Samuel Adams: Son of Liberty, Father of Revolution

178 Pages·2002·1.1 MB·English

by  Benjamin H. Irvin

Samuel Adams:
Son of Liberty, Father
of Revolution
Benjamin H. Irvin
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Samuel Adams
Son of Liberty, Father of Revolution
Image Not Available
OXFORD
PORTRAITS
Samuel Adams
Son of Liberty, Father of Revolution
Benjamin H. Irvin
1
In memory of Anita Shafer Goodstein, William R. Kenan
Professor of History, the University of the South, 1963–94
1
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Copyright © 2002 by Benjamin H. Irvin
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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Design: Greg Wozney
Layout: Alexis Siroc
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Irvin, Benjamin.
Samuel Adams / Benjamin Irvin.
p. cm.–(Oxford portraits)
Summary: Examines the life of Samuel Adams, a hero of the American Revolution
who is credited by some with having fired the first shot at Lexington Green, the
“shot heard ’round the world.” Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-19-513225-4 (alk. paper)
1. Adams, Samuel, 1722–1803—Juvenile literature. 2. Politicians—United
States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. United States. Declaration of
Independence—Signers—Biography—Juvenile literature. 4. United States—
History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Biography—Juvenile literature. [1. Adams,
Samuel, 1722–1803. 2. Politicians. 3. United States—History—Revolution,
1775–1783.] I. Title. II. Series.
E302.6.A2 I79 2002
973.3'092—dc21
2002004283
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
On the cover: Portrait of Samuel Adams by John Singleton Copley, 1772
Frontispiece:Samuel Adams studies a map of North America, 1780.
C
ONTENTS
PROLOGUE: THE ELUSIVE SAMUEL ADAMS 6
1 SAMUEL ADAMS’S BOSTON 12
2 RAISED FOR REBELLION 24
3 TIS NOT IN MORTALS TO COMMAND SUCCESS 36
4 SAM THE PUBLICAN AND THE STAMP ACT RIOTS 51
5 MOBS AND MASSACRE 66
Citizens and Soldiers 78
In a Gore of Blood 85
6 TO SAVE THE COUNTRY 89
The Rights of the Colonists 98
7 THE COERCIVE ACTS AND THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 110
8 IS NOT AMERICA ALREADY INDEPENDENT? 126
An Easy, Genteel Figure 132
9 THE STORM IS NOW OVER 139
The Marriage State 147
No Christian Sparta 151
EPILOGUE: SAMUEL ADAMS’S LEGACY 162
CHRONOLOGY 166
FURTHER READING 169
INDEX 171
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 176
P :
ROLOGUE
T E
HE LUSIVE
S A
AM DAMS
“In meditating the matter of that address, I often asked
myself, Is this exactly in the spirit of the patriarch
Samuel Adams? Will he approve of it?”
—Thomas Jefferson
Midnight, April 19, 1775. Under cover of night, 850
British troops have landed their small boats in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Francis
Smith, the troops have rowed across the Charles River from
Boston, where they are regularly stationed. Now, at Smith’s
direction, they begin to assemble as silently as possible.
These soldiers, who have been handpicked from among the
most trustworthy in all of General Gage’s army, nervously
await their command. Clearly this is not just an ordinary
drill. No, these men have been selected for a mission of sin-
gular importance, a mission for which General Gage him-
self has handed down the orders. The soldiers, Redcoats as
they are popularly known, are to march to the small town
of Concord and seize the artillery and gunpowder stored
there. Along the way, they are to stop near Lexington and—
according to American spies—arrest the leaders of the
American rebellion, Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Meanwhile, as the British soldiers stamp the river water
from their boots, Boston silversmith Paul Revere, astride a
horse named Brown Beauty, gallops into Lexington. Two
hours earlier, Revere, too, had rowed across the Charles,
but not before ordering that two lanterns be lit in the
6
PROLOGUE: THE ELUSIVE SAM ADAMS
steeple of the Old North Church. By this prearranged sig-
nal, Revere’s accomplices would know that the Redcoats
are coming by sea. In the hours that have passed, Revere
has ridden through the countryside, dodged British scouts,
and warned his fellow New Englanders that the Redcoats
are on the march. But he has not yet accomplished his pri-
mary purpose: alerting his compatriots, Adams and Hancock,
of the impending danger. Once Revere reaches Lexington,
he guides his horse directly to the home of the Reverend
Jonas Clarke, where the two leaders have been hiding for
weeks. He bangs on the door with a fervor that might wake
the whole town, and out of a bedroom window pop the
sleepy heads of Adams and Hancock.
The two Patriot leaders receive Revere’s warning with
a great deal of excitement, and they deliberate for some
time as to what action they should take. They know that
the Redcoats are after the military stores in Concord. They
know, too, that while they sit debating, the local militia—
the Minutemen, as they will later come to be known—have
been rousted from their slumber and will soon gather to
defend their liberty. Perhaps most significantly, Adams and
Hancock know that a battle is likely, a battle that will push
the colonists one step closer to war, and one step closer to
the possibility of independence from Great Britain. How
they long to join in the fight!
Fortunately, cooler heads prevail. As Revere and Reverend
Clarke are well aware, Adams and Hancock are too impor-
tant to the American cause to risk death or capture at
Lexington Green. They convince the two Patriots to flee
the town so as to escape the British troops; the men gather
their belongings, bid farewell to their friends, and disappear
into the countryside. Later that morning, as they rode on to
safety, they heard behind them in the distance the shots fired
at Lexington. As the Patriot minister and historian William
Gordon would later write, Adams turned to Hancock and
exclaimed, “O! What a glorious morning this is!”
7
SAMUEL ADAMS
John Adams lived in
the shadow of his more
famous cousin Samuel
until he attended the
Continental Congress.
There, his legal think-
ing earned the praise
of America’s leading
citizens.
Image Not Available
Adams would not be captured that morning, thanks to
the conspiratorial hospitality of Reverend Clarke, the horse-
back heroics of Paul Revere and his fellow midnight riders,
and the loyalty of numerous Patriots who kept his where-
abouts a secret. But just as he eluded General Gage, so too
has Adams eluded historians. Indeed, despite numerous
biographies written about the Patriot leader, Adams remains
something of a mystery. At best, his life seems full of contra-
dictions. The man who was born into a family of relatively
high rank lived a humble, at times almost impoverished life.
The man who could barely manage his own house brilliantly
managed the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The man
who fomented the Revolution resisted the Constitution. The
man who spearheaded resistance to the English government
staunchly opposed resistance to the United States government.
8