Samuel Adam is an influential politician

The British government attempted to pay off debt from the Seven Year's War by putting increased taxes on the American colonies in the middle of the 1760s, which is when Adams' voice started to gain greater traction. Adams argued in print that the British were violating the colonists' rights since they were being taxed without representation in Parliament, while others just complained about the economic impact. The Stamp Act, a tax measure passed in 1765, was condemned by him as an effort "to crush the liberties of America as with one blow".

Adams won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the same year, a position he would retain for nine years. He also became a member of the Loyal Nine at the same time, a clandestine group of activists that later became the Sons of Liberty, a more radical group.

Adams became more actively involved in planning resistance to the Crown after British troops arrived in Boston in 1768. Numerous newspaper pieces criticizing the British were written by him under false names. He also put pressure on Boston business owners to shun British products.

Adams returned to Boston after resigning from the Continental Congress in 1781, and he eventually entered state politics again. For a while, he held the positions of Massachusetts Senate President and Lieutenant Governor under Governor John Hancock, another erstwhile radical. Adams succeeded Hancock after he passed away while in office and went on to be re-elected for three one-year periods before stepping down.