Despite very little documentary evidence as to the origins of the organization, Boston Patriot Samuel Adams is often credited as being the founder and leader of the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty was most likely organized in the summer of 1765 as a means to protest the passing of the Stamp Act of 1765.
The admission of California into the United States was a divisive national issue because California's entry would upset the nation's numerical balance of free and slave states.
