Sam Adams and his journalistic contribution

In my opinion Sam Adams had such a major impact on journalism and his writings have gone down in history as beyond powerful in what we know today as America.  Sam Adams worked at the Boston Gazette. Adams wrote essays about his political ideas. These ideas were developing in Boston. The eager publishers were quickly to get his writings to print. The British passed the Sugar Act in 1764. This Act put a 3 cent tax on foreign sugar and increased taxes on coffee, and certain kinds of wine. It banned importation of rum and French wines. The affected merchants were very vocal. Besides, the taxes were raised without the consent of the colonists. This was one of the first instances in which colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed. Then the British passed an even harsher tax law than the Sugar Act. This tax law was the Stamp Act of 1765, which placed a tax on printed materials throughout the American colonies.

Adams's sizzling essays and continued determination helped harden American opinion against the Stamp Act. His columns in the Boston Gazette newspaper sent a flood of abuse against the British government. He wrote numerous newspaper articles that stirred his readers' anger at the British. Adams appealed to American radicals and communicated with leaders in other colonies. By the time of the battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts on April 17, 1775, (the beginning of the Revolutionary War) his career and his popularity began to rise.  Adams was then elected into the Massachusetts legislature.

I really find it amazing that the words of one man, like Sam Adams led to a following of people in the colonies that were swayed into believing that they deserved to be on their own and this led to a push to become the independent land that is known today as America.

Who was Samuel Adams ???

Check out the link which includes a biography about Samuel Adams:


 http://www.bookrags.com/biography/samuel-adams-dlb/

Quote from a Samuel Adams speech:

Here is a quote from a Samuel Adams speech:

Photo from Google Images: http://www.piecemakers.com/govern.html

Adam's and his "Journal"

The "Journal of Occurrences” was a series of newspaper articles published from 1768 to 1769 in the New York Journal  chronicling the occupation of Boston Massachusetts by the British Army is usually attributed to Samuel Adams the clerk of the Massachusetts house of Representatives.  

The occupation of Boston arose from colonial resistance to the Townshend Act passed by the British Parliament in 1767. In response to acts, the Massachusetts House of Representatives issued a circular letter in February 1768. Written primarily by Samuel Adams, the circular letter argued that the Townshend Acts were a violation of the British Constitution because they taxed British subjects without their consent. The first installment of the "Journal" was published on October 13, 1768, and continued once a week for more than a year. In an innovative approach for an era without professional newspaper reporters, the "Journal" presented a narrative of shocking events in Boston to the outside world. Although the authors claimed that what they wrote was "strictly fact", the events depicted in the articles were apparently exaggerated.  Boston was overrun by unruly British soldiers, who allegedly assaulted men and raped women

Although British officials in Boston insisted that the events depicted in the "Journal of Occurrences” were mostly untrue the articles were widely reprinted and helped build the sentiment that eventually produced the American Revolution.

Samuel Adams Quotes

Interested in quotes from Samuel Adams......check out this site:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Adams

The Samuel Adams Scholarship in Journalism

If your interested in obtaining a degree in Journalism you may be eligible for a scholarship from Patrick Henry College in Purcellville Virginia.

http://www.researchscholarships.org/undergrad-scholarships/samuel-adams-scholarship-for-journalism-usa-patrick-henry-college/

 

 

Also check out the link about Patrick Henry College:

http://www.phc.edu/about.php

The 5 "W"s of the Boston Massacre

Who: The Americans and British

What: Known as the Boston Massacre

Where: King Street, Boston, Massachusetts

When: March 5, 1770

Why: America didn’t want the British troops around

The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5^th, 1770 between a mob of American patriots and British troops. The Patriots threw snowballs, stones, and sticks at the British. Five colonists were killed and this led to a campaign by speech-writers to rouse the angry of the public. The presence of British troops in the city of Boston was increasingly unwelcome. The riot began when about 50 citizens attacked a British lookout. 

A British officer, Thomas Preston, had brought in additional soldiers these men were also attacked, so the soldiers fired into the mob, killing 3 on the spot. The men killed were a black sailor named Crispus Attucks, a rope maker Samuel Gray, and a mariner named James Caldwell, The riot also wounded 8 other men. Two of the men later died, they were Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr.

A town meeting was called demanding the removal of the British and the trial of Captain Preston and his men for murder. They were later acquitted and release. Later, two of the British soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter.

The Boston Massacre was a signal event leading to the Revolutionary War. It led directly to the Royal Governor evacuating the occupying army from the town of Boston. It would soon bring the revolution to armed revolt throughout the colonies.

Photo from: http://centralillinois912project.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/BostonMassacre.gif