Samuel Adams: A Life

Perhaps Stoll’s book is not the definitive biography of the often forgotten founding father, but for anyone with an interest in this period of U.S. history and wanting to know more about Samuel Adams, this book is a quick and enjoyable read. Ira Stoll strikes just the right balance in keeping the focus on Samuel Adams without overlooking Samuel’s complex relationships with his cousin John, John Hancock and other famous founding fathers. And for novices in U.S. history like me, there is plenty to learn. Especially interesting for me was the extent to which anti-Catholicism played a role as the U.S. nation was founded. (Samuel Adams saw a “papacy threat” coming from Quebec threatening the newly-formed Republic. ). And the last few pages, in which Stoll offers some compelling theories as to why Samuel Adams’ legacy has faded a bit over time, is most interesting. I highly recommend his book.

Thanks in part to television portrayals and many history books, the common perception of Samuel Adams today is of a firebrand who organized the Boston Tea Party, openly threw insults at the British occupiers of Boston, and liked his taverns. There is truth here but this view basically makes a stereotype of the man. The great advantage of Ira Stoll’s biography is to put Sam Adams into a much larger context, parts of which may be completely unknown to most Americans today.I learned two valuable facts from this book about Adams. First, he was much more literate that we realize. His writings, especially before and during the Revolution, were not just broadsides against the British. They were diverse and literate. He very often published under pseudonyms in newspapers and his writing has the fervor of a Hamilton or Madison, especially when it comes to the moral justification of the Revolution. While it is true that Sam Adams did not have Madison or Hamilton’s incisive minds, his writings portray a man who spent long hours with his pen and whose ideas often portray a depth of understanding that goes far beyond the tavern broadsides we might associate with him.But probably the most important factor brought out by Stoll and which I never realized was how deeply rooted religion was in Adams’ life. This is virtually never brought up in popular depictions of him. While many of his more famous contemporaries became Deists, Adams appears to be the Revolutionary figure who had the deepest roots in the Great Awakening and who continued to accept the theology that came with it. Franklin lived through much of that also but he rejected most of it in one way or another. Not Sam Adams. His political writings and speeches are constantly comparing the Americans to the Jewish people searching for freedom or to the fight for freedom of the Puritans; his view of the Revolution was to see the new country as the fulfillment of the virtuous “city on the hill.” One is tempted today to think of this as a good front, a cover for his political ideas filled out with a lot of Biblical quotations. Many modern politicians are great at that. But, as Stoll shows time and again, religion was no political cover for Adams. In his private writings, which he never thought would be made public, he consistently refers to religious analogies for America and as inspiration for the future of the country. Making Adams a child of the Great Awakening must be tied to his intense love of liberty and his constant identification with the common people, both before, during and after the Revolution. These ideas came as a package in his personality. The same religious zeal and oneness with the common folks that led him to be the early and loud critic of the British led him to detest the centralizing government of the Federalists in the 1790’s.Stoll also brings out many other interesting facts. In Adams’ religious zeal also lay a deep-seated anti-Catholicism. A fear of “Popery” runs through a large number of his writings and was transferred to the Church of England trying to impose itself on the colonies. Adams comes across as irrational at times, sometimes exaggerating or distorting to make a point. It helps to see this not just as a specific personality trait, but as a result of a religious calling about this country. The end, Liberty, justified the means and the means had religious/nationalistic justifications. I wish there were more about how Adams developed as a young man into the adult he became but, as Stoll mentions at the end, Adams made a point of destroying and burning the majority of his personal letters. If the book has a weakness, it is that Stoll goes out of his way to show that religion was much more important than we think not just to Adams but to many of the people he associated with. Stoll cites many speeches and sermons by other people that support Adams’ view of the religious nature of the Revolution. But it gets a bit tiring to read so many religious selections from sermons or speeches of others who lived at or near the time of Adams, especially when several of them have only an indirect bearing on Adams’ actual life. Context is important but it can be overdone.All in all, however, this book is an important corrective about the life of Samuel Adams. Given the scarcity of material at times, Stoll does a fine job of laying out aspects of this man whose life is often forgotten or distorted today but who played a critical role in defining the history of this country.

This book revealed Adam's spirit, connection to the revolution, and his uncanny ability to expose the British tyranny. It is a book of strategy used by Adams and other great partners to get the message to the American people. He was the driving force behind our country's push for freedom. Despite the bounty on his head, he did not waiver! Also, this book peaked my interest in the Classical Boston spirit that is no longer shown through Mass. governing body. If only we could stand together once again in he face of tyranny. Boston was so Patriotic and so important to the American cause that, as Roth pointed out, people even wondered if Boston was trying to gain power over the rest of the colonies. This was not the case, but triumph spewed from Boston citizens. Lastly, I gave the book a four star because I was learning new stuff about Adams, so I can imagine for those used to his life, this bio may have not have been groundbreaking and as exciting. If you are like me, then you have to read this book!!!!

Very well written. Clear and concise. Tells the story of a very much neglected Founding Father. Far removed I think from Sons of Liberty Sam Adams as per the tv.

An easy read describing the life and times of a character who led the way to the modern world,