- [John Adams has agreed to defend Captain Thomas Preston and the Boston Soldiers]
- Samuel Adams: You haven't much of a case, John.
- John Adams: Do I not?
- Samuel Adams: No Boston Jury will ever vote for aquittal.
- John Adams: Thank you for your kind advice, Sam.
- Samuel Adams: This is not a time for showing how clever you are, cousin.
- [Approaches John and hands him a pamphlet]
- Samuel Adams: This is a time for choosing sides.
- John Adams: I am for the law, cousin. Is there another side?
- Samuel Adams: [shouts to the crowd while John looks at the pamphlet depicting the Boston Massacre] There are those who fight for our rights as natural-born Englishmen, and those that would strip us of those rights!
- John Adams: I do not have the luxury of your birth or your purse, Sam, to spend my days fomenting dissension.
- [Calls out to Samuel]
- John Adams: I intend to prove this colony is governed by law. Whatever you or your Sons of Liberty may say on the matter!
- Samuel Adams: We're all Sons of Liberty here.
- [John Adams and Samuel Adams watch as a British Customs Official is being tarred and feathered by an angry Boston mob]
- John Adams: Do you approve of this?
- Samuel Adams: People are hurt when they fight for what is rightfully theirs!
- John Adams: Do you approve of brutal and illegal acts to enforce a political principle, Sam? Answer Me That, Can You?