Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams was a very interesting man. He was born on September 27, 1722 in Boston Massechussettes. Samueal had 11 brothers and sisters, unfortunatly, only three lived past their 3rd birthday. His parents were Samuel Adams Sr. and Mary (Fifield) Adams. Samueal adams Sr. was a very succesfull brewer. When Samuel was young, they attended the Old South Congregational Church. Adams was a part of the puritan haritage. He emphasized their values. Samueal Adams Sr. was a prosperous merchant and a church deacon. Deacon Adams (Samuel Adams Sr.) became a leading role in Boston Politics. Samuel Adams' life was greatly efected by his fathers' life.

When Samuel was young, his parents hoped that he would go into ministry, but he shifted into politics. He went to Boston Latin school and later entered Harvard college in 1736. Samuel graduated in 1740. He continued studying and earned his masters degree in 1743. He then wrote a thesis in which he argued that it was "lawful to resist the supreme magistrate if the commonwealth connot otherwise be preserved." That said that his political views, like his fathers, were oriented towards colonial rights.

When Samuel Adams left Harvard in 1743, He was not sure about what he was going to do in his future. He was going to go to law school and become a lawyer but he leaned more toward politics. Samuel was working at Thomas Cushing's counting house, but the job only lasted a few months because Cushing thought Samuel was too preocupied with politics to become a good merchant. Samuel's father, (deacon Adams) loaned him one thousand pounds of money to go into buisness for himself. Half was "loaned" to a friend, which was never paid off. The other half was blown. Samuel would always remain "A man who is utterly uninterested in either making, or possesing money".

When Deacon Adams died in 1748, Adams was givin the responsibility of managing the family's affairs. In October 1749, he married Elizebeth Checkley, His paster's daughter. Elizebeth had 6 children in 7 years. Unfortunatly, Only 2 children, Samuel (born 1752) and Hannah, (born 1756) lived into adulthood. Then in July 1757, Elizebeth died giving birth to her last child. Adams remarried in 1764 to Elizebeth Wells. He had no more children.

Adams career was dificult but exciting. He had an early passion for politics, which he proved to be the driving force in his life. Through his life, Samuel was active in small politic clubs where he challenged the aristocratic and conservative government that was in power. Between 1765 and 1774, he served as a clerk in the colonial legislature. Samuel got angered by the Sugar and Stamp acts of 1764 and 1765. Because of that, he became a driving force behind the formation of the Sons of Liberty. When the Townshend acts were passed in 1767, he pushed merchants to boycott british goods. The legislater's activities were finnally stopped when in 1768, it sent out a letter calling for united opposition to British taxation. The Tea act passed in 1773, which pulled Adams in the picture again. He took place in the Boston Tea Party not very long after.

Unfortunatly, everyones life ends some day. In 1803, Samuel Adams died in Boston at the age of 81. He was burried at the Old Granary Burying Ground in Boston Masechussettes. Samuel Adams will always be remembered as a leading role in the fight against Britain.

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Works Cited

1) "Samuel Adams" Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, n.p., 22 January, 2011, web, January 25, 2011, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams>

2) "Samuel Adams" ushistory.org, Thomas Kindig, July 4, 1995, web, January 25, 2011 <http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/adams_s.htm>

3) "Samuel Adams" Lucidcafe Library, n.p., January 1, 2011, web, January 25, 2011 <http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95sep/adams.html>

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