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Primary sourcePainting1772

Samuel Adams

John Singleton Copley · 1772

A 1772 oil portrait of Samuel Adams by John Singleton Copley, showing him pointing to the Massachusetts Charter after confronting the governor.

This portrait depicts Samuel Adams himself, commissioned to commemorate his stand against British authority.

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Oil portrait of a man with white hair, wearing a dark red coat over a waistcoat and white cravat. He stands beside a table holding a rolled document and pointing at a sealed scroll with a green wax seal. Dark background.
John Singleton Copley, Samuel Adams, 1772. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

About this source

What it is

This oil painting of Samuel Adams was made by the American artist John Singleton Copley in 1772. It was commissioned by John Hancock and is now held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It shows Adams in a dark red coat, holding a rolled document and pointing to a sealed scroll.

Why it matters

The portrait depicts Adams after he confronted Governor Thomas Hutchinson over the Boston Massacre, pointing to the Massachusetts Charter, a document defining the colony's rights. Commissioned by Hancock, a fellow Patriot leader, the painting presents Adams as a defender of colonial liberties rather than simply a private citizen.

Look closer

  • Why might Hancock have wanted this particular pose and object shown in the painting?
  • What does Adams's clothing and posture suggest about how he wanted to be seen?
  • What is left out of a painted portrait that a photograph or document might show instead?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Samuel Adams on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Declaration of Independence

Continental Congress (drafted by Thomas Jefferson) · 1776

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Instructions of the Town of Boston to its Representatives

Samuel Adams · May 1764

Scan of the handwritten Articles of Confederation manuscript on aged, cream-colored paper. The ornate heading reads 'To all to whom these Presents shall come'. Dense cursive text fills the page in columns, with article headings visible.Document

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Articles of Confederation

Continental Congress · 1777

Printed broadside of the Continental Association, dated Philadelphia, October 20, 1774, with large headline text and columns of dense type. Lists of signatures of delegates from colonies are printed at the bottom. Handwritten marks and notes appear at the lower left.Document

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Continental Association

First Continental Congress · 20 October 1774

Solid black image with white call-number text in the upper left reading 'E 215 .4 .B75' and a white Library of Congress label with a barcode, the number 00005705010, and a red circular stamp in the lower left.Book

Primary source

A Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston

James Bowdoin, Joseph Warren, Samuel Pemberton · 1770

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