Samuel Adams was a leading revolutionary in the 1760s and 1770s in the “American colonies.” (They can also be referred to as the “British colonies” although, as Britain had many other colonies around the world, the terminology is potentially confusing.) He was a politician, activist, and political philosopher.

Adams was born in Boston in 1722. He was an early leader in colonial resistance to perceived British oppression in the American colonies. He continues to be remembered principally for his leadership in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and his role in founding the Sons of Liberty, a resistance organization dating to the early 1760s. Because of these contributions, Adams is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He is also famous today for the Boston-based beer company named after him.

Adams’s reputation is somewhat controversial in modern scholarship and public opinion. Historical sources indicate differing opinions about the man and his influence even before Adams’s death in 1803. Some of these early criticisms came from British loyalists who opposed the Revolution in general, but others were from critics that doubted his influence and integrity.

Adams had been born into a wealthy and well-connected family, giving him access to the best education available in the colonies.