Through the Advertiser, Adams warned his fellow Bostonians to be wary of both calls to submission as well as revolution, and to cherish liberty and the laws that grant it above all. Adams got the chance to put those words into action after the Seven Years War, when Britain decided that the American colonies needed to pay more of a share to help pay for a war the colonists essentially began.
Starting in , the British Parliament began levying several taxes on the colonies to rectify the situation, starting with the American Revenue Act or Sugar Act, essentially a tariff on imported sugar. Most colonists grumbled about London harming the North American economy to the benefit of the sugar-producing colonies in the West Indies, but Adams raised broader political concerns, arguing that London had violated the colonist's rights as Englishmen.
When Parliament replaced the Sugar Act with the notoriously unpopular Stamp Act, Adams called out even louder in protest. As further Acts of Parliament, one of which placed Boston under military occupation, further enraged the colonies, Samuel Adams could be found at the center of the protests, not necessarily threatening revolution and independence, but warning Britain about the possibility.
Many have noted Adams' role in promoting news about the Boston Massacre across the Thirteen Colonies, but in fairness, he highlighted the need for the accused soldiers to receive a fair trial, convincing his cousin John to take up their defense.
His role in the origins of the American War of Independence cannot be understated. His unique perspective and his ability to galvanize popular support were pivotal in the success of the Boston Tea Party. As a British citizen, he often referenced the Magna Carta of which effectively ended arbitrary taxation of barons in England.
Born on September 16, , Samuel Adams was born to a family which was well versed in political protest. His father, Deacon Adams, was a brewer, and owned a brewery in Boston.
As a result, in Deacon Adams helped found the Land Bank which offered paper money to borrowers who mortgaged their property. This Land Bank currency was very popular, especially with poor farmers. It allowed them the power to purchase goods from Boston merchants who were in desperate need of customers. The Land Bank seemed to solve all problems; it gave farmers more purchasing power, and allowed Boston merchants to sell more goods.
Everyone did not fully support this new form of currency. In , the members of the Court Party used their status to pressure Parliament to outlaw the Land Bank, and the currency it produced. Those that had manufactured the currency, such as Deacon Adams, were now responsible for all of the paper money that was now circulating throughout Massachusetts Bay Colony. All of the farmers that borrowed the currency were now owed silver and gold, and this would come out of the pocket of Deacon Adams.
This sent his family spiraling into bankruptcy, and even after Deacon Adams passed away, Samuel Adams would have to defend his estate from the members of the Court Party who wished to seize his land as payment for the debts Deacon Adams owed the government.
This debacle surrounding the land bank left a strong impression on Samuel Adams. This left him with a strong distrust of government. He viewed this decision by Parliament as an exercise of arbitrary power. Otis guided Adams in his young political career, and helped him develop the rhetoric, and methods of political resistance, which would be influential in the rise of the Sons of Liberty. By , Samuel Adams was ready to take the lead. In , the first direct tax was imposed on the colonies by way of the Stamp Act.
Samuel Adams saw this as yet another example of arbitrary authority exercised by the British Parliament. The colonies had not been consulted on issues of taxation, and moreover, they had no representatives in Parliament to defend them. These riots resonated with Parliament, but they continued to pass Acts of taxation without consulting the colonies. Adams did not attend the Constitutional Convention of He rejected the purpose of the Convention, which was to strengthen the central government.
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When British troops arrived in Boston in , Adams became more heavily involved in organizing resistance against the Crown. He wrote scores of newspaper articles under pen names, attacking the British. He also pressured Boston merchants to boycott British goods. After the British Parliament passed the Tea Act in , which sought to force the colonists to buy their tea from the British East India Company, Adams helped organize Bostonians to hinder the tea shipments.
One group of resisters took matters even further, dressing up as Indian warriors and boarding several British ships to dump their tea, in what became known as the Boston Tea Party.
Eventually, British authorities had enough of Adams and his agitation. But American spies got wind of the plan, and American militiamen confronted the British on Lexington Common.
The ensuing Battles of Lexington and Concord were the opening armed confrontations that sparked the Revolutionary War. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, Adams signed the Declaration of Independence , and continued his inflammatory rhetoric.
In a speech in Philadelphia, he castigated Americans who sided with the Crown. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.
As a member of the Continental Congress, Adams also helped draft the Articles of Confederation , the predecessor to the U. After leaving the Continental Congress in , Adams went back to Boston, and eventually got back into state politics. He served for a time as president of the Massachusetts Senate and as Lieutenant Governor under Governor John Hancock , his former fellow radical.
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