Desperate Sons Read online

  petition to King and circular letter to rescind Revenue Acts, 123–24

  petition to remove Governor Bernard, 126

  presidential election of 1796 and, 259–60

  Provincial Congress in Concord and, 244

  Quartering Act opposed by, 116

  reaction to outbreak of revolution, 256

  reputation of, 278n

  retirement and death of, 260

  right to organize and bear arms and, 172–73

  Shays Rebellion, reaction to, 269–70

  Stamp Act repeal commemorations, 116, 134–35

  standing army essays by, 135–36

  states’ rights and, 263, 269

  Tea Act and, 199–202

  Townshend Acts and, 123–24, 137–38

  troops in Boston and, 131–32, 151–52, 162, 234–35

  unity sought by, 115–16, 154, 155, 203, 213

  as Walter Cronkite of his time, 137

  Whiskey Rebellion, reaction to, 270

  Administration of Justice Act (the Murder Act), 222–23

  admiralty courts, 118–19. See also Vice Admiralty Court Act of 1768

  colonial hostility toward, 52, 56

  custom grievances and, 127

  Gaspée and, 188

  headquarters and expansion into district offices, 118–19, 127

  ruling against Hancock, 130–31

  Sons of Liberty desire to end, 103

  Albany, New York

  British troops to be sent, 87, 110

  “Constitution of the Sons of Liberty of Albany” (1766), 88

  fire masters of, 2–3, 87

  fur trade and, 18

  prominent families of, 3, 21

  “Riots,” xvii, 22–24, 88

  river travel to, 18

  Sons of Liberty born in, 19–24, 87–88, 91

  Stamp Act and, 1–4, 18, 19–24

  Thomas Williams’s Inn, 2, 20, 21, 22, 23, 87

  as true cradle of liberty, 1, 260

  Van Schaack “corrected,” 1–4, 19–24

  Albany Congress of 1754, 4

  Albany Plan, 4–5, 12

  Alexander, John, 126

  Allen, John, 193

  American Board of Customs Commissioners, 118

  American Historical Review, 40–41

  American Revolution, 261

  American Board of Customs Commissioners as tipping point, 118

  Battle of Breed’s Hill, 256

  Battle of Bunker Hill, 259

  Battle of Golden Hill, 145–47, 148, 278n

  Battles of Lexington and Concord, 249, 251–55

  British surrender at Yorktown, 250

  burning of the Gaspée and, 179–89

  collaboration of social classes and, 31–32, 65–66

  first blood spilled (1766), 111

  first blood spilled (1770), 147

  first casualty of nascent (1770), 154

  as ideological or economic, 25–27, 198, 284n

  John Allen’s letter as popular pamphlet, 193

  midnight ride of Paul Revere, 245–49

  setting of, 27–28

  “shot heard round the world,” xiv, 249, 250

  Siege of Boston, 255, 258, 259

  Treaty of Paris, 261, 265

  Andrews, John, 227

  Articles of Confederation, 259

  “Association of the Sons of Liberty of New York, The,” 214

  Attucks, Crispus, 159, 162, 170

  Autobiography (J. Adams), 165–66

  Bailey, James, 170

  Bailyn, Bernard, 25

  Baltimore, Sons of Liberty and mutual defense pact, 92–93

  Barré, Isaac, 33–34

  Beard, Charles A., 25, 26

  Beaver (tea ship), 206, 208

  tea thrown overboard, 210–11

  Becker, Carl, 65

  Bell, J. L., 16

  Benson, William, 2

  Berkeley, William, 44

  Berkeley Barb, 69

  Bernard, Francis, Governor of Massachusetts, 46–51, 116, 125

  accuses Adams, Otis, of treason, 131

  asks for troops in Boston, 129, 131

  Assembly dissolved by, 126, 132

  departure of, end of term, 138

  letters of, 46–51, 132, 275n

  orders Assembly to retract circular letter, 125

  reward for identifying Stamp Act protest ringleaders, 56

  seizure of Hancock’s ship and, 129

  Stamp Act and colonial reaction, 46–51, 56, 61

  Townshend Acts modified, 138

  Berniere, Henry de, 254

  Beulah (ship of Robert Murray), 234

  Bickley, George Washington Lafayette, 266–67

  Board of Customs Commissioners

  attack on agents of, 129

  Boston hostility toward, 126–29

  hatred of, 179

  in Providence, 179

  seizure of Hancock’s ship, 128–29

  Boston, xv, 105. See also Adams, Samuel; Boston Sons of Liberty; Otis, James

  Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770), 155–63

  Boston Tea Party (Dec. 16, 1773) and events preceding, 202–12

  British Coffee House tussle, Otis attacked (1769), 149–50

  British troops sent (1769), 131, 132, 137

  British troops sent (1774), 234–35

  British troops shoot children (Feb. 22, 1770), 154–55

  Castle William (at harbor entrance), 129, 152, 161, 163

  Committee of Correspondence, 208, 220

  Committee of Correspondence, Suffolk meeting, 230–31

  Committee of Inspection, 235

  custom informant tarred and feathered, 150

  customs agents attacked, 129

  customs agents in and seizure of property, 126–29, 179

  Faneuil Hall in, 116, 130, 137, 152, 154, 161, 203, 230

  first American public welfare project, 163–64

  freeing of impressed seaman, 127–28

  Granary Cemetery in, 263

  HMS Romney (warship) in, 127–28

  “irreconcilables” (nonsigners of embargo), 152–53

  liberty tree, 48, 116, 129

  mob attacks on Hutchinson and British officials (1765), 52–57

  North End Caucus, 199–200

  as occupied city, 134, 138, 151–52, 172–73

  Old South Meeting House, 203

  Old South Meeting House meetings about tea ships, 204–9, 212

  population of, 28

  Port of Boston closed by Parliament, 219, 221–22

  quiet period, early 1770s, 175

  relief supplies sent to, 222, 235

  smuggling into, 118

  Stamp Act protest in, 46–55

  Stamp Act repeal and, 105

  Stamp Act repeal commemorated, 116, 134–35

  tea ban, 152

  tea dumped from Fortune, 219

  Boston, Siege of, 255, 258, 259

  Boston Beer Company, “Sam Adams” beer, 269

  Boston Gazette

  accounts of Boston Massacre, 160, 162–63

  account of killing of Seider, 152–54

  account of Otis defamation charges, 149

  accounts of tax rebellion, 51, 56

  antitax tracts in, 47

  articles by “Vindex” (Samuel Adams), 174

  excerpts of Hutchinson’s letters, 196

  Virginia Resolves in, 47

  Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770), xiv, 155–63

  accounts of, 155, 156, 157, 174–75

  compared to Kent State, 160–61

  deathbed or dying declaration exemption for hearsay evidence and, 171

  fatalities, 159

  funeral procession and burial, 162–63

  Sons of Liberty maintain calm in city, 163

  trial, 165–73

  trial verdicts, 169, 171–72

  Boston News-Letter, 37

  Boston Port Act, 219

  outraged response to, 221–22

  Suffolk Resolves
and, 230

  Boston Post-Boy, 56, 105

  Boston 1775 (Bell), 16

  Boston Sons of Liberty. See also Adams, Samuel; Otis, James

  act on customs “racketeering,” 129–31

  Boston Tea Party and, 212–13

  chapters of and mutual defense pact, 92

  committee for night watch, 162, 163

  meetings about stationing of British troops, 131–32

  nonimportation agreements and, 123, 131, 148–49, 150, 152, 163, 175

  Boston Tea Party (Dec. 16, 1773), xiv, xvi, 209–12, 281n

  arrival of ships carrying tea, 202, 206

  cost of lost tea, 211–12

  importance of, 212

  men involved in, 209–11

  Old South Meeting House gatherings about, 204–9

  Parliament’s response, 217–25

  as precedent for destruction of private property, 217

  towns objecting to, 217

  Boston Town Assembly (Boston Assembly), 116

  Committee of Correspondence resurrected (1772), 191, 200

  John Adams elected to, 169–70

  nonimportation agreements and, 123

  resolutions on unjust tea tax, 200

  Samuel Adams and, 35, 226

  Bowen, Ephraim, 182, 183–84, 186, 189

  boycotts and/or embargos. See also nonimportation agreements

  of all British goods, 221, 224

  Continental Association to enforce suspension of trade pact, 231–32

  Continental Congress of 1774 and, 228, 231

  Franklin’s warning to Parliament about, 100–101

  South Carolina problems, 241–42

  Suffolk Resolves and, 230

  Breed’s Hill, Battle of, 256

  Briggs, Aaron, 189

  British Parliament, xv

  American envoys to, 10

  Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) of 1774, 218–19, 221–23

  colonies denied representation in, 11–12

  Currency Act of 1764, 108

  debates on what to be done with “the rebellious colonies,” 90

  French and Indian War debt, 4, 7

  indifference to colonial tax protests, 35

  Quartering Act of 1865, 109–10

  Shelburne’s proposals for colonies, 119

  Stamp Act of 1765, 4

  Stamp Act repealed, 96–101, 103

  taxation powers of, 9

  Townshend Acts duties removed except for tea, 164

  Townshend Acts of 1767–68, 116–20

  Townshend’s speech, 120

  trade duties on the colonies, 9–10

  Brown, John, 182, 184–85, 186

  Bucklin, Joseph, 183–84, 185, 186

  Bull, William, Governor of South Carolina, 139–40, 216

  Bunker Hill, Battle of, 259

  Burke, Edmund, 12, 96

  Caldwell, James, 159, 162

  Canada, 26

  Carr, Patrick, 159, 163, 171

  Carrington, Edward, 242

  Cartwright, Richard, 20

  Chaffin, Robert, 118

  Champagne, Roger, 141

  Charleston, South Carolina, xv

  antitax demonstrations, 62

  British capture of, 262

  currency problems in, 139, 233

  customs officials and, 179

  General Committee of, 232–33

  liberty tree (liberty oak), 106, 110

  opposition to new taxes, 15

  population of, 28

  Provincial Congress formed, 233

  quiet period, early 1770s, 178–79

  shipbuilding in, 232

  slaves imported through, 178

  Sons of Liberty in, 15, 62, 138–39, 215–16 (see also Gadsden, Christopher)

  Stamp Tax demonstrations in, 84

  Stamp Act repealed and, 106–7

  stamp commissioner resigns, 62

  tea boycott, 215–16

  tea ship Britannia cargo dumped, 233

  tea ship London seized by customs, 215–16, 282n

  Townshend Acts and, 139–40

  trade and, 109

  Clarke, Jonas, 244–45, 248

  Clarke, Richard, 199–201, 202, 206

  Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)

  Administration of Justice Act (the Murder Act), 222–23

  Boston Port Act, 219, 221–22

  colonial boycott of British goods and, 221

  Massachusetts Government Act, 222, 230

  passage of, 218–19

  Quartering Act of 1774, 223

  Quebec Act and, 228

  reimbursement of East Indian Company, 219–20

  repeal by colonies sought, 236

  Washington’s response to, 223

  Colden, Cadwallader, Acting Governor of New York, 63–77, 93–94

  aftermath of antitax demonstrations and, 83–84

  antitax demands received by, 64–65

  coach destroyed, 76, 94

  death of, 178

  decision to give up stamps, 78–82

  description of “Revolutionary parties,” 66

  effigy carried through streets, 75–77

  efforts to enforce Stamp Tax, 70, 72–73

  efforts to reinforce Fort George, 67, 70–71, 75

  holds fire on mob, 76, 78

  letter to Britain on jeopardy of Fort George, 78–79

  message in oyster shell left for, 80

  passes tax problems to Sir Henry Moore, 82, 83, 84

  refusal to cooperate with Moore, 102

  replaced by John Murray, 176–77

  replaced by William Tryon, 178

  reports threats against Thomas James, 73, 74–75

  return to office (1769), 143

  Colonial America, 31. See also specific colonies

  Albany Plan and, 4–5, 12

  bound apprentices in, 29

  boycotts, 17, 66

  British troops in, 11

  characters of each colony, differences, 5–6

  cities of, 28

  Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) and, 219–25

  colleges in, 30

  cost of living, wages, 7–8, 109

  courts and the judiciary, 65, 103, 118–19, 127, 165–73, 222–23, 237–38

  crime and punishment, 31, 150–51

  currency problems, 13–14, 108–9, 233

  Declaration of Rights, 59–61

  Declaratory Act and, 101, 106, 117

  dislike and mistrust of British officials sent to the colonies, 10–11

  economic recession in, 26, 27, 108–9

  envoys to the British Parliament, 10

  first Continental Congress (1765), 46, 59–61, 71

  French in, 2

  friction with Britain, causes, xv

  fur trade, 2, 104

  governance of, 12

  indentured servants in, 28–29

  independence called for, 105, 134

  land rights and, 179

  life and customs in, 30–31

  life expectancy, 30

  literacy rate, 30

  loyalty to Britain maintained, 34, 42, 60, 105, 124–25, 131, 133, 198, 231

  Mason-Dixon Line, 28

  military commissions denied to, 11

  militia of, 11 (see also Minutemen)

  Navigation Act of 1660, 4

  New France, 10

  newspapers of, 36–38

  occupations in, 29–30, 179

  popular ballads, 69–70

  population and demographics, 27–29, 31

  Quartering Act of 1865, 109–10, 116

  “redemptioners” in, 29

  relationship with Britain, 4, 33–34

  ruling class in, 29

  ship travel and, 18

  size of each colony, 28

  slavery in, 27–28, 178, 223

  smuggling in, 117, 118, 119, 179, 197, 198

  social class distinctions in, 30–31

  Stamp Act, 4, 17–18, 19–24, 36–42

  Stamp Act d
istributors, action against, 1–4, 17, 19–24

  Stamp Act repeal, 95, 96–101, 103, 105

  Stamp Act repeal commemorations, 116, 134–35

  standing army in opposed, 116, 135–36

  taxation without representation and, xv, 9, 15–16, 26, 34–35, 45

  taxes, Franklin’s testimony to Parliament on, 97–101

  taxes, resolutions against, 38–45

  tea tax resolutions and, 199–225

  Townshend Acts, 116–24

  trade and, 11, 12, 109, 232, 239–40

  trade duties, 9–10, 45, 103, 118, 179

  voting in, 141

  Committees of Correspondence, 34–35, 66

  of Boston, 208, 220

  Boston Tea Party news and, 212

  effectiveness of, 194

  importance of information sharing, 135

  resurrected 1772–1774, 191–94

  Suffolk meeting, 230–31

  Conciliatory Resolution, 239–40

  Concord, Massachusetts

  munitions stored in, Gage’s troops and, 251

  Provincial Congress meeting in, 244

  shot heard round the world, xiv, 249

  “Concord Hymn” (Emerson), 250, 284n

  Connecticut

  call for independence, 105

  as “charter” colony, 5

  Committee of 500, 105

  independence called for, 106

  loyalty to Britain maintained, 105

  nonimportation agreements, 131

  Sons of Liberty chapters in, mutual defense pact, 92

  Sons of Liberty leader Putnam, 95

  Sons of Liberty pact with New York, 90–91

  stamp agent pressured in, 67–68

  Connecticut Assembly

  call for colonial union, 194

  Resolves, 46

  Stamp Tax protest sent to London, 35

  Constitutional Courant (broadside), 68–69

  “Constitution of the Sons of Liberty of Albany, The” (1766), 88, 250

  “to persevere to the last . . .” 88, 250

  Continental Army, 255

  Continental Association, 231–32

  Continental Congress of 1765 (Stamp Act Congress), 46, 59–61, 71

  Declaration of Rights, 59–61

  Continental Congress of 1774 (First)

  boycott on trade and, 228, 231

  call for, 223–25

  conservatives at, restoration of relations with England sought, 228, 229, 231

  convening of, 226

  “Declaration of Rights and Grievances,” 231

  delegates return to communities to carry out resolves of, 232–33

  enforcement groups formed, 232

  famous delegates, 230–31

  Georgia absent from, 226

  goals of, 228

  liberal delegations, 228

  Massachusetts delegation, 228

  New York delegation, 229

  opposition to liberal faction, 228–29

  Philadelphia chosen as site for, 225

  Philadelphia delegation, 229

  prayer of benediction at, 229–30

  resolve for union, 228