1 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 1: On this episode of New World. The lives of these 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: men are essential to understand the American form of government 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: and our ideals of liberty. The founding fathers all played 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: key roles in securing American independence from Great Britain and 5 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: in the creation of the government of the United States 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: of America. And now the life of Samuel Adams. When 7 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 1: you go back to the beginning, you realize that Samuel 8 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: Adams was almost born to be a rebel and a troublemaker. 9 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: In college, he was reprimanded for missing morning prayer. His 10 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: senior year, he was caught drinking on campus, a much 11 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: more shocking event back then, although his father owned a brewery, 12 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: so maybe drinking on campus this wasn't all that surprising. 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: He was born to a very wealthy and religious family 14 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: on September twenty seventh, seventeen twenty two. He was the 15 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: tenth of twelve children. We tend to forget sometimes both 16 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: how many children colonial family said, and also how many 17 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: they had lost. Only Sam ladamson. Two of his siblings 18 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: made it past childhood. That's three out of twelve. Nine 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: did not survive childhood. His father, Sam Ladams Senior, was 20 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: a deacon of the Congregational Church, ran a brewery and 21 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: was deeply involved in politics. Remember, by the way, that 22 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: back at a time when we did not have clean, 23 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:42,199 Speaker 1: drinkable water, beer really matters and its very significant fact. 24 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: Guinness Stout was one of my favorite beers. Was actually 25 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: invented in Ireland as a health drink because it was 26 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: better for you than either hard liquor or water. The 27 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: founder of Guinness Stout actually got an award for doing 28 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: something involving public health. So when you talk about people brewers, 29 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: it's a much different world. In the eighteenth century. Sam 30 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: Adams is growing up and he loved politics. Now, I 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: think that's a key part of this. You know, this 32 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: is a guy who likes people, He's involved with people. 33 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: He's also pretty well educated. And when he was young 34 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: he attended the Boston Latin School, which has historically been 35 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: a remarkably good school. He learned Latin and Greek. He 36 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: attended Harvard College at the age of fourteen. He earned 37 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: his undergraduate degree in seventeen forty and a graduate degree 38 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: in seventeen forty three. This is this smart guy and 39 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: a pretty learned guy. Although unlike John Adams, his central 40 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: impact in history is not because of his calculated writing 41 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: and his calculated capacity as a literary person, but rather 42 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: because he could really organize and arouse people. Now, his 43 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: father attempted to establish a land bank in Boston. He 44 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: was popular in the colonies, but the British Parliament opposed 45 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: it and ruled the bank illegal in seventeen forty one, 46 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: which led to the Adams family going bankrupt dealing with 47 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,119 Speaker 1: the lawsuits that followed, and that may have been part 48 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: of why you begin to get the strong sense in 49 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: Sam Adams that the British Parliament is anti American. He 50 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 1: writes his Master's Thesis on quote whether it be lawful 51 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: to resist the Supreme Magistrate if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise 52 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: be preserved. Notice, he's intellectually laying the base for the 53 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:33,079 Speaker 1: principle that in order to protect Americans' rights they may 54 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: have to, in fact, to use his language, resist the 55 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: Supreme Magistrate. Of course, the Supreme Magistrate automnly is the King, 56 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: and he's questioning in his Master's Thesis whether England really 57 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: legally has the right to impose taxes on the colonies. 58 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: Part of what's happened, of course, is when the English 59 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: win the French and Indian War, or the Sevent Years 60 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: Wars it's called in Europe, and the French are driven 61 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: out of Canada all of a sudden, the Americans aren't 62 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: faced with any kind of significant threat, and at the 63 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 1: same time, the British have this huge debt they've run 64 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: up in fighting the Seven Years War, which was a 65 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: genuinely worldwide war started by the way by George Washington 66 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: as a very young man in western Pennsylvania. They want 67 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: to raise taxes at the very moment that the Americans think, hey, 68 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: everything's worked out fine, we don't need your protection and 69 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: we don't need to give you money. So Sam Adams, 70 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: in that sense, coming off the grievance of the British Parliament, 71 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: having destroyed his father's family wealth, decided that he would 72 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: in fact become more and more militant in favor of freedom. Now, 73 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: when he did graduate, he was going to practice law, 74 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: which his cousin John Adams does do brilliantly. But his 75 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: mother was against Sam Adams becoming a lawyer, so she 76 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: convinced him to become a clerk at accounting house Centsia Bank. 77 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: His father tried to get his son into business by 78 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: giving him a thousand pounds to start his own business. 79 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: But Adams was a businessman. He lost the money because 80 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to focus on politics, 81 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: and while he's working at the brewery, Adams, at the 82 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: age of twenty six, and a group of his friends 83 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: started Quote the Independent Advertisers, a newspaper where anonymously they 84 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: questioned England's rule and demanded more rights for the colonies. 85 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,120 Speaker 1: Paper lasted about a year. The first edition of the 86 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:28,479 Speaker 1: paper was published in Boston on January fourth, seventeen forty eight. 87 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: The first edition started with the following quote, upon the 88 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: encouragement we've already received and agreeable to our printed proposals, 89 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: the Independent Advertiser now makes its entrance into the world, 90 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: And as it will doubtless be expected upon its first appearance, 91 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,160 Speaker 1: that we should more fully explain our design and show 92 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: what the public may expect of it, We would accordingly 93 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: observe that we shall be no means endeavor to recommend 94 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: this out paper by depreciating the merit of other performances 95 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: of the same kind. Neither would we flatter the expectations 96 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: of the public by any pompous promises which we may 97 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: not be likely to fulfill. But this our reader may 98 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: depend upon that, we shall take the utmost care to 99 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,600 Speaker 1: procure the freshest and best intelligence, and publish it in 100 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: such an order as that every reader may have the 101 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: cleanest and most perfect understanding of it. And for the 102 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: benefit of those who are unacquainted with the geography of 103 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: foreigner parts, we may insert such descriptions as may enlighten them. 104 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: Therein now, part of what they're saying is Boston is 105 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: a great port. People are showing up in Boston. Ships 106 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 1: are coming into Boston from all over the Atlantic, and 107 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: what they want to do is they want to get 108 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: the news before anybody else print it, so you can 109 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: learn what's happening around the world. Because of that now, 110 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,279 Speaker 1: he also makes a political commitment in this very first newspaper. 111 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: He says, quote, as our present political state matter for 112 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: a variety of thoughts of peculiar importance to the people 113 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 1: of New England, we propose to insert everything of that 114 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: nature that may be pertinently and decently wrote for ourselves. 115 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: We declare we are no party, neither shall we promote 116 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: the private and narrow designs of any such. We are 117 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: ourselves free, and our papers shall be free, free as 118 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: the Constitution we enjoy, free to truth, good manners, and 119 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: good sense, and at the same time free from all 120 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:23,320 Speaker 1: licentsious reflections, insolence and abuse. Now notice here, because this 121 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: will come up again and again, and Sam Adams is 122 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: one of the people who is a great propagandist. The 123 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: emphasis on free, the word free. We are ourselves free, 124 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: our paper will be free, free as the Constitution we enjoy. 125 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: I notice he's already claiming that there's a constitution, and 126 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: in British tradition it's unwritten but understood. Free to truth, 127 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: good manners, and good sense, and at the same time 128 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: free from all licentious reflections, insolence and abuse. So think 129 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: about that. In this one paragraph that comes back to 130 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: the word free again and again. And he asserts that 131 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: there is a constitution, which is why when the British 132 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: Parliament begins to impose taxes, they are violating an already 133 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: existing constitution. The Americans, in their view, do not have 134 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: to fight for liberty. They are born into liberty. They 135 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: are born into a constitution. Now, as an activist and 136 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: somebody who was very good at working with people, in 137 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: seventeen forty seven, Adams is elected to his first political 138 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: position as one of the clerks of the Boston Market, 139 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: where he served for nine years. A year later, seventeen 140 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: forty eight, both his parents died, leaving him with their 141 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: estate and in charge the family's brewery business. He was 142 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: also left with the numerous lawsuits connected to the land 143 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: bank that his father had tried to establish. Adams just 144 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,319 Speaker 1: not a good businessman. He's unable to make ends meet. 145 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: He loses the brewery business. The government foreclosed in his 146 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: family's estate, but Adams used his ability in writing to 147 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: threaten potential buyers and was able to keep the estate 148 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: while the government was trying to sell it. People just 149 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't buy it. In seventeen forty nine, Samuel Adams married 150 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Checkley. According to adams quote, she was a rare 151 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: example of virtue and piety, blended with a retiring and 152 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: modest demeanor and the charms of elegant womanhood. Three years 153 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: as junior, Elizabeth was the daughter of Samuel Checkley, his 154 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: pastor at the Old South Meetinghouse. The couple had six children, 155 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: only two of which reached maturity before Elizabeth Adams passed 156 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: in seventeen fifty seven due to complications of childbirth. After 157 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: her death, Adams immersed himself in politics. He worked briefly 158 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: as a tax collector in seventeen fifty six, but since 159 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: he often failed to collect the required taxes and was 160 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: leaning with many who could not pay higher rates, he 161 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: was fired and held liable for the lost income. Once 162 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: again he's angry at the government. However, this gave him 163 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: the change to establish connections which served him in the future. 164 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: He went his second wife, Elizabeth Wells, in seventeen sixty four. 165 00:09:57,720 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: Wells was the daughter of his good friend Frances well, 166 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: a successful Boston merchant. The couple had no children together, 167 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: but she embraced her step children as her own and 168 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: supported her husband throughout his political career. In seventeen sixty four, 169 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: the British government, trying to pay for the debts that 170 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: have build up, passed the Sugar Act. As a member 171 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: of the town Meeting, Adams was vocal against the Act. 172 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: On May twenty fourth, seventeen sixty four, he wrote to 173 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,679 Speaker 1: the representatives of Boston, quote, for if our trade may 174 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 1: be taxed, why not our lands? Why not the produce 175 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: of our lands and everything we possess or make use 176 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 1: of this We apprehend annihilates our charter right to govern 177 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: and tax ourselves. It strikes at our British privileges, which, 178 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: as we have never forfeited them, we hold in common 179 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: with our fellow subjects who are natives of Britain. If 180 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,319 Speaker 1: taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our 181 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: having a legal representation where they are laid, are we 182 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: not reduced from the character of free subjects to the 183 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: miserable state of tributary slaves. So here you have already 184 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: in seventeen sixty four. The core argument. The argument is 185 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: we are British by definition, we are part of the 186 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: British Constitution. The British Constitution, of course, goes all the 187 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: way back to the signing of the Great Charter the 188 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: Magna Carta, and therefore people are not allowed to be 189 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: taxed unless they give their approval. And so they see 190 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: this as an assault on existing rights. They're not claiming 191 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: new rights. They're claiming that their rights go back in 192 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: history for hundreds and hundreds of years, and it is 193 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:51,520 Speaker 1: the government which is assaulting them. A year later got worse. 194 00:11:51,559 --> 00:11:54,319 Speaker 1: The British government passed the Stamp Act again an effort 195 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: to get money to pay off all these various debts. 196 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: Adams at that point took the streetsed his political party, 197 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: the Country Party, with two opposing parties, North Boston and 198 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: South Boston, led by John Hancock and James Otis, to 199 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: form the Sons of Liberty. Noticed again the language the 200 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,959 Speaker 1: Sons of Liberty. Adams wrote Instructions of the Town of 201 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: Boston to its representatives in the General Court in September 202 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty four, and he's really laying out their argument. 203 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 1: They are alarmed and astonished at attack called the Stamp Act, 204 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:32,520 Speaker 1: by which a very grievous and we apprehend unconstitutional tax 205 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: is to be laid upon the colony. So notice they 206 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: are literally arguing that they already have what they called 207 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:44,560 Speaker 1: are invaluable rights and liberties, and so they see this 208 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: as an attack on existing rights. They're not arguing for 209 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: new rights. They are defending what they see as old rights. 210 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: That rebellion led to the Stamp Act Congress, where all 211 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,720 Speaker 1: but four of the colonies demanded that the King repeal 212 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: the tacks. This worked, The British gave up in seventeen 213 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: sixty six and never collected the taxes. Adam was elected 214 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: that year In seventeen sixty six to the House of 215 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: Representatives as a clerk. As clerk, he was responsible for 216 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,320 Speaker 1: basic record keeping and communicating with the colony's agent in 217 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 1: London and with other legislative assemblies in other colonies. This 218 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: is where he met John Hancock for the first time. 219 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: Although most representatives did not receive a salary adam as 220 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: clerk did and had a steady income, this allowed him 221 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: to focus even more on politics. In seventeen sixty seven, 222 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: Parliament approved a series of taxes on items imported in 223 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: the colonies, known as the Townshen Acts. This act also 224 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: created an American Board of Customs Commissioners to enforce collection, 225 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,959 Speaker 1: which established their headquarters in Boston. It's almost as though 226 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,199 Speaker 1: the Parliament is so desperate for money, and their reasoning 227 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: is pretty simple. They had fought a large war against 228 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,679 Speaker 1: France in part to protect the Americans. They borrowed all 229 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: this money in order to wage the war to protect 230 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: the Americans and the Americans and other beneficiaries of having 231 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: Canada to the north be a British colony. So why 232 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: weren't the Americans grateful and generous? And apparently in Parliament 233 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: they just couldn't get through their head. How much this 234 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: was infuriating and alienating the Americans. When news of the 235 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: Towns and Acts reaches Massachusetts in the autumn of seventeen 236 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: sixty seven, Adams immediately employed the Boston Town Meeting to 237 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: organize protests in boycotts. In January seventeen sixty eight, he 238 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: motioned the General Court to draft a petition to the 239 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: King urging that he respects the charter rights of Massachusetts. 240 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: Notice they're not creating rights. They want the King to 241 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: respect existing rights. The motion faced opposition from rural town 242 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: representatives who aligned with the Parliament, so Adams waited until 243 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: the end of the legislative session, with many of those 244 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: who opposed departed back home before putting the motion forth. 245 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: It easily passed. So here you see him maneuvering thinking, 246 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: becoming a pretty effective politician. The General Court sent the 247 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: letter the petition with the letter to other colonies. It 248 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: was known as the Massachusetts Circular Letter, which Adams was 249 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: one of the authors alongside James Otis. The letter read quote, 250 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: the House of Representations of this Province have taken into 251 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: their serious consideration the great difficulties the must accrue to 252 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: themselves in their constituents by the operation of several acts 253 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: of Parliament imposing duty and taxes on the American colonies. 254 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 1: So they are really into this issue of the Constitution, 255 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: which they assert already exists, and they are really into 256 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: the concept that the British Parliament is now usurping their 257 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: powers and threatening them in very very serious ways. And 258 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: they assert, quote, in all free states, the Constitution is fixed, 259 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: and as the Supreme Legislative derives its power and authority 260 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: from the Constitution, it cannot overleap the bounds of it 261 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: without destroying its own foundation. That the Constitution ascertains and 262 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: limits both sovereignty and allegiance. And therefore His Majesty's American subjects, 263 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: who acknowledge themselves bound by the ties of allegiance, have 264 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: an equitable claim to the full enjoyment of the fundamental 265 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: rules of the British Constitution. That it is an essential 266 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: on all trouble right in nature, and grafted into the 267 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: British Constitution as a fundamental law, and ever held sacred 268 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: and irrevocable by the subjects within the realm, that what 269 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: a man has honestly acquired is absolutely his own, which 270 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: he may freely give but cannot be taken from him 271 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: without his consent. That the American subjects may, therefore, exclusive 272 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: of any consideration of Charter rights, with a decent firmness, 273 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: adapted to the character of free men and subjects, assert 274 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: this natural and constitutional right. So they're saying, we literally 275 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: have under natural law, we have achieved this. This is 276 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: the forerunner of what Jefferson will write in the Declaration 277 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: of Independence when he says we are endowed by our 278 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:08,399 Speaker 1: Creator with certain unevable rights, among which your life, liberty, 279 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: and the pursuit of happiness. Well, that's exactly what Adams 280 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: is beaten to drift towards. That these rights existed outside 281 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: of any kind of specific contract. They are inherent their 282 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: part of being British. And the result was that they 283 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: had put together a real opposition. There was a threat 284 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,280 Speaker 1: to the core of the British system. Lord Hillsborough, who's 285 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: the Secretary of State for the Colonies, received the letter 286 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,639 Speaker 1: and then ordered that the letter be taken back. Hillsborough 287 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: threatened them said if they refused, he would order Massachusetts 288 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: Governor Francis Bernard to dissolve the General Court. Despite that threat, 289 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 1: the legislative voted to refuse to rescind the letter by 290 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: ninety two to seventeen. Governor Bernard, in response, dissolved them. 291 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 1: They did not reconvene for another year. In other words, 292 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,640 Speaker 1: faced with a direct order from the British government, by 293 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 1: ninety two to seventeen, the legislatures are voting to defy 294 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,719 Speaker 1: the British government. Now this is the beginning of really 295 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:13,919 Speaker 1: moving towards a serious confrontation. Troops arrive in Boston on 296 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: October first, seventeen sixty eight, and while they're arriving, Adams 297 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 1: is authoring over twenty newspaper articles, usually under the pen 298 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: names Index and Candidas, using the pseudonym Index. In the 299 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,640 Speaker 1: Boston Gazette in December seventeen sixty eight, he writes, quote, 300 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,400 Speaker 1: will the spirits of the people is yet unsubdued by tyranny, 301 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: on awed by the menace of arbitrary power, submit to 302 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 1: be governed by military force. No let us rouse our 303 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: attention to the common law, which is our birthright, our 304 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:50,200 Speaker 1: great security, against all kinds of insult and oppression, the law, which, 305 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:52,719 Speaker 1: when rightly used, is the curb and the terror of 306 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:58,119 Speaker 1: the haughtiest tyrant. So he's really putting together the core 307 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: argument about the nature of freedom and the idea that 308 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,040 Speaker 1: freedom belongs to you. It's not given to you by 309 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: the government. Freedom starts with you, and then you may 310 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 1: loan part of it to the government, but the center 311 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: of us always you, the individual citizen. And Adams advocate 312 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: that Boston merchants just refused to import all British goods 313 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: for a year. They didn't get one hundred percent support 314 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 1: for it, but they got enough that all of a sudden, 315 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:27,800 Speaker 1: the British merchants are complaining to Parliament that the alienation 316 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: is getting to be expensive to them. And so where 317 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: the British Parliament had thought, oh, this would be pretty easy, 318 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: they'll obviously have to pay the taxes. What this discovering 319 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: is every time they take a step to oppress those 320 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: who are angry, there are more people angry, and so 321 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,160 Speaker 1: there's a whole process underway here in which people are 322 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: gradually banding together to oppose what the British are doing. 323 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: Adams wanted to extend it beyond one year, but it 324 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: just wasn't possible. On February twenty second, seventeen seventy, when 325 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: harassed by a mob, a minor customs official named Ebenezer 326 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: Richardson accidentally shot and killed eleven year old Christopher Cedar. 327 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,480 Speaker 1: Although probably an accident, Adams used this as an opportunity 328 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:16,520 Speaker 1: to call out the presence of British troops. Adams organized 329 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: a public funeral that was attended by over two thousand 330 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: people for this young eleven year old, whod been killed. 331 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 1: By March fifth, seventeen seventy nine, British soldiers faced off 332 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,920 Speaker 1: a mob of several hundred angry citizens. They fired into 333 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,119 Speaker 1: the crowd, killing five and wounding six citizens. That began 334 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: to be the Boston massacre. On March sixth, Adams led 335 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: a committee to demand the removal of British troops in 336 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: an emergency session. After Adams addressed the assembly, they unanimously 337 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: voted for removal of the troops. Now this is a real, 338 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,280 Speaker 1: I think significant repudiation of the British ability to extend power. 339 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: Governor Hutcheson understands how big a threat this is. On 340 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,359 Speaker 1: the same day, writes to William Dalrymple, the commander of 341 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,920 Speaker 1: the military, quote, I am sensible. I have no power 342 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: to order the troops to the castle, but under the 343 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: present circumstance of the town and the province, I cannot 344 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: avoid in consequence of this unanimous advice to the Council 345 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: designing you to order them there, which I must submit 346 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,160 Speaker 1: to you. Lieutenant Colonel Dalrymple agreed to this and ordered 347 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: the troops to Castle Island in the Harbor. So the 348 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: American citizens feel like they're winning. The soldiers involved in 349 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: the shooting were arrested and waited trial. But it's fascinating. 350 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: This is a great story in American history because they 351 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: wanted a fair trial. Even Samuel Adams, who was one 352 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: of the hottest and most aggressive of the Americans, knew 353 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:47,919 Speaker 1: that it had to be a fair trial. And of 354 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:50,520 Speaker 1: course most attorneys did not want to defend the British, 355 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: so Adams got his cousin John Adams and Josiah Quincy 356 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: to defend them. It's a brilliant move. John Adams is 357 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: a great lawyer. At the time, I think hurts him 358 00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 1: sum in terms of the people of Boston. But they 359 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,439 Speaker 1: made the argument that the soldiers were only firing out 360 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: of self defense and there wasn't their fault that they 361 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: were there. They'd been ordered to go there. So of 362 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 1: the soldiers only two were found guilty of manslaughter. Adams 363 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:22,560 Speaker 1: actually opposed the court decision and really was on the 364 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: side of the American revolutionaries. In April seventeen seventy, in 365 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: an effort to find a middle ground, Parliament repeals all 366 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: the towns in taxes except one, the tax on tea. 367 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,960 Speaker 1: In the late spring of seventeen seventy one, news came 368 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: that Parliament would no longer allow the legislature to pay 369 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: the governor's salary, but instead the governor's salary will be 370 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,280 Speaker 1: paid with revenue from the t tax. At that point, 371 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: people began to get really upset. By the autumn of 372 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy two, news broke the judges of the Supreme 373 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: Court would like the governor not be paid by the legislature. 374 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: Now what's happening is the British Parliament is gradually creating 375 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,119 Speaker 1: a class of people whose loyalty is to London and 376 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: who are prepared to impose on the people of Massachusetts. 377 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 1: Now Adams when they learned that the judges as well 378 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: as the governor are going to be paid directly from 379 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: the tax, writes an article on the Boston Gazette under 380 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: the name Valerius Publicola. He writes this quote to what 381 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: a state of infamy, wretchedness, and misery shall we be 382 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: reduced if our judges shall be prevailed upon to be 383 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: thus degraded to hirelings, and the body of the people 384 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 1: shall suffer their free constitution to be overturned and ruined. 385 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: Let not the iron hand of tyranny ravish our laws 386 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: and seize the badge of freedom, and the murderous rage 387 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,880 Speaker 1: of lawless power be ever seen on the sacred seat 388 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: of justice. Now, by the way, it's interesting, I want 389 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: to the paper in which I realized that reforming judges 390 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: was the number two demand of the colonists, after the 391 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,120 Speaker 1: right of taxation. They were so angry at the way 392 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: that the judges had become creatures of the state against 393 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,879 Speaker 1: the people, that much of what we see in the 394 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: Constitution in limiting the judges is a function of what 395 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 1: they had experienced under the British where the judges became 396 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: the tools of the king against the people. By late 397 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,719 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy two, Adams is writing a pamphlet The Rights 398 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: of the Colonists, And again this really is a precursor 399 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,800 Speaker 1: to Jefferson. Listen to it. Quote among the natural rights 400 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 1: of the colonists are these first a right to life, 401 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: second to liberty, third to property, together with the right 402 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: to support and defend them in the best manner they can. 403 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: These are evident branches of rather than deductions from the 404 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: duty of self preservation, commonly called the first law of nature. 405 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,120 Speaker 1: All men have a right to remain in a state 406 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 1: of nature as long as they please, and, in cases 407 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, to leave the society 408 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: they belong to and enter into another. When men are 409 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,679 Speaker 1: enter into society, it is by voluntary consent, and they 410 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: have a right to demand and insist upon the performance 411 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:39,440 Speaker 1: of such conditions and previous limitations as form an equitable 412 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: original compact. Now notice Adam is going all the way back, 413 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,719 Speaker 1: basically making the argument which John Locke had made at 414 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,360 Speaker 1: the turn of the last century in the sixteen nineties, 415 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 1: and that is that our rights are natural. They are 416 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,879 Speaker 1: inherent in the way that God and Nature operate, and 417 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: therefore they are not a function of the state, but rather, 418 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 1: the state has to be seen in the context of 419 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:09,160 Speaker 1: these natural rights. And this begins to be an enormous division, 420 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: because if you are the British king, you can't accept 421 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 1: the idea that their rights outside your kingship. Historically, in 422 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 1: the Middle Ages, power came from God through the king 423 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,120 Speaker 1: down to other people. What they're now saying is no, 424 00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 1: no power comes from the God to us. It's a 425 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: natural right, there's a natural liberty, and then we loan 426 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:35,199 Speaker 1: the king power. Well, this is a radical violation of 427 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,679 Speaker 1: the system that had been in operated throughout the Middle Ages. 428 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,160 Speaker 1: And so the result is you begin to see Samuel 429 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: Adams I think as a real precursor of what Jefferson 430 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: will write in the Decoration Dependence, laying out a doctrine 431 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,840 Speaker 1: even says at one point talks about life liberty and property. 432 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: Property becomes life fluting in pursuit of happiness. But pursuit 433 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: of happiness in the eighteenth century Scottish enlightenment is actually 434 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,719 Speaker 1: means virtue and wisdom, doesn't mean hedonism and getting drunk. 435 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,639 Speaker 1: So they're talking about you have a right to seek 436 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,720 Speaker 1: a better life, the right to freedom being the gift 437 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,840 Speaker 1: of God Almighty. It is not in the power of 438 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave. Now, look, 439 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,120 Speaker 1: this is a head on collision that's coming right down 440 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,639 Speaker 1: the road, and Adams is right in the middle of it, 441 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: and he is describing the base of freedom as it 442 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,160 Speaker 1: has existed in America ever since, and that is that 443 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: your rights come from God, that the government cannot infringe 444 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,920 Speaker 1: on those rights, and that only those things that you're 445 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: willing to delegate the government can belong to government. In 446 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: the middle of all this, an East Indian ship, the Dartmouth, 447 00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: arrived in Boston. Adams wanted the ship to return without 448 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: paying the importation duties, something that was required by law, 449 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: held a meeting where, according to a letter he wrote 450 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: to Arthur Lee on December thirteenth, seventeen seventy three, at 451 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: least seven thousand men, many coming from outside towns as 452 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,800 Speaker 1: far as twenty miles away, gathered to support Adam's petition, 453 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:13,399 Speaker 1: but Governor Hutcheson refused to make the ship return. Faced 454 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: with this, a group of men disguised themselves as Indians 455 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: and in less than four hours through all three hundred 456 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:24,199 Speaker 1: and forty two chests of tea into the harbor. This 457 00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: was the famous Boston Tea Party. We're not really sure 458 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: if Adams was one of the Indians, but we are 459 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,400 Speaker 1: sure that he was instrumental in publishing what happened through 460 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,840 Speaker 1: all the colonies and using it as one of the 461 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: reasons for colonists to fight for independence. Well, the British 462 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: government goes nuts. They passed the Intolerable Acts of seventeen 463 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: seventy four, closing the Boston Port until the colony paid 464 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: for the tea. They dumped into the harbor, requiring all 465 00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: colonists to house British soldiers in their homes, and made 466 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,720 Speaker 1: it so the British had control of locally appointed officials. 467 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: They basically are trying to take over and create a 468 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:01,840 Speaker 1: dictatorship based in London. That just leads Stephen Moore in 469 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 1: ten argument. Adams in June of seventeen seventy four drafts 470 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: the resolves of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and makes 471 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: the case for the rest of the colonies that we 472 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: are now being oppressed and they're coming for you next. Now. 473 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: The British are very serious about this. They send General 474 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:26,600 Speaker 1: Thomas Gage as military governor, They send four thousand troops 475 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,480 Speaker 1: into Boston, and Adams doesn't back down. In fact, in 476 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: June seventeen seventy four, Adams chairs a committee in the 477 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: House of Representatives which had left Boston to go to 478 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: Salem to be able to meet, and they propose electing 479 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:45,360 Speaker 1: individuals to represent Massachusetts at a Colonial Congress set to 480 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: meet in Philadelphia. Both Sammy Adams and his cousin John 481 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: Adams were elected delegates, and to this particular thing, General Gage, 482 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: with the British back home putting real pressure on him 483 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 1: to end the rebellion, I didn't want to arrest Sadams 484 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 1: because he felt this would lead to a backlash. He 485 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: tried to prevent the provincial Congress from getting military supplies. 486 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:12,480 Speaker 1: That led to each side attempted to capture local gunpowder Soores. Then, 487 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: on April fourteenth, seventeen seventy five, a letter from the 488 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,720 Speaker 1: Secretary of State ordered Gage to disarm the militia and 489 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 1: arrest the leaders of the rebellion, which was namely Samuel 490 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:27,200 Speaker 1: Adams and John Hancock. A second Continental Congress was deemed 491 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: necessary in May of seventeen seventy five. Just a month later, 492 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: Adams was selected as a delegate. However, in April, before departing, 493 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: Adams and John Hancock attended a session of the provincial 494 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: Congress medium conquered fifteen miles northwest of Boston. Since they 495 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: were aware of the order to arrest him, they decided 496 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: to stay in Lexington at the home of Reverend Clark 497 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: instead of Boston. Because of a very real risk of arrest, 498 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,800 Speaker 1: Gage orders a column of troops to Conquered to seize 499 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: and destroy a suspected cache of munitions. March, the soldiers 500 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: would go through Lexington saxely. Not clear nowadays whether Gage 501 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:07,400 Speaker 1: knew that Adams and Hancock were there, or whether or 502 00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: not he is even going to try to arrest him. 503 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:14,040 Speaker 1: Despite this, fearing capture, Joseph Warren dispatched Paul Revere and 504 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 1: William Dawls to warn the delegates to leave, and on 505 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: April eighteenth, seventeen seventy five, Paul Revere won on his 506 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: famous ride, sparking the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The 507 00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: British troops arrived in Lexington the morning of April nineteenth, 508 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: just as Hancock and Adams escape. Less than a month 509 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental 510 00:31:36,760 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: Congress took place. In an April three, seventeen seventy six 511 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: letter to Samuel Cooper, Adams wrote, it's not America already independent, 512 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:49,080 Speaker 1: why then not declare it? Can? Nations at war said 513 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,000 Speaker 1: to be dependent either upon the other, and so Adams 514 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,480 Speaker 1: is really working the concept it's time to declare independence. 515 00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:59,520 Speaker 1: He's very much in favor of a resolution to declare it, 516 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:04,280 Speaker 1: and ultimately he's one of the people who's enthusiastically signing 517 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 1: the Declaration of Independence. And again he's basing all of 518 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 1: this on natural rights and on the sense that all 519 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 1: we're doing is defining what we already have, and it's 520 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,720 Speaker 1: the British King who's trying to take it away from us. 521 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,160 Speaker 1: We're not trying to establish it. We already have it, 522 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: but the British King now is trying to steal it. 523 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:26,200 Speaker 1: It's I think a very significant moment once they had 524 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: won the war. Adams supported a state constitution, but he 525 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,480 Speaker 1: wanted to limit the power of the government. He did 526 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: not go to the Constitutional Convention of seventeen eighty seven 527 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: because he was afraid that a stronger government would infringe 528 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: on the people's liberties. He rejected the very concept. He 529 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: attempted to re international politics as a candidate for the 530 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: oath House, but was defeated by Fisher Aims, who was 531 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: an avid supporter of the constitution. He went on to 532 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: serve as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, under Governor John Hancock, 533 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 1: and when Hancock died in office, Adams assumed the governorship. 534 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 1: Then he was elected to three successive one year terms 535 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: as governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He officially retired 536 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,280 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety seven because he is unable to write 537 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: due to the fremers in his hands. He died on 538 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: October second, eighteen o three, at the age of eighty one. 539 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: In eighteen nineteen, Thomas Jefferson wrote of Samuel Adams quote, 540 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 1: I can say he was truly a great man, wise 541 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: in counsel, fertile in resources, immovable in his purposes. Although 542 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:36,000 Speaker 1: not a fluent elocution, he was so rigorously logical, so 543 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: clear in his views, abundant in good sense, and master 544 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 1: always of his subject that he commanded the most profound 545 00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,640 Speaker 1: attention whenever he rose in an assembly. And of course, 546 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: as I have pointed out, Jefferson in many ways was 547 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: deeply shaped by adams understanding of natural law and of 548 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,280 Speaker 1: the role of God in giving us our liberties. Because 549 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:01,719 Speaker 1: sam Adams was so eloquent and defining the rights of Americans, 550 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:07,239 Speaker 1: because he was so consistent and persistent in arguing and 551 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 1: fighting for those rights, Because he was able to talk 552 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: in a common language which allowed everyday folks to understand 553 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: it and to decide for themselves where they were in 554 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: this great struggle. He really is one of the heroes 555 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: around whom the American system is built. I'm not sure 556 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,680 Speaker 1: that we would have gotten nearly as far towards freedom 557 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:32,280 Speaker 1: and liberty without Samuel Adams. I am sure he managed 558 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:35,600 Speaker 1: to help people all across the colonies come to an 559 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:40,480 Speaker 1: understanding that there was an irreconcilable difference between a British 560 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,920 Speaker 1: king who believed in the divine right of kingship and 561 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: Americans who believed that that divine right led to sovereignty 562 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,920 Speaker 1: for the individual, not for the state. And I think 563 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:54,240 Speaker 1: Samuel Lettams has to be considered one of the genuine 564 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: immortals who shaped freedom and on whose shoulders we today 565 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 1: still stand. Thank you for listening. You can read more 566 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,280 Speaker 1: about Samuel Adams and get links to my other founding 567 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: Father's episodes on our show page at Newtsworld dot com. 568 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: Newsworld is produced by Gingrish three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our 569 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,960 Speaker 1: executive producer is Guarnsey Sloan and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. 570 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:21,320 Speaker 1: The artwork for the show was created by Steve Penley. 571 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: Special thanks to the team at Gingrish three sixty. If 572 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple 573 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 1: Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give 574 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 1: us a review so others can learn what it's all about. 575 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,239 Speaker 1: Right now, listeners of Newtsworld can sign up for my 576 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 1: three free weekly columns at gingishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter. 577 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 1: I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Newtsworld.