Samuel Adams

September, 1722-October, 1803
Signer of the Declaration of Independence

What He Said:

“He who made all men hath made the truths necessary to human happiness obvious to all… Our forefathers opened the Bible to all.” ["American Independence," August 1, 1776. Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia]

“Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity… and leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system.” [October 4, 1790]

"If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of Almighty God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave."