Samuel Adams was, according to his cousin John Adams, "born and tempered a wedge of steel to split the knot of lignum vitae" that tied the colonies to Great Britain. Even his Loyalist critics testified to his skill as a political organizer, writer, and molder of public opinion.

Born in Boston, Adams was one of twelve children of Samuel and Mary Fifield Adams. The elder Samuel was a brewer, a deacon in the Old South Church, and active in local politics. Adams attended the Boston Latin School and was graduated from Harvard College in 1740 with a B.A. Three years later he took his M.A. at Harvard, arguing the affirmative of the proposition "Whether it be lawful to resist the Supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved." Adams studied law briefly, was unsuccessful in a business of his own, and then joined his father in...