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Library of American Biography
Samuel Adams: Radical Puritan
Brief, paperback biography that discusses Founding Father Samuel Adams.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 1997
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About the author
William M. Fowler Jr.
22 books14 followersWilliam Morgan Fowler Jr. is a professor of history at Northeastern University, Boston and an author. He served as Director of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1998 through 2005. He earned his BA from the University of Indiana in 1967 and his MA and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.
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December 14, 2021
The name Samuel Adams is one today associated more with brewed beverages than the American Revolution. Knowing him mainly for the brand of beer that bears his name, though, does a disservice to his role in the Massachusetts colony’s opposition to British imperial governance in the 1760s and 1770s. Over the course of the decade between the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and the “shot heard round the world” a decade later, Adams was one of the foremost opponents of Britain’s taxation policies and their efforts to compel obedience from their recalcitrant colonies. In this respect William Fowler’s book serves as an excellent reminder of what Adams did to deserve the honor he enjoys today, and why he deserves to be remembered for more than his appropriated association.
As Fowler explains, politics was part of Adams’s inheritance. His father, a malthouse operator who served in a variety of local offices, came from a long line of Adamses involved in colonial affairs. Young Samuel was a firsthand witness to the household meetings where prominent members of the community met to discuss business. After graduating from Harvard Adams worked at a couple of jobs before settling into the family malting business. Yet politics was his passion, and he rose steadily in community affairs. Much of Fowler’s description in these pages is vague, reflecting the scarcity of specifics about Adams’s activities. As he notes as well, some of Adams’s activities risked the wrath of crown officials, creating an incentive to avoid leaving a record.
This especially became the case as Adams became involved in resistance to British efforts to tax the colonies after the French and Indian War. Adams fought these strenuously, both through his political posts and his connections with the leaders of the local rabble-rousers, which gave him the ability to stage often violent demonstrations. Fowler is especially good here at detailing the “rules” of mob activity and how Adams employed them to undermine imperial authority and humiliate the colonial leaders allied with the British. As he explains, for Adams, this was not just a matter of politics, but a question of values. This proved both a strength and a weakness for Adams, as it infused him with a passion while depriving him of the flexibility that is the hallmark of many politicians.
What may have been a liability in normal times only added to Adams’s resolution in dealing with the British. At times outmaneuvered, he was nonetheless quick to seize on opportunities produced by insensitive British policies and arrogant appointees in the colonial government. Adams was also aware of the importance of coordinating with his counterparts in other British colonies in North America, which ensured a common response orchestrated by like-minded colonials. Because of this, when the Continental Congress first met in 1775, Adams was able to avoid tarring his advocacy for resistance with the taint of his own radicalism, secure in the knowledge that others would convey the response he sought. Yet after independence was declared Adams found himself an increasingly marginal figure, enjoying honored offices in both the Congress and in the newly independent state government but without the influence he once possessed.
Fowler does a good job of summarizing both Adams’s life and the events in Boston that led to the outbreak of revolution. Yet the author’s analysis of his subject is frustratingly inadequate, and in more ways than just the absence of details about Adams’s role in colonial agitation. Throughout the book Fowler emphasized the role the Puritan values of Adams’s forebearers played in shaping his attitudes towards politics and people. What these values are, however, are often left vaguely defined, with little effort to relate them to the complex religious world of the America in which he lived. Given the prominence Fowler accords them, such an examination seems necessary, and the absence of one hinders what is otherwise a good assessment of the man and a nice summary of the role he played at a pivotal point in American history.
As Fowler explains, politics was part of Adams’s inheritance. His father, a malthouse operator who served in a variety of local offices, came from a long line of Adamses involved in colonial affairs. Young Samuel was a firsthand witness to the household meetings where prominent members of the community met to discuss business. After graduating from Harvard Adams worked at a couple of jobs before settling into the family malting business. Yet politics was his passion, and he rose steadily in community affairs. Much of Fowler’s description in these pages is vague, reflecting the scarcity of specifics about Adams’s activities. As he notes as well, some of Adams’s activities risked the wrath of crown officials, creating an incentive to avoid leaving a record.
This especially became the case as Adams became involved in resistance to British efforts to tax the colonies after the French and Indian War. Adams fought these strenuously, both through his political posts and his connections with the leaders of the local rabble-rousers, which gave him the ability to stage often violent demonstrations. Fowler is especially good here at detailing the “rules” of mob activity and how Adams employed them to undermine imperial authority and humiliate the colonial leaders allied with the British. As he explains, for Adams, this was not just a matter of politics, but a question of values. This proved both a strength and a weakness for Adams, as it infused him with a passion while depriving him of the flexibility that is the hallmark of many politicians.
What may have been a liability in normal times only added to Adams’s resolution in dealing with the British. At times outmaneuvered, he was nonetheless quick to seize on opportunities produced by insensitive British policies and arrogant appointees in the colonial government. Adams was also aware of the importance of coordinating with his counterparts in other British colonies in North America, which ensured a common response orchestrated by like-minded colonials. Because of this, when the Continental Congress first met in 1775, Adams was able to avoid tarring his advocacy for resistance with the taint of his own radicalism, secure in the knowledge that others would convey the response he sought. Yet after independence was declared Adams found himself an increasingly marginal figure, enjoying honored offices in both the Congress and in the newly independent state government but without the influence he once possessed.
Fowler does a good job of summarizing both Adams’s life and the events in Boston that led to the outbreak of revolution. Yet the author’s analysis of his subject is frustratingly inadequate, and in more ways than just the absence of details about Adams’s role in colonial agitation. Throughout the book Fowler emphasized the role the Puritan values of Adams’s forebearers played in shaping his attitudes towards politics and people. What these values are, however, are often left vaguely defined, with little effort to relate them to the complex religious world of the America in which he lived. Given the prominence Fowler accords them, such an examination seems necessary, and the absence of one hinders what is otherwise a good assessment of the man and a nice summary of the role he played at a pivotal point in American history.
May 29, 2021
This biography of Samuel Adams was a nice find in my local thrift shop. It is one of a series of the Library of American Biography series is new to me. Most of the histories of the period leading up to and covering the American revolution make mention of Samuel Adams but this little 190 page book offers an in-depth view of his deep personal commitment to raise awareness of the British thumb on the Colonies.
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