Samuel adams facts biography

Samuel Adams, American statesman and, according to historian Joseph J. He was a second cousin to John Adams. His mother was Mary Fifield. Young Adams graduated from Harvard College inand three years later, on attaining the degree of A. He repeatedly failed in business, notably as manager of a malt house, largely because of his incessant attention to politics; but in the Boston town meeting he became a conspicuous example of the efficiency of that institution for training in statecraft.

About he began to take an important part in the affairs of the town, and became a leader in the debates of a political club which he was largely instrumental in organizing, and to whose weekly publication, the Public Advertiserhe contributed numerous articles. However in this office he was unsuccessful; his easy business methods resulted in heavy arrears.

The next year he was for the first time elected to the lower house of the general court, in which he served until after as clerk. As the vigor and influence of James Otis declined, Adams took an increasingly prominent place in the revolutionary councils; and, contrary to the opinion of Otis and Benjamin Franklinhe declared that colonial representation in parliament was out of the question and advised against any form of compromise.

When Hancock died in office, Adams took over for him and subsequently was elected to three one-year terms before retiring. These are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature. But apprehend this would be a fatal delusion. Rights of the Colonistsby Samuel Adams.

The Writings of Samuel Adams, Vol. III by Samuel Adams. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States. Your Profile. Email Updates. American Revolution History. Thomas Jefferson. The 13 Most Cunning Military Leaders. Cesare Beccaria.

Betsy Ross. John Adams. Andrew Jackson. George Rogers Clark. According to many historical accounts, Gage also instructed his men to arrest Hancock and Adams, but the written orders issued by Gage made no mention of arresting the Patriot leaders. Soon after the battle, Gage issued a proclamation granting a general pardon to all who would "lay down their arms, and return to the duties of peaceable subjects"—with the exceptions of Hancock and Samuel Adams.

The Continental Congress worked under a secrecy rule, so Adams's precise role in congressional deliberations is not fully documented. He appears to have had a major influence, working behind the scenes as a sort of " parliamentary whip " [ ] and Thomas Jefferson credits Samuel Adams—the lesser-remembered Adams—with steering the Congress toward independence, saying, "If there was any Palinurus to the Revolution, Samuel Adams was the man.

Adams was a cautious advocate for a declaration of independence, urging eager correspondents back in Massachusetts to wait for more moderate colonists to come around to supporting separation from Great Britain. After a delay to rally support, Congress approved the language of the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4,which Adams signed.

When he returned to Congress, they continued to manage the war samuel adams facts biography. Adams served on military committees, including an appointment to the Board of War in Adams was the Massachusetts delegate appointed to the committee to draft the Articles of Confederationthe plan for the colonial confederation. With its emphasis on state sovereignty, the Articles reflected Congress's wariness of a strong central government, a concern shared by Adams.

Like others at the time, Adams considered himself a citizen of the United States while continuing to refer to Massachusetts as his "country". From Philadelphia, Adams urged Massachusetts to ratify, which it did. Adams signed the Articles of Confederation with the other Massachusetts delegates inbut they were not ratified by all the states until Adams returned to Boston in to attend a state constitutional convention.

The Massachusetts General Court had proposed a new constitution the previous year, but voters rejected it, and so a convention was held to try again. Adams was appointed to a three-man samuel adams facts biography committee with his cousin John Adams and James Bowdoin. The new constitution established a republican form of government, with annual elections and a separation of powers.

It reflected Adams's belief that "a state is never free except when each citizen is bound by no law whatever that he has not approved of, either directly, or through his representatives". InAdams retired from the Continental Congress. His health was one reason; he was approaching his sixtieth birthday and suffered from tremors that made writing difficult.

During the Revolution, Adams returned to Massachusetts from the Continental Congress for a two-month break. Adams remained active in politics upon his return to Massachusetts. He lived in a run down house on Winter Street in Boston that had been confiscated from its Loyalist owner. Adams focused his political agenda on promoting virtue, which he considered essential in a republican government.

If republican leaders lacked virtue, he believed, liberty was endangered. Adams disapproved of what he viewed as Hancock's vanity and extravagance, which Adams believed were inappropriate in a republican leader. When Hancock left Congress inAdams and the other Massachusetts delegates voted against thanking him for his service as president of Congress.

Adams thought that Hancock was not acting the part of a virtuous republican leader by acting like an aristocrat and courting popularity. Adams's promotion of public virtue took several forms. He played a major role in getting Boston to provide a free public education for children, even for girls, which was controversial. Adams worried that the Society was "a stride towards an hereditary military nobility", and thus a threat to republicanism.

I firmly believe that the benevolent Creator designed the republican Form of Government for Man. Postwar economic troubles in western Massachusetts led to an uprising known as Shays' Rebellionwhich began in Small farmers, angered by high taxes and debts, armed themselves and shut down debtor courts in Worcester and Hampshire Counties, prompting Governor James Bowdoin to consult Adams first.

Adams at a Boston town meeting oversaw the drafting of a circular letter that denounced these actions as unconstitutional and as acts treason. He approved of rebellion against an unrepresentative government, as had happened during the American Revolution, but he opposed taking up arms against a republican government, composed of fellow American citizens, where problems should be remedied through elections.

He thought that the leaders of Shays's Rebellion should be hanged, reportedly saying that "the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death", and urged Governor Bowdoin to use military force, who obliged and sent four thousand militiamen to put down the uprising. Shays's Rebellion contributed to the belief that the Articles of Confederation needed to be revised.

Indelegates to the Philadelphia Conventioninstead of revising the Articles, created a new United States Constitution with a much stronger national government. The Constitution was sent to the states for ratification, when Adams expressed his displeasure. Despite his reservations, Adams rarely spoke at the convention, and listened carefully to the arguments rather than raising objections.

While Adams was attending the ratifying convention, his only son Samuel Adams Jr. The younger Adams had served as surgeon in the Revolutionary War, but had fallen ill and never fully recovered. The death was a stunning blow to the elder Adams.

Samuel adams facts biography

Investments in land made them relatively wealthy by the mids, but this did not alter their frugal lifestyle. Adams was concerned about the new Constitution and made an attempt to re-enter national politics. He allowed his name to be put forth as a candidate for the House of Representatives in the December election, but lost to Fisher Amesapparently because Ames was a stronger supporter of the Constitution, a more popular position.

By the late s Adams appeared to be an aging politician whose glory days were obscured by present-day constitutional issues. During this time the newspapers outlined the stark contrast in politics between Adams and Ames in their pages. InAdams was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts and served in that office until Governor Hancock's death inwhen he became acting governor.

The next year, Adams was elected as governor in his own right, the first of four annual terms. He was generally regarded as the leader of his state's Jeffersonian Republicanswho were opposed to the Federalist Party. Unlike some other Republicans, Adams supported the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion in for the same reasons that he had opposed Shays's Rebellion.

The Adams cousins remained friends, but Samuel was pleased when Jefferson defeated John Adams in the presidential election. Samuel Adams took a cue from President Washington, who declined to run for samuel adams facts biography in he retired from politics at the end of his term as governor in Samuel Adams is a controversial figure in American history.

Disagreement about his significance and reputation began before his death and continues to the present. Adams's contemporaries, both friends and foes, regarded him as one of the foremost leaders of the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson, for example, characterized Adams as "truly the Man of the Revolution. Supporters of the Revolution praised Adams, but Loyalists viewed him as a sinister figure.

Peter Oliverthe exiled chief justice of Massachusetts, characterized him as a devious Machiavellian with a "cloven Foot". This hostile "Tory interpretation" of Adams was revived in the 20th century by historian Clifford K. Shipton in the Sibley's Harvard Graduates reference series. Whig historians challenged the "Tory interpretation" of Adams.

William Gordon and Mercy Otis Warrentwo historians who knew Adams, wrote of him as a man selflessly dedicated to the American Revolution. The first full biography of Adams appeared ina three-volume work written by William Wells, his great-grandson. Adams' samuels adams facts biography include letters and essays, many of which were published in colonial newspapers like the Boston Gazette.

These works were collected, edited and published in a four-volume work —08 edited by Harry A. In the preface of this work, Cushing asserts that, "The writings of no one of the leaders of the American Revolution form a more complete expression of the causes and justification of that movement than do those of Samuel Adams. In the late 19th century, many American historians were uncomfortable with contemporary revolutions and found it problematic to write approvingly about Adams.

Relations had improved between the United States and the United Kingdomand Adams's role in dividing Americans from Britons was increasingly viewed with regret. InRalph V. Harlow used a " Freudian " approach to characterize Adams as a "neurotic crank" driven by an "inferiority complex". Miller's biography Sam Adams: Pioneer in Propaganda. Miller's influential book became, in the words of historian Charles Akers, the "scholarly enshrinement" of "the myth of Sam Adams as the Boston dictator who almost single-handedly led his colony into rebellion".

According to Akers, Miller and other historians used "Sam did it" to explain crowd actions and other developments, without citing any evidence that Adams directed those events. That belief justified force only against threats to the constitutional rights so grave that the "body of the people" recognized the danger, and only after all peaceful means of redress had failed.

Within that revolutionary tradition, resistance was essentially conservative. InRay Raphael 's Founding Myths continued Maier's line by deconstructing several of the "Sam" Adams myths that are still repeated in many textbooks and popular histories. Samuel Adams's name has been used by commercial and non-profit ventures since his death.

The Boston Beer Company created Samuel Adams Boston Lager indrawing upon the tradition that Adams had been a brewer; it became a popular award-winning brand. These groups take their names from Adams in homage to his ability to organize citizens at the local level to achieve a national goal. In her biography of Adams, Stacy Schiff writes that Adams "operated by stealth, melting into committees and crowd actions, pseudonyms and smoky back rooms.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. Founding Father of the United States — For other uses, see Samuel Adams disambiguation. In this c. Elizabeth Checkley. Elizabeth Wells. Conflict with Great Britain.

First Continental Congress. Second Continental Congress. See also: Dedham, Massachusetts in the American Revolution. Samuel Adams, April 14, [ ] [ ]. Upton, ed. The Founding Fathers Reconsidered. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN New York: HarperCollins. Registers of Deeds for the County of Suffolk, Massachusetts, —pp. Descendants of Thomas Goldthwaitepp.