Mark Cole
On the night of December 16, 1773, a group of Boston patriots spotted three ships surreptitiously docked in the city harbor, openly defying the John Hancock-led colonial boycott on British tea.
A few hours later, the captains of the British East India Company ships may have had second thoughts about the wisdom of attempting to deliver the tea. Before midnight, a group of disguised colonial patriots boarded the ships, opened more than 300 crates and systematically dumped the contents into the water.
This protest against the British treatment of the colonies was quickly named the Boston Tea Party and one of the primary organizers was the fiery patriot, Sam Adams. He would later sign the Declaration of Independence along with his distant relative John Adams.
In some respects, Sam Adams was an unlikely candidate to be a leading advocate of American independence. He came from a wealthy Boston family, attended the Boston Latin School and earned two degrees from Harvard. But somewhere along the way, Adams grew into a fiery lover of liberty and zealous evangelical Christian.
He never wavered in his convictions and he was willing to fight for them. He expected the same from others.
In the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Adams authored numerous resolutions denouncing British treatment of the Massachusetts colony. By the year 1775, Adams and John Hancock shared the distinction of being the only citizens in Massachusetts which the colonial governor excluded from a general grant of amnesty to rebels against the Crown.
When he was elected to the Continental Congress, Adams strongly advocated independence. And by placing his name alongside the other signers of the Declaration of Independence, Adams did more than simply advocate independence: he pledged his life, fortune and sacred honor in order to make it happen.
Adams would survive the Revolution and was a key figure in the debate over the ratification of the Constitution. He supported ratification – so long as a Bill of Rights limiting the power of the new federal government was also adopted. He would later serve with great distinction in the Massachusetts government as lieutenant governor and then as the second governor of Massachusetts – succeeding his longtime friend, fellow agitator and co-signer of the Declaration, John Hancock.
Adams’ life was memorable, but some of his words are truly unforgettable. Never one to mince words or spare another’s feelings when liberty was at stake, the following missive is attributed to the one and only Sam Adams:
“If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
A radical in his day, posterity certainly has not forgotten Sam Adams’ legacy of fighting for liberty.
Want more awesome history on the Founding Fathers?
Check out Mark’s book:
Lives, Fortunes, Sacred Honor: The Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence
