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History Often Forgets About This Adams

And it's a shame: Sam, cousin of John, helped shape our revolution

By Michael Roston,  Newser User

Posted Nov 26, 2008 4:22 PM CST
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(Newser) – When people think of Samuel Adams these days, the beer, and not the Revolutionary War hero, may come to mind first. But a new book from Ira Stoll—Samuel Adams: A Life—makes the case for bringing the cousin of John Adams out of "the attic of history." Michael Moynihan's review calls Stoll's book "a compelling portrait of an overlooked figure."

Moynihan calls Adams the "Zelig of independence" for turning up at so many key moments in America's founding. He agitated his fellow colonists against British taxation and guided the 1779 Massachusetts Constitution, an inspiration for the US Constitution, to its final form. He adds that while Adams was something of a "moral scold," he was also the "moral conscience of the American Revolution."

1774: American revolutionary Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803), an organiser of the Boston Tea Party, he also signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress.
1774: American revolutionary Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803), an organiser of the Boston Tea Party, he also signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress.   (Getty Images)
circa 1770: The revolutionary politician Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803), second cousin to John Adams, 2nd President of the United States of America.
circa 1770: The revolutionary politician Samuel Adams (1722 - 1803), second cousin to John Adams, 2nd President of the United States of America.   (Getty Images)
circa 1770: American revolutionary Samuel Adams (1722-1803), an organizer of the Boston Tea Party; he also signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress.
circa 1770: American revolutionary Samuel Adams (1722-1803), an organizer of the Boston Tea Party; he also signed the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress.   (Getty Images)
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Without the character of Samuel Adams, the true history of the American Revolution can never be written. - President John Adams at the time of his second cousin's death

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