The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

Content Warning: The source text uses outdated and offensive terms for Indigenous people, which are replicated in this section only in direct quotes from the source material.

“He knew that we are governed more by our feelings than by reason; with rigorous logic, he lunged at the emotions. He made a passion of decency. He was a prudent revolutionary. Among the last of his surviving words is a warning to Thomas Paine: ‘Happy is he who is cautious.’”

Schiff uses a combination of anaphora and parallelism, as evident in her repeatedly structuring the sentences beginning with “He knew,” “He made,” and “He was.” This repetition emphasizes the solidity of Adams’s defining traits and calculated actions, highlighting his strategic approach to influencing public sentiment and his philosophical stance on leadership. The metaphor “lunged at the emotions” captures Adams’s dynamic approach to persuasion, illustrating how he actively and aggressively engaged with the public’s feelings to achieve his political aims.

“Deeply idealistic—a moral people, Adams held, would elect moral leaders—he believed virtue the soul of democracy. To have a villainous ruler imposed on you was a misfortune. To elect him yourself was a disgrace.”

This quote captures Adam’s idealism through the phrase “a moral people […] would elect moral leaders,” using parallel structure to link the morality of the people directly with the character of their leaders, thus reinforcing the notion a society’s choice of governance reflects its ethical nature. The antithesis of electing a moral leader (“To have a villainous ruler imposed on you was a misfortune. To elect him yourself was a disgrace”) sharpens the distinction between external oppression and self-inflicted political failure, emphasizing that vigilance and moral integrity among the electorate are crucial.