Adams, born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, was brought up in a religious family. He was educated at Boston Latin School and Harvard College. He started his life as a businessman, but did not like his occupation. He then turned his interest to politics, and became an influential political writer. Adams urged the colonists to withdraw from Great Britain and form a new government. He told the colonies to defend their rights and liberties at town meetings in Boston. He wrote protests against Parliament's taxes against the colonies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765. Adams also organized the Boston Tea Party in 1773 and he was a member of the Continental Congress. He argued for the Declaration of Independence at the Second Continental Congress in 1776.