues and values of a civilization at its apex. A classic has universality and speaks across the millennia to people of any age and culture. A classic is never finished saying what it has to say and can be experienced again and again. A classic work of art or literature has a great theme and noble expression.

It is through the pillar of the Classics that a scholar engages in the Great Conversation that asks and explores age-old questions: What is truth? What is the good life? and Why am I here? Classics provide insight into the human condition and the purpose of life. Classics show the true nature of falsehood and truth, vice and virtue, and ugliness and beauty. It is through the classics that scholars are introduced to excellence, come to know themselves and reality, and are ultimately inspired to causes greater than self.

Fundamental to an American Classical Leadership Education^® is the recognition that the founders of the nation developed into servant leaders largely by acting on principles gained through their engagement in the Great Conversation. While John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were formally educated in the classical tradition, other Americans such a Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Abigail Adams participated in the Great Conversation through studying the classics of their own accord. Our nation developed as the discussion coalesced around a study of key works and ideas from the Western Canon. As with our founding generation, a deep study of these classics holds the potential to aid a scholar in becoming a wiser individual, a liberated citizen, and a keeper and defender of the principles of freedom.

The Great Conversation

The Classics

While John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were formally educated in the classical tradition, other Americans such as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Abigail Adams participated in the Great Conversation through studying the classics of their own accord. Our nation developed as the discussion coalesced around a study of key works and ideas from the Western Canon. As with our founding generation, a deep study of these classics holds the potential to aid a scholar in becoming a wiser individual, a liberated citizen, and a keeper and defender of the principles of freedom.

Joining the Conversation

Engaging Scholars with American ideals and personalities

John Adams Academy scholars enter into this same Great Conversation through their study of the greatest works, or "classics," of history with an emphasis on the great books of the Western Tradition. Further, in accordance with our Vision of restoring America’s heritage, the American Classical Leadership Education® curriculum of John Adams Academy engages scholars with the uniquely American ideals and personalities that have shaped the truly great American democratic heritage.

American Classical Leadership Education^®

Liberty-based education leading scholars to servant leadership

What was it about America that produced such great servant leaders? Some leaders had formal classical educations. Some were self-educated. George Washington independently read the books his brother sent back from England. Benjamin Franklin gave up eating meat in order to afford the purchase of books. Abigail Adams had no formal education but learned from the classics in her family library. Fredrick Douglass fought for his own education, which ultimately led to his liberation from slavery. What they had in common was they were rooted in liberty and engaged the liberal arts through the classics and mentors.