John Adams--"The vulgar Rich,"

John Adams, the second President of the United States, used the term "vulgar rich" in a letter to his wife Abigail Adams written on April 5, 1781. In the letter, Adams expressed his concern about the growing divide between the wealthy and the poor in America, and the potential consequences of this divide for the country's future.

Adams wrote:

"I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematicks and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce, and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelaine. But it is not in the course of human events to become wealthy and wise, but to be so virtuous and useful as to acquire riches. The vulgar Rich, have been the ruin of every Aristocratical Assembly, and the foundation of every Democrasy that ever was upon Earth."

In this quote, Adams is expressi…