Samuel Adams

by Sam

Samuel Adams was born on September 27, 1722 in Boston, Massachusetts.  His mother taught him how to read and write.  Later he went to Boston Grammar school.  He went to Harvard College and studied philosophy and history.  He got a Master's degree at Harvard in 1743.  Six years later he married Elizabeth Checkley.  In 1751 their first child was born.  His name was Samuel.  In 1756 Adams had a daughter named Hannah.  On July 25, 1758, shortly after a tragic pregnancy, Elizabeth died.  Six years later Samuel Adams found a new wife named Elizabeth “Betsy” Wells.  For a wedding gift they got a household slave.  Because they did not believe in slavery they freed her immediately.  She decided to work for them as a free woman.         

Then the French and Indian war began.  It was a war between England and France fought in America.  To help pay the cost of the war the British passed the Sugar and Stamp acts to collect taxes from the American colonies.  Adams spoke out against the taxes and people protested.  So the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766.  But the British government still needed money, so it passed other acts to collect taxes from the colonies.  The people in Boston didn't like British soldiers in their city.  They called them redcoats.  One day a man yelled at the soldiers and threw ice at them.  The soldiers got mad and  killed 5 men.  It was later called the Boston massacre.  Samuel Adams joined a committee to get the British troops out of Boston and also organized a committee to declare the rights of the people of Massachusetts.  He kept in touch with other patriots in other colonies.         

Three years later, in November 1773 the Boston Tea Party happened.  Adams was part of the group of patriots protesting against the British ships of tea that led to the incident.  Members of the British parliament were furious when they heard about the Boston Tea Party and made life more difficult for the colonists.  In September 1774 more than 50 delegates from twelve colonies met in Philadelphia to discuss their problems with England.  They called it the Continental Congress.  They also gathered weapons in case of war with England.

The first battles of the Revolutionary war happened at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts in April 1775 when the British general wanted to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock but they escaped.  Samuel Adams signed the Declaration of Independence along with Thomas Jefferson and the others in 1776.  In 1783 the British signed a peace treaty, the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary War.  The British now recognized a new nation, the United States of America.         

Samuel also helped write the Articles of Confederation and the Bill of Rights.  1789 Samuel Adams was elected lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.  John Hancock was elected Governor.  1793 John Hancock died and Sam Adams became Governor for four years.  On October 2nd, 1803 Samuel Adams lay in bed with Elizabeth at his side and died.