Samuel Adams was born in Boston, Massachusetts on September 27, 1722. He was a leader of the fight against British colonial rule, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Adams was a cousin of John Adams who became President of the United States. Samuel Adams was a graduate from Harvard College with a Master of Arts degree in 1743. Shortly after college he entered a private business, and throughout this period was an outspoken participant in Boston town meetings. When his business failed in 1764 Samuel Adams entered politics full-time, and he was then elected to the Massachusetts legislature. .
He lead the effort to establish a committee of correspondence that published a Declaration of Colonial Rights that he had written. He was a vocal opponent of many laws that were passed by the British Parliament to raise revenue in the American Colonies, including the Tea Act, which gave British trading company a monopoly on the import of tea into the colonies. This reached its peak on December 16, 1773 when a group of Bostonians dumped a British cargo of tea into Boston Harbor. This act of resistance is referred to as the Boston Tea Party. In .
1774 the Massachusetts legislature send Adams and four others as its representatives to the First Continental Congress. Adams served Massachusetts again at the Second Continental Congress where he was an advocate for independence and confederation for the American Colonies he served Continental Congress until his return to Boston in 1781. .
He initially opposed the new Constitution of the United States, but finally supported its ratification in Massachusetts. Adams served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1793 to 1797. Adams also gave one of the most memorable speeches, American Independence, which was given at the state house in Philadelphia, PA, on August 1. 1776. Samuel Adams was also a major leader and activist in the American Revolution, led protest against the Stamp Act and founder of the Sons of Liberty.
