[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 26, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1319-E1320]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    REMARKS OF AMANDA PEARSON--``SAM ADAMS: FATHER OF THE AMERICAN 
                              REVOLUTION''

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DONALD A. MANZULLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 25, 2000

  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, I was visited recently by Amanda Pearson 
of Rockford, Illinois. Amanda is in high school. When I discovered that 
her essay on Sam Adams had been placed in God's World News, I requested 
that she send me a copy. The article is so timely that I believe more 
Americans need to know this story. I commend this article to my 
colleagues and other readers of the Record.

            Samuel Adams: Father of the American Revolution

                          (By Amanda Pearson)

       ``We must do something. The present situation cannot remain 
     untouched.'' The middle-aged man of about 48 mulled these 
     thoughts over as he paced steadily toward the Boston building 
     that sheltered the town meetings.
       Samuel Adams shuddered, pulled his jacket closer around him 
     and continued his musing.
       ``The day before yesterday, March 5, several colonists were 
     killed right here in Boston, when those oppressive British 
     regulars opened fire.''
       ``We are being ruled by a pure tyrant,'' he muttered under 
     his breath. ``How long must we suffer under a power that 
     violates the laws of nature and of nature's God?''
       He turned a corner and walked along the street toward the 
     building at the end. His thoughts turned back to the 
     massacre.
       ``Yes,'' Mr. Adams thought. ``We must fight to remove the 
     British from Boston before more difficulties arise!''
       With that, he marched up the steps and into the building.
       Yes, Samuel Adams did succeed in getting those British 
     troops removed from Boston. In fact, he became known as the 
     ``Father of the American Revolution.''


                               Young Sam

       Samuel Adams was an older cousin of John Adams, who 
     eventually became president of the United States. Samuel was 
     born in Boston, Massachusetts, on Sept. 22, 1722.
       His father was well-to-do and provided his son with a good 
     education. And Samuel proved to be studious.
       At 18, he graduated from Harvard, a college with strong 
     Christian roots. Once he was done with his schooling, he was 
     apprenticed to a well-established merchant in Boston.
       Eventually, Samuel set up his own business. But he did not 
     care for that profession. He was more interested in politics 
     and the current situation of the colonies.


                           sam's young family

       Samuel married Elizabeth Checkley in October of 1749. Only 
     two of the couple's five children--Samuel Adams Jr. and 
     Hannah--reached adulthood.
       And his wife, Elizabeth died on July 25, 1757. Seven years 
     later, Sam married Elizabeth Wells, an industrious woman who 
     helped her step-children and husband to live comfortably in 
     spite of Samuel's small income.
       Samuel reared his family on Christian principles. The Bible 
     was read every night in the Adams household.


                           Toward Revolution

       Samuel Adams knew that the British and King George III of 
     England were treating the colonists unfairly. The people 
     tried to settle their problems with the government 
     peacefully.
       But the British wouldn't listen, and things continued to 
     simmer towards a boil.
       In 1763, Samuel was one of the first to propose that the 
     American colonies become united to fight against England. 
     Seven years later, he was serving as spokesman for Boston 
     after the Boston Massacre occurred.
       In 1772, he launched the Committees of Correspondence with 
     the help of Richard Henry Lee. The Committees provided the 
     colonists with the latest current events and kept them up-to-
     date on British activities.


                             The Committees

       The Committees had three goals:
       1. to delineate the rights the Colonists had as men, as 
     Christians, and as subjects of the crown;
       2. to detail how these rights had been violated; and
       3. to publicize throughout the Colonies the first two 
     items.
       One of the documents that the Committees of Correspondent 
     distributed in late 1772 was the ``Rights of The Colonists'' 
     that Sam Adams had written. His Christian character and 
     knowledge of Scripture were apparent as he wrote:
       ``The Rights of the Colonists as Christians. These may be 
     best understood by reading and carefully studying the 
     institutes of the great Law Giver and Head of the Christian 
     Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated 
     in the New Testament.''


                          For God and Country

       In 1774, the British governor of Massachusetts attempted to 
     quiet Sam Adams. He offered him a high rank in the colonial 
     government.
       However, Sam refused to be silenced. ``I trust I have long 
     since made my peace with the King of kings. No personal 
     consideration shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause 
     of my country,'' he said.
       ``Tell Governor Gage, it is the advice of Samuel Adams to 
     him, no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated 
     people.''


                                 Honor

       In 1774, Samuel Adams was elected as a delegate of 
     Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. There in 1776 he 
     eagerly signed the Declaration of Independence, declaring the 
     colonies free from England.
       In 1778, after the Revolution, Mr. Adams eventually 
     supported Massachusetts' ratification of the U.S. 
     Constitution, although at first he refused to do so.
       He served as governor of Massachusetts from 1793 to 1797 
     then retired from public service altogether.


                                 Glory

       At the end of his life on earth, Samuel Adams made a final 
     statement of his beliefs in his will:
       ``Principally and first of all, I reccommend my soul to 
     that Almighty Being who gave it and my body I commit to the 
     dust, relying upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of 
     all my sins.''

[[Page E1320]]

       He died in 1803 at the age of 82, a Founding Father, 
     ``Firebrand of the Revolution,'' and most important, a 
     Christian man.

     

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