The American Revolution’s Main Idea

Plus, Feds warn on Harvard’s finances; blatant example of New York Times bias

Samuel Adams as painted by Seth Lipsky, 2008. Oil on Canvas. Private collection. Photo: The Editors.

The approach of the 250th anniversary of 1776 means that my biography of Samuel Adams is getting some renewed attention. I spoke about it this afternoon at a conference in Boston, and the appearance went great, until the very end, when my interlocutor asked me—I’m paraphrasing—to name one thing that Samuel Adams said that everyone would be better off knowing.

I stammered a bit and said it was a hard question, to single out one sentence or phrase from among so many—maybe something about thanksgiving and prayer, which were Samuel Adams favorites. The book came out in 2008 so some time has passed since I was immersed in the source material, or maybe I was just running out of gas at the end of the week. My interlocutor offered his own answer, which was a good one, Adams’s rejection of an inducement from the British General Thomas Gage: “Sir, 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.”

On the commuter rail ride home I realized how I should have answered. Here’s what I should have said: