Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Samuel Adams: Patriot and Statesman
Illustrator: Keith Wilson , Todd Smith , Dave Hoover , Charles Barnett III
Nonfiction Graphic Novel Series
For ages 7 to 10
Capstone Press, 2006 ISBN: 978-0736865005
Samuel Adams grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and when he was a young man and at Harvard College he became familiar with the work of the John Locke, the English philosopher. Locke put forward the idea that it is the people and not the government who should hold the power in a country. This was an idea which greatly intrigued Adams and he decided to go into politics. While he was still at Harvard Samuel began to understand what Locke was talking about. The unfair laws imposed on the colonies by the British crown directly affected his family.
Samuel tried various jobs and ended up working in the family brewery. All the while he thought about how the “colonists shouldn’t be subjected to British law without representation in England.” He joined a group of men who felt the same way and when a new law was passed, The Stamp Act, he worked hard to show the British that the colonists were not going to accept this law. Though the British knew that Adams was behind the activism against the Stamp Act, they could not prove it and they did not dare arrest him.
Then in September of 1765 Samuel won a political appointment and after the Stamp Act was repealed, he decided that the time had come to bring together a group of powerful people who would be willing to work towards self-rule for the colonies. Defeating the Stamp Act was just the beginning for Samuel Adams.
In this excellent “Graphic History” title, young readers will discover how active Samuel Adams was before and during and after the American Revolutionary War. He was often the one who worked behind the scenes but whose work had an enormous impact on the cause as a whole. Well written and presented in the form of a graphic novel, this title is certain to appeal to readers who don’t usually find history and biographies interesting.
