Adams Samuel

Adams, Samuel, born at Boston, U.S.A., 1722, being second cousin to John Adams. Owing to his father's failure in business he went through severe struggles in youth, becoming ultimately tax-collector for Boston. He very soon threw himself into the struggle against the British Government; was a member of the Philadelphia Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. As President of the Massachusetts Senate, Lieut.-Governor, and Governor of the State, he held office till 1797. He attached himself to the Republicans under Jefferson, and withdrew from public life when the Federalists got the upper hand, dying in 1803. Napoleon's famous reproach - "The English are a nation of shopkeepers," is traced to one of Adams's speeches.