The Sons of Liberty: The Lives and Legacies of John Adams, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock - Charles River Editors

The Sons of Liberty: The Lives and Legacies of John Adams, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock

By Charles River Editors

  • Release Date: 2012-11-08
  • Genre: U.S. History
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 9 Ratings

Description

*Weaves the lives of the 4 Sons of Liberty together into one entertaining and educational narrative. 
*Explains the relationships between the men and the roles each one played in the pivotal events before and during the Revolution.
*Includes Paul Revere's account of his midnight ride and Longfellow's famous poem Paul Revere's Ride
*Includes several letters and writings from John Adams, Sam Adams and John Hancock. 
*Includes an original introduction for each of the 4 Sons of Liberty.

For over 200 years, Americans have been fascinated by the Revolutionary period and the patriots who led the growing resistance movement against British authority that eventually brought about the Revolutionary War. In particular, the clandestine activities of Boston's Sons of Liberty in the decade before the war continue to be a source of both intrigue and mystery. 

The American Revolution had no shortage of compelling characters with seemingly larger than life traits, including men like the multi-talented Benjamin Franklin, the wise Thomas Jefferson, the mercurial John Adams and the stoic George Washington. But no Revolutionary leader has been as controversial as Samuel Adams, who has been widely portrayed over the last two centuries as America’s most radical and fiery colonist. Among his contemporaries, Adams was viewed as one of the most influential colonial leaders, a man Thomas Jefferson himself labeled “truly the Man of the Revolution” and the one who the Boston Gazette eulogized as the “Father of the American Revolution.” 

Over the course of 83 years, Paul Revere was one of the most prominent citizens in Boston, heralded for his silversmith work, his participation in the Sons of Liberty, and his service in the Massachusetts militia. Given everything he did for Boston and his community, it would have no doubt greatly surprised Revere at the end of his life if he had known he would become an American legend for his midnight ride on the night of April 18, 1775, one of the most mythical events in American history.

John Adams remained a celebrated figure in Boston for all the work he did in Massachusetts before and after the Revolution, but his national reputation has experienced quite a renaissance over the past decade, beginning with David Mccullough’s best selling biography in 2001, followed in 2008 by the popular HBO series based on it. Then, in 2010, Dearest Friend, a record of the correspondence between Adams and his wife Abigail solidified his position as one of the most darling Founding Fathers of the 21st Century.

Most Americans are familiar with John Hancock solely because of his famous signature on the Declaration of Independence, and his name has become a slang phrase for signing a document. But his conspicuous signature on the Declaration of Independence has overshadowed the various and important contributions Hancock made in colonial Boston before the Revolution, the Continental Congress during the Revolution, and Massachusetts state politics after the Revolution. 

The Sons of Liberty chronicles the amazing lives and careers of the 4 most famous members of the Sons of Liberty, examines their relationships before and during the Revolution, and analyzes their lasting legacies. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Samuel Adams, John Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock like you never have before.