|
Samuel
Adams
(1722-1803)
"What do we mean by the Revolution? The war? That was no
part of the Revolution. It was only an effect and a consequence of
it. The Revolution was in the minds of the people, and this was
effected, from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years before
a drop of blood was drawn at Lexington."
- John Adams to Thomas
Jefferson, 1818
“If ye love
wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater
than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace.
We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the
hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may
posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
-Samuel Adams,
Continental Congress, Philadelphia, 1776
The second
cousin of President John Adams, Samuel Adams is best known for his
role as the Organizer of the Revolution. After failing as an owner
of a beer brewery and as a tax collector - he proved too lenient
when it came to collecting taxes from the poor - he finally found
his calling as a political leader.
Harvard-educated, he
gained his political base by mastering the town meeting where he
was the first to reason that being ruled by a government a month's
sail away would inevitably fail. He was the main strategist for
the patriots, calling their every move against every new Crown
policy.
Adams was the
first to make fun of himself and his traditional bland Puritan
clothing, an attribute that was immeasurable in winning over the
local townspeople whom he would meet every day as he made his
rounds to the local taverns and shipyards.
Cousin John
described him as:
"...a man of
refined policy, steadfast integrity, exquisite humanity, obliging,
engaging manners, real as well as professed (poverty), and a
universal good character, unless it should be admitted that he is
too attentive to the public and not enough to himself and his
family."
Adams led
demonstrations against all Crown policies, created the Committee
of Correspondence that led to the uniting of the other twelve
colonies into a coordinated effort of protest and was the
mastermind behind the Boston Tea Party.
Adams was a member
of both Continental Congresses and was a signer of the Declaration
of Independence. After the war, Adams served as Lieutenant
Governor and Governor of Massachusetts and was instrumental in
getting the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He died in
Boston on October 2, 1803.
Jimmy’s
Tangents:
Sam Adams’ 1740 Harvard thesis could not have
been more foreboding:
"Whether it be Lawful to resist the
Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be
preserved."
The emblem
that is placed on every police car in Lexington contains the words
Sam Adams spoke when he first heard of the Battle of Lexington:
“What a glorious morning for America!”
#1 Trolley
Tour joke: “The Beantown Pub (directly across the street) is the
only pub in the world where you can drink a cold Sam Adams…while
looking at a cold Sam Adams!”
|