Childhood and Family

SamuelAdams

Childhood and Family :

Samuel Adams was born on September 27, 1722 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was one of twelve children born to Samuel and Mary Fifield Adams. However, only two of his siblings would survive beyond age three. He was a second cousin to John Adams, the second president of the United States. Samuel Adams' father was involved in local politics, even serving as a representative to the provincial assembly.

Education:

Adams attended Boston Latin School and then entered Harvard College at the age of 14. He would receive his bachelor's and master's degrees from Harvard in 1740 and 1743 respectively. Adams tried numerous businesses including one he started on his own. However, he was never successful as a commercial businessman. He took over his father's business enterprise when his father died in 1748. At the same time, he also turned to the career that he would enjoy for the rest of his life: politics.

Samuel Adams' Personal Life:

Adams married in 1749 to Elizabeth Checkley. Together they had six children. However, only two of them, Samuel and Hannah, would live to adulthood. Elizabeth died in 1757 soon after giving birth to a stillborn son. Adams then married Elizabeth Wells in 1764.

Early Political Career:

In 1756, Samuel Adams became of Boston's tax collectors, a position he would keep for almost twelve years. He was not the most diligent in his career as a tax collector, however. Instead, he found that he had an aptitude for writing. Through his writing and involvement, he rose as a leader in Boston's politics. He became involved in numerous informal political organizations that had a large control over town meetings and local politics.

Beginning of Samuel Adams' Agitation Against the British:

After the French and Indian War that ended in 1763, Great Britain turned to increased taxes to pay for the costs that they had incurred for fighting in and defending the American colonies. Three tax measures that Adams opposed were the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townshend Duties of 1767. He believed that as the British government increased its taxes and duties, it was reducing the individual liberties of the colonists. This would lead to even greater tyranny.

Samuel Adams' Revolutionary Activity:

Adams held two key political positions that helped him in his fight against the British. He was the clerk of both the Boston town meeting and the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Through these positions he was able to draft petitions, resolutions, and letters in protest. He argued that since the colonists were not represented in Parliament, they being taxed without their consent. Thus the rallying cry, "No taxation without representation."

Adams argued that colonists should boycott English imports and supported public demonstrations. However, he did not support the use of violence against the British as means of protest and supported the fair trial of the soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.

In 1772, Adams was a founder of a committee of correspondence meant to unite Massachusetts towns against the British. He then helped expand this system to other colonies.

In 1773, Adams was influential in fighting the Tea Act. This Act was not a tax and, in fact, would have resulted in lower prices on tea. The Act was meant to aid the East India Company by allowing it to bypass the English import tax and sell through merchants it selected. However, Adams felt that this was just a ploy to get colonists to accept the Townshend duties that were still in place. On December 16, 1773, Adams spoke at a town meeting against the Act. That evening, dozens of men dressed as Native Americans, boarded three tea ships that sat in Boston Harbor and threw the tea overboard.

In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British increased their restrictions on the colonists. Parliament passed the "Intolerable Acts" that not only closed the port of Boston but also limited town meetings to one per year. Adams saw this as further evidence that the British would continue to limit the colonists' liberty.

In September, 1774, Samuel Adams became one of the delegates at the First Continental Congress held in Philadelphia. He helped draft the Declaration of Rights. In April, 1775, Adams, along with John Hancock, was a target of the British army advancing on Lexington. They escaped, however, when Paul Revere famously warned them.

Beginning in May, 1775, Adams was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress. He helped write the Massachusetts state constitution. He was part of the Massachusetts ratifying convention for the US Constitution.

After the Revolution, Adams served as a Massachusetts state senator, lieutenant governor, and then governor. He died on October 2, 1803 in Boston.

JohnAdams

Childhood and Education:

John Adams family had been in America for generations when he was born on October 30, 1735. His father was a farmer who had been Harvard educated. He taught his son to read before he entered school under Mrs. Belcher. He quickly moved into Joseph Cleverly's Latin school and then studied under Joseph Marsh before becoming a student at Harvard College in 1751 graduating in four years and then studying law. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1758.

Family Ties:

Father: John Adams – farmer. He held various local public offices.
Mother: Susanna Boylston – Little is known of her. She married again five years after her husband’s death.
Siblings: Two brothers, Peter Boylston and Elihu
Wife: Abigail Smith – 9 years younger and the daughter of a minister. She loved reading and had a great relationship with her husband.
Children: Four children - Abigail, John Quincy (the sixth president), Charles, and Thomas Boylston.

Career Before the Presidency:

Adams began his career as a lawyer. He successfully defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre (1770) with only two of the eight found guilty of manslaughter believing that it was important to ensure that innocents were protected.

From 1770-74, Adams served in the Massachusetts legislature and was then elected a member of the Continental Congress. He nominated Washington to be Commander-in-Chief and was part of the committee that worked to draft the Declaration of Independence.

• Adams' and the Defense of Prescott
• Adams' and Washington During the Revolutionary War

John Adams' Revolutionary Contributions

Adams quickly became identified with the patriot cause, initially as the result of his opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765. He wrote a response to the imposition of the act by British Parliament titled "Essay on the Canon and Feudal Law," which was published as a series of four articles in the Boston Gazette. In it, Adams argued that the Stamp Act deprived American colonists of the basic rights to be taxed by consent and to be tried by a jury of peers. Two months later Adams also publicly denounced the act as invalid in a speech delivered to the Massachusetts governor and his council.
In 1770 Adams agreed to represent the British soldiers on trial for killing five civilians in what became known as the Boston Massacre. He justified defending the soldiers on the grounds that the facts of a case were more important to him than the passionate inclinations of the people. He believed that every person deserved a defense, and he took the case without hesitation. During the trial Adams presented evidence that suggested blame also lay with the mob that had gathered, and that the first soldier who fired upon the crowd was simply responding the way anyone would when faced with a similar life-threatening situation. The jury acquitted six of the eight soldiers, while two were convicted of manslaughter. Reaction to Adams's defense of the soldiers was hostile, and his law practice suffered greatly. However, his actions later enhanced his reputation as a courageous, generous and fair man.
That same year, Adams was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly and was one of five to represent the colony at the First Continental Congress, in 1774. When Congress created the Continental Army in 1775, Adams nominated George Washington of Virginia as its commander-in-chief.
In May 1776, Congress approved Adams's resolution proposing that the colonies each adopt independent governments.

He wrote the preamble to this resolution, which was approved on May 15, setting the stage for the formal passage of the Declaration of Independence. On June 7, 1776, Adams seconded Richard Henry Lee's resolution of independence, and backed it passionately until it was adopted by Congress on July 2, 1776. Congress appointed Adams, along with Thomas Jefferson,
Adams was soon serving on as many as 90 committees in the fledgling government, more than any other Congressman, and in 1777, he became head of the Board of War and Ordinance, which oversaw the Continental army. In 1781, Adams was one of the American diplomats sent to negotiate the Treaty of Paris, which brought an end to the Revolutionary War. After the war, Adams remained in Europe, and from 1784 to 1785 he arranged treaties of commerce with several European nations. In 1785 he became the first U.S. minister to England.
In 1788, Adams returned home after 10 years in London, and, with the knowledge that George Washington would be the nation's first president, sought the vice presidency alongside him. Adams was elected to that position in 1789 and was re-elected in 1792. However, he did not have much sway with Washington on political or legal issues and grew frustrated with his position.

PatrickHenry

Quick Facts

• NAME: Patrick Henry
• OCCUPATION: U.S. Representative, U.S. Governor
• BIRTH DATE: May 29, 1736
• DEATH DATE: June 06, 1799
• PLACE OF BIRTH: Studley, Virginia
• PLACE OF DEATH: Brookneal, Virginia
• Full Name: Patrick Henry

Best Known For

Patrick Henry was a brilliant orator and a major figure of the American Revolution, perhaps best known for his words "Give me liberty or give me death!"

Born on May 29 (May 18, Old Style), 1736 in Studley, Virginia, Patrick Henry was an American Revolution-era orator best know for his quote "Give me liberty or give me death." Henry was an influential leader in the radical opposition to the British government, but only accepted the new federal government after the passage of the Bill of Rights, for which he was in great measure responsible.

Early Life

With his persuasive and passionate speeches, famed patriot Patrick Henry helped kickstart the American Revolution. He was born in Hanover County, Virginia, on a plantation that belonged to his mother's family. Unlike his mother, who had strong roots in the region, his father immigrated to the colony from Scotland.

Lawyer & Politician

As a lawyer, Henry developed a reputation as a powerful and persuasive speaker with the 1763 case known as "Parson's Cause." The Virginia Colony passed a law changing the way church ministers were paid, resulting in a monetary loss for the ministers. When King George III overturned the law, one Virginia clergyman sued for back pay and won his case. Henry spoke out against the minister, when the case went to a jury to decide damages. Pointing out the greed and royal interference in colonial matters associated with this legal decision, he managed to convince the jury to grant the lowest possible award—one farthing, or one penny.

In 1765, Henry won election to the House of Burgesses. He proved himself to be an early voice of dissent against Britain's colonial policies. During the debate over the Stamp Act of 1765, which effectively taxed every type of printed paper used by the colonists, Henry spoke out against the measure. He insisted that only the colony itself should be able to levy taxes on its citizens. Some in the assembly cried out that his comments were treason, but Henry was unfazed. His suggestions for handling the matter were printed and distributed to other colonies, helping to spur on the growing discontent with British rule.

American Revolutionary

An active force in the growing rebellion against Britain, Henry had the remarkable ability to translate his political ideology into the language of the common man.

He was selected to serve as a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774. There, he met Sam Adams and, together, they stoked the fires for revolution. During the proceedings, Henry called for the colonists to unite in their opposition to British rule: "The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American."

The following year, Henry gave perhaps his most famous speech of his career. He was one of the attendees of the Virginia Convention in March of 1775. The group was debating how to resolve the crisis with Great Britain—through force or through peaceful ends. Henry sounded the call to arms, saying, "Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? ... Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

Only a short time later, the first shots were fired, and the American Revolution was under way. Henry became the commander in chief of Virginia's forces, but he resigned his post after six months. Focusing on statesmanship, he helped write the state's constitution in 1776. Henry won election as Virginia's first governor that same year.

As governor, Henry supported the revolution in numerous ways. He helped supply soldiers and equipment for George Washington. He also sent Virginia troops—commanded by George Rogers Clark—to drive out British forces in the northwest. After three terms as governor, Henry left the post in 1779. He remained active in politics as a member of the state assembly. In the mid-1780s, Henry served two more terms as governor.

MercyOtisWarren

Mercy Otis Warren(September 14, [September 25, New Style] 1728– October 19, 1814) was a political writer and propagandist of the American Revolution. In the eighteenth century, topics such as politics and war were thought to be the province of men. Few men and fewer women had the education or training to write about these subjects. Warren was an exception. During the years before the American Revolution, Warren published poems and plays that attacked royal authority in Massachusetts and urged colonists to resist British infringements on colonial rights and liberties.

During the debate over the United States Constitution in 1788, she issued a pamphlet, written under the pseudonym "A Columbian Patriot," that opposed ratification of the document and advocated the inclusion of a Bill of Rights. In 1790, she published a collection of poems and plays under her own name, a highly unusual occurrence for a woman at the time. In 1805, she published one of the earliest histories of the American war for independence, a three-volume History of the Rise, Progress, and Termination of the American Revolution. This was also the first history of the Revolution authored by a woman.

Early life

Mercy Otis was born on September 14 1728 (old style), the third of thirteen children and first daughter of Colonel James Otis (1702–1778) and Mary Allyne Otis (1702–1774). The family lived in West Barnstable, Massachusetts. Mary Allyne was a descendant of Mayflower passenger Edward Doty. James Otis, Sr., was a farmer, and attorney, who served as a judge for the Barnstable CountyCourt of Common Pleas and later won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1745.He was an outspoken opponent and leader against British rule and against the appointed colonial governor, Thomas Hutchinson. The Otis children were "raised in the midst of revolutionary ideals". Although Mercy had no formal education, she studied with the Reverend Jonathan Russell while he tutored her brothers in preparation for Harvard College. One of her brothers was the noted patriot and lawyer James Otis.

Revolutionary writings and politics

Warren formed a strong circle of friends with whom she regularly corresponded, including Abigail Adams, Martha Washington and Hannah Winthrop, wife to John Winthrop. In a letter to Catherine Macaulay she wrote: "America stands armed with resolution and virtue; but she still recoils at the idea of drawing the sword against the nation from whom she derived her origin. Yet Britain, like an unnatural parent, is ready to plunge her dagger into the bosom of her affectionate offspring.” Through their correspondence they increased the awareness of women's issues, were supportive, and influenced the course of events to further America's cause.

She became a correspondent and adviser to many political leaders, including Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and especially John Adams, who became her literary mentor in the years leading to the Revolution. In a letter to James Warren, Adams wrote, "Tell your wife that God Almighty has entrusted her with the Powers for the good of the World, which, in the cause of his Providence, he bestows on few of the human race. That instead of being a fault to use them, it would be criminal to neglect them."

Prior to the American Revolution, in 1772, during a political meeting at the Warren's home, they formed the Committees of Correspondence along with Samuel Adams. Warren wrote "no single step contributed so much to cement the union of the colonies". Since Warren knew most of the leaders of the Revolution personally, she was continually at or near the center of events from 1765 to 1789. She combined her vantage point with a talent for writing to become both a poet and a historian of the Revolutionary era. All of Mercy Otis Warren’s work was published anonymously until 1790.She wrote several plays, including the satiric The Adulateur (1772). Directed against Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Massachusetts, the play foretold the War of Revolution.