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| John Hancock |
Samuel Adams:
(sitting at a table in a busy bar as John Hancock arrives) Sit down Hancock and
have a brew.
John Hancock:
Good morning. A bit early for brew but I’ll have instead a calming whiskey from
the highlands. Now, can we discuss what
set your eyebrows on fire?
Adams: We need to
get our thoughts around the topic of what we can tell the reporters of the
Boston Gazette and more importantly what we must not tell them.
Hancock: First
and most important we must not answer any of their questions. (laughs)
You can be sure that in pursuing us as they do, what will
interest them most is what we must avoid absolutely.
Adams: For
example it’s unlikely that they want to know the name of my dog. What they have
written about recently is that we played together as children. I have no
recollection of that. Moreover since I’m about fifteen years older than you, it’s
unlikely that I’d be playing with a snot-nose kid of minus five years old.
Hancock: Besides,
I was born in Braintree and didn’t move to Boston until after my father died
when I was seven. That would make you about twenty-two. I hope you would have
started playing with girls by that time.
Adams: Another rule we should keep in mind when being interviewed is that we don’t speak if we are drunk. And although I do my best speaking under the influence, I don’t always stick to the truth and I have a tendency to brag about my business deals, which we’ve said is not a good idea. By the way, I saw that mansion of yours on Beacon Hill the other day. I could not help thinking you must be the last person worried about taxes from Parliament.
Hancock: On the contrary, Parliament has made my fortune their own.
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| Samuel Adams |
Adams: Ah for the return of the good old days before England went to war with France. England was rich then and had no thought of taking money from us. We had a genuine love affair with King George.
Hancock: The Stamp Act, for example, has become ridiculous. The colonies of British America were required to pay extra for most of the printed materials. The materials were to be produced on stamped paper in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. Soon to send birthday wishes, one would have to affix a stamp and the monies would be sent off to the coffers of the Crown.
Adams: When I was wrongly accused of getting a tribe of Indians to throw tea into Boston Harbor, Parliament decided to punish us for our defiance. Thus the Coercive Acts began.
Hancock: Good Heavens, were you wrongly accused? You poor unfortunate bugger! No wonder you have had me pay for your drinks in every bar in Boston since.
Adams: As you have probably concluded, I am a man of simple tastes. The men of the Sons of Liberty are like me. We don’t live in grand houses or dine on fine linen. When these men set off fireworks on Boston Common, they were celebrating the appeal of the Stamp Act. It was natural for them to move on to your property on Beacon Hill as you may have feared. But I told the mob that you were a hero for starting and supporting the boycott. The intelligent man that you are, you took this opportunity to set off fireworks of your own. They responded to them with glee. Furthermore you set out a cask of 125 gallons of Madeira wine to celebrate with the mob. You remembered the sentiments of that small, poor boy in Braintree, how you distrusted the rich and hated their flamboyant possessions. On that night, you became one of us and you and I will be partners for life.
The final result was that John Hancock and Samuel Adams put the Stamp Act crisis behind them as they became unusual but firm political partners. Learning to care about those less fortunate than he was the key for Hancock in selecting to be on the right side of history and give his firm support to the fight for independence. He had given up the privileges of the loyalist community for the excitement and rewards of the new nation.
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