Today, I am thankful for the American founding father who readily reminds me of my favorite beverage.
When I first moved to Boston to complete my internship and residency in Internal Medicine, I lived in Beacon Hill, a quaint community at the foot of the dome-covered Massachusetts State House. On those rare weekends when I did not have to spend my hours in the hallowed halls of Massachusetts General Hospital, I would find time to explore the historic town, naturally with an emphasis on those memorialized places that serve as fitting reminders of the American Revolution. On my first Labor Day, I was fortunate to spend the day familiarizing myself with the narrow streets of historic Beantown, walking the renowned 2.5-mile, red-lined path known as the Freedom Trail. Along the way I came upon the Granary Burying Ground, where some of the early colonists who founded this country were laid to rest. Among the crooked tombstones in this colonial cemetery are those of Paul Revere, Thomas Paine, James Otis, and, of course, Sam Adams.
On this Labor Day Monday when many of us will be sipping American lagers, India Pale Ales, and a variety of other malt-based beverages, I wanted to pay tribute to a Founding Father, political theorist, and celebrated ‘brewer’ known as Sam Adams. It is only fitting we do so on this occasion, as today (Sept 7) happens to be something more than just Labor Day. Today is also the fitting celebration of National Beer Lover’s Day, an occasion celebrating the barleys, wheat, and grains that ultimately produce one of the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverages in the world. Sam Adams is someone more than the man whom the craft brewery, Boston Beer Company, chose to commemorate when they began offering their savory ales back on Patriots Day in 1985. Sam Adams was a revolutionary patriot, a spirited author, a respected governor, and the quintessential ‘rabble rouser.’
Born this month nearly three centuries ago in 1722, Sam Adams was raised by his affluent parents on Purchase Street in Boston. After matriculation at Boston Latin School, he attended Harvard College, where he naturally familiarized himself with the philosophical treatises of the great John Locke. After a few years overseeing his father’s malt business and a stint as a tax collector, Sam turned his attention to his true lover – politics. He started a newspaper, The Independent Advertiser, where he introduced the citizenry of Boston to his political philosophies of natural law and the liberties of the common man. When Britain began issuing levies on the American colonies, first with the Sugar Act in 1764, the Stamp Act in 1765, and then the Townsend Acts in 1767, Sam began using his newspapers to decry the British empire for its ‘taxation without representation’. Behind the scenes, he joined John Hancock, James Otis, and Paul Revere in forming a secret, rebellious society known as the Sons of Liberty. Unlike his second cousin and future American President (John Adams), Sam spoke openly, loudly, and harshly about the increasingly oppressive measures of the English throne. After British soldiers became a fixture in the narrow streets of Boston and the Tea Act was imposed by the monarchy in 1773, Sam ratcheted up his vociferous opposition against King George III, even going so far to coordinate the famous Boston Tea Party on one cold December night in 1773. He became a target of the angry empire, only to narrowly escape the British, thanks to Paul Revere’s midnight ride. When the colonists decided to join forces at several Continental Congresses in Philadelphia, Sam would join the two Johns (Adams and Hancock) as delegates from Massachusetts, where he served as the endearing stalwart for secession, even serving as one of the original signatories of the Declaration of Independence. After the American Revolution ended in 1783, Sam assisted in drafting the Articles of the Confederation and served as the second Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He died in 1803, at the age of 81, after being forced to retire from office at the age of 76 in the face of waning physical health.
Sam Adams had an amazing life wherein he courageously, if not brazenly, carved a path towards our nation’s independence from Great Britain. However, I need to set the record straight regarding one important point in his life. Sam Adams was never much of a beer master. Despite being currently touted by many as the great, colonial brewer, Sam Adams never brewed beer. Rather, he did for a time commandeer his father’s malt-producing business, which provided the barley to brewers to craft their own delicious version of this savory beverage. However, he was a poor businessman who lacked much commercial acumen, and he ultimately abandoned the malting business. Yet, his opponents readily mocked him as the ‘Maltster’, mostly to ridicule his prior failings. The moniker stuck, and history remembers him today as the charismatic patriot behind a great beer, thanks in part to his revival courtesy of the Boston Beer Company.
So, on this day we celebrate National Beer Lover’s Day (and Labor Day too), raise a toast to a sudsy patriot named Sam and his steadfast insistence that no king could ever get away with taxing our beverages.
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