Samuel Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 27^th, 1722. Sam was one of the twelve children. He attended Boston Grammar School, and in 1763 he entered Harvard College. In order to pay for college he took a job waiting on tables. Three years after he graduated he went back and studied for a Master of Arts.

Adams' father was a well-to-do brewer. Samuel had little inclination for the brewery business that he had inherited from his father. His father was also active in politics. Samuel was a second cousin of John Adams, the 2^nd president of the United States. His first wife, Elizabeth Checkley, died leaving him two children. His second wife was Elizabeth Wells, who bore no children. Adams was described as a short, portly, blue-eyed, mild-mannered, slow moving, polite man.

He helped start it and helped keep it going by speeches, newspaper articles, and behind-the-scene maneuvers. He worked hard to help American change from a British colony into an independent nation. He had been behind most of the disturbances in Boston before the war, including the famous Tea Party. Though not a great public speaker, he was always an effective speaker.

By 1763, Adams was a member of the secret and powerful Caucus Club, though which a small group of Boston's leaders controlled the decisions of town meetings.

In 1765, Adams was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In 1766, he helped the radical patriots win a majority in the House. Adams himself was reelected to the House that hears and represented Boston continuously until 1774.

Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but the next year they passed the Townshend Acts. Again Adams led the opposition. His fiery protests enkindled popular hatred of the troops in Boston. The Townshend duties were soon repealed. By keeping the controversy alive he made a signal contribution to the coming revolution.

In September 1774, Adams highly approved the adoption of the "Suffolk Resolves". He helped win endorsement of these revolutions by the Continental Congress. From 1774 to 1781 he was a member of the Continental Congress, where he exercised a powerful influence on debate. He took no part in the actual writing of the Declaration of Independence, but he signed it voted for it. Samuel had been called the "Father of Independence".

Adams sat in congress until 1781, when he went to Boston to take his seat in the State Senate. After a while his influence diminished. He ran for congress in 1788, but was beaten.

In 1789, as John Hancock's running mate, he was elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. In 1793 he became governor when Hancock died. He retired in 1797. Then, at the age of 81, Samuel Adams died on October 2^nd, 1803 in Boston, the city he had known and loved.