How much do you know about Samuel Adams and John Hancock? What about Thomas Hutchinson and James Otis Jr? You've probably heard Samuel Adams name before, but do you know why he is considered the father of the American Revolution? John Hancock's signature stands out on the Declaration of Independence, do you know why? Thomas Hutchinson was the Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, a loyalist, how does he fit into this story?

Key Players:

Samuel Adams- Harvard grad, failure in business, started a whole revolution

James Otis Jr- Prominent lawyer in Boston, whig

Thomas Hutchinson- Held way too many positions in government, Lt Governor of Massachusetts Bay, loyal to the crown

John Hancock- Super wealthy merchant, gets a position in politics to stay out of politics

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Sources

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How much do you know about the first steps towards colonial union that led to the American Revolution? You might have heard that King George III was a tyrant or that the colonists just really hated taxes, but there is so much more to the story. There WAS a problematic George who put England on a speed run to ruin, but it wasn’t the king (It was also the king, but he wasn’t the main character causing problems- yet). It was his right hand man, Grenville.

On this episode of Founded you’ll find out about the secret plotting, lying and endless amount of mail that planted the seeds for rebellion.

Key Players:

George Grenville- Prime Minister under King George III, came up with the plans to make money from the colonies with his tax schemes

Thomas Whately- Secretary of the Treasury under George Grenville, made it his mission to figure out how to best execute Grenville’s plans

Thomas Hutchinson- Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Bay, member of the MA assembly. Wrote a history book about the colony that I use as a source

Francis Bernard- Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay, loved writing letters, tried to keep the peace by writing letters and shutting down the government

Jasper Mauduit- London agent for Massachusetts Bay, took several measures to stop the Stamp Act from coming

Samuel Adams- Patriot, Harvard grad who was bad at business but great at politics, spent a lot of time writing for his cause of liberty

James Otis Jr- Patriot, enemy of Thomas Hutchinson, prominent lawyer, in cahoots with Samuel Adams

Sources

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How much do you know about what led to the American Revolution? You’ve probably heard about “No Taxation Without Representation”, Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, or The Shot Heard Around The World (though the details you’ve learned may not have been accurate). What do you know about George Grenville, though? Do you know about the 18th century politics that brewed a revolution that dismantled an empire?

What if I told you that the roots of the American Revolution are buried deep in a set of resolutions presented to the British House of Commons in March of 1764. You’ll find out all about it on this episode of Founded.

Key Players: 

James Otis Jr- Prominent patriot lawyer and politician, enemy of Thomas Hutchinson

Thomas Hutchinson- Prominent politician, Lt Governor of Massachusetts Bay colony, loved the king

Francis Bernard- Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay, passively cared about the colonists, mostly wanted to keep the peace

George Grenville- Prime minister of England, really wanted money from the colonies, great at coming up with schemes, not great at executing them

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How much do you know about the social class system in colonial America before the revolution? Although it might sound like a boring topic, it influenced how every event in the revolution unfolded.

Don't worry though, this week isn't a lecture about social hierarchies. We can start exploring the topic by finding out more about Abigail Adams's husband, the man who really wanted to be a farmer against his father's wishes, the second president of the United States, John Adams.

Key Players:

John Adams: John Adams son; born to the middle class, eventually becomes lawyer and second president of the USA

Samuel Adams: John's cousin; born to money, eventually becomes and stays in poverty on purpose, kind of starts a revolution

Abigail Adams: Strong and intelligent woman; born to a prominent family, her husband and son would become presidents

James Otis Jr: Prominent Boston Lawyer; born to a wealthy family, mentor to John Adams, hamster

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How much do you really know about the Bill of Rights? Do you know why it was created? This week we're exploring what amendments we can find being violated long before they were ever written down. We’re also exploring the origin story of Massachusetts Bay colony royal governor, Francis Bernard. Obviously, Samuel Adams and the Sugar Act are a part of this....also a lot of debt (Not Britain's or Samuel's this time)

Key Players:

Loyalists:

Thomas Hutchinson - Colonial born Lt Governor of Massachusetts Bay

Francis Bernard - British born Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay

George Grenville - King George III's right hand man, prime minister of Britain

Patriots:

Samuel Adams - Rabble rouser, has personal beef with Hutchinson, neighbor of Bernard, hates them both

James Otis Jr - Mega beef with Hutchinson because of Bernard, also hates them both, besties with Samuel

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Have you ever heard about how John Hancock left such a big signature on the Declaration of Independence so that "King George would be able to read it without his glasses"? Do you believe it? If so, you might also believe that the Declaration of Independence was signed on the 4th of July, and if you believe that, you probably also think that the handwritten Declaration with all 56 signatures was the first copy of it.

My point is that we're all taught a whole lot of things that plainly weren't true, at no fault of our own. I'm happy to share that the real stories are far more interesting and make way more sense though. The truth is, without John Hancock, there probably couldn't have been a revolution.

This episode is the origin story of John Hancock, who will continue to be near the center of many stories on the path to liberty. Without understanding where someone came from, how can we understand how they got to their destinations?

Key Players:

First John: John Hancock's grandfather

Second John: John Hancock's father

Third John: The John Hancock with the signature

Thomas Hancock: Previously mentioned, signature having, John Hancock

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The year is 1764 and news of George Grenville's Sugar Act has just reached the shores of Boston. Do the colonists care? Not at first, until a certain rabble rouser makes it his problem to make it everyone else's problem too.

Key Players:

Patriots:

Samuel Adams- Harvard Grad turned rabble rouser; watched his family get ruined by the land bank debacle

James Otis Jr- Successful lawyer and politician, enemy of Hutchinson, besties with Adams

Loyalists:

George Grenville- Prime Minister of England, creator of The American Duties Act (Sugar Act)

Thomas Hutchinson- Lt governor of Massachusetts, while holding many other positions, he had a lot of enemies

Frances Bernard- Royal Governor of Massachusetts, lots of power, little patience

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Is it possible that a single act of parliament could have triggered an entire revolution? Well yes, in a way. Especially when that act was the American Duties Act and specifically impacted Samuel Adams (who made that act his personal problem). 

Today we’re talking about George Grenville and his rivalry with Lord Bute and how that somehow changed the world because of Samuel Adams and his rabble rousing tendencies. 

Is there a riot? No, but with good reason, that you'll find out next time (I promise)

But what even was the American Duties Act? You’ll have to tune in to find out. 

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If you’ve never heard of Thomas Hutchinson and James Otis Jr; you probably should have. Hutchinson may have been a loyalist governor, but he’s as much of a main character as Samuel Adams was. While Samuel Adams isn’t a main character in today’s story, he does connect our main characters- enemy of Hutchinson, co-conspirator of Otis.

And if you’ve only learned about early American history from Hamilton (no judgment AT ALL), Hutchinson is much like Burr, and Otis is more like Hamilton 

However, one of the aforementioned men is credited with popularizing the phrase we all had drilled into our heads by the 4th grade, “No taxation without representation”. 

But how did it all end? Well, with lightening and/or fleeing on a boat- but we’re not focusing in on how things ended, we’re diving into the beginnings. And the American Revolution, in a way, began with Thomas Hutchinson and James Otis Jr.

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Before George Washington became the Father of a country, he was just a person (he was still just a person after fathering a country) but in 1755, young Washington led his men straight into a massacre at Fort Necessity, and then saved some men from a massacre at the Battle of the Monongahela. The Battle of the Monongahela is best known as Braddock’s defeat, where Washington became a hero.

While all of this was happening in Virginia a different story was playing out in Massachusetts Bay Colony at the same time and a totally different story was taking place in Britain.

In this episode we connect the dots to create a picture that almost makes sense. George Washington goes to see the new Commander in Chief of the British Army (who was also the royal governor of Massachusetts after the Land Bank Debacle) after Braddock didn’t make it past the Monongahela. He wanted fair treatment and pay. Did he receive fair treatment, pay or that royal commission he sought after? You’ll find out soon.

Also, super exciting spoiler- Benjamin Rush makes an appearance today.

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