305Z Winter 2026 Samuel Adams, the Father of the Revolution

Made possible in part by a grant from VA250 Commission in partnership with Virginia Humanities 

If not for that eponymous frothy beverage, Sam Adams might be largely forgotten. Yet among the cast of characters we call the “Founding Fathers,” Adams was the leader of the pack. Boston was the epicenter of the earliest struggle for independence—and Adams was the spark that lit the fire. Long before Washington led an army or Jefferson penned the Declaration, he was rallying resistance to British rule and working to unify the colonies. We’ll explore how his “riches to rags” family story may help explain his deep resentment of British interference in colonial life. A master of public sentiment, Adams stoked the flames of rebellion by channeling the crowd’s growing sense of oppression and injustice.

Heather Dudley taught at the high school and college level. She has an MA in History, an MA in Psychology, and a Doctorate from Georgetown University. She writes a blog—charactermattered.org—and is the author of a book on the founders, The Free and the Virtuous: Why the Founders Knew that Character Mattered