How Did Samuel Adams Impact On Society

During the years of the American Revolution, one man stood out: Samuel Adams. Adams was an intelligent, patriotic, well-known, and prominent political leader who had an enormous influence on the New England area. In 1765, he organized the Sons of Liberty from males who belonged to numerous, similar, local organizations; these men obtained the majority of the same views as Adams, too, which included protesting the Stamp Act. On several occasions, the Sons of Liberty protested political actions, and they definitely made a difference in history. One specific date was December 16, 1773- the day of the Boston Tea Party.

Young Samuel Adams was brought into the world by the parents of Samuel and Mary Adams on September 27, 1722 in Boston, Massachusetts. Ironically, his parents did not know their little boy was going to make an enormous impact on society in the years to come. Like many of our country’s Founding Fathers, Adams had the typical, modest upbringing. He was raised in a religious household, and his father was a political leader in Boston. The apple does not fall far from the tree, does it? In 1740, Samuel Adams graduated with high class ranking from Harvard, failed as a businessman, and then pursued a successful political

career- going against his parents’ wishes.
As a politician, Samuel Adams did not give in to anything; he opposed every British tax imposition- beginning with the Sugar Act of 1764. A year later, Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765. This created major controversy in the colonies; something had to be done. As a result, Adams wrote a very informative and influential letter, instilling the view of “No taxation without representation,” in the intellectual minds of New England and the rest of the colonies. In addition to that, Adams knew that more than just writing letters had to be done to put a cessation on Britain trying to tax America, so he began organizing the Sons of Liberty. This organization was formed from many political activists and protestors from the Boston Caucus Club and Loyal Nine. Their primary goal was to debilitate Britain’s control on America, so it could function and prosper on its own. They protested many future British taxes, including the Townsend Acts, because they had not been represented in Parliament.
Consequentially, with the widespread refusal of the Townsend Acts, Parliament tried to deceive the colonies to aid the sinking East India Tea Company. The approval of this tax on tea gave the East India Tea Company a monopoly on selling their merchandise. On November 28, 1773, the first ship containing the cargo, the Dartmouth, arrived in Boston Harbor; however, it was not supposed to reach the shore sooner than the upcoming Tuesday. This caused a large uprising in Boston, and as scheduled by Samuel Adams, over five thousand men attended a meeting the following morning. They all agreed on the basis that the incoming cargo ships should turn back, and that the colonists would not pay any tax imposed by the British Parliament. The New Englanders were prepared to fight, no matter the cost.
For the following two weeks, Boston resembled a rubber band continuously stretching, increasing in tension, and about to snap in two.

On December 16, 1773, the entire morning and afternoon there was spent in utter anxiety. That night, a meeting was held at the Old South Church, where the people were waiting on word as to whether or not the ships could return to England. The people refused to let the Dartmouth and other ships land; they were not going to cower down to the King. When neither the Governor nor the Collector of Customs would allow the tea to return to Britain, Samuel Adams concluded the meeting by saying, “This meeting can do nothing more to save the country.” On that specific cue, the Boston Tea Party had

begun.
On Samuel Adams’s word, several members of the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians and raided the Dartmouth and other ships. A total of approximately three-hundred forty-two trunks of tea were systematically disposed of into the Boston Harbor. This was a major act of defiance, which infuriated the King and Parliament. There were major repercussions to follow, too. In addition to that, the colonies faced a new question for the first time: Can we become independent from the British?
In conclusion, Samuel Adams was definitely an influential leader in the beginning of the American Revolution. Even though he did not start his adult life in government, his desire for politics molded him into the extraordinary public figure he became and led to his mindset for independence. Had Adams not organized the Sons of Liberty in 1765 and started the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, the question for independence might not have even developed. Even if the thought would have advanced much later in time, who would be able to tell where we would be in society today? Our brilliant Founding Fathers might not have created the Declaration of Independence, which led to the Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution. In the end, Samuel Adams was an American Founding Father and just one single man who made an enormous difference in history.