Desperate Sons Read online

  demonstrations against stamp commissioner, 57

  hearings about the burning of the Gaspée at, 188–89

  Newport Mercury

  account of Virginia Resolves, 44–45

  accounts of antitax protests, 57–58

  newspapers

  accounts of Virginia Resolves, 43, 44–45

  effect of Stamp Act on, 37, 38

  freedom of the press and, 65

  fueling of fire of discontent, 58

  “Hassenclever” rouse and, 69

  impact on colonists, 69–70

  importance of information sharing, 135

  as incendiary, 70

  number in Colonial America, 37–38

  profiting from Stamp Act controversy, 45

  reporting on Stamp Act, 36–37, 38

  Samuel Adams and first news service, 135–36

  New York, xv. See also Albany; New York City

  anti-British conflict in, issues of, 65

  Colden and tax rebellion, 63–77

  freedom of the press and, 65

  nonimportation agreements, 131

  population of, 28

  as “royal province,” 5

  New York Assembly

  act suspending powers of, 121–22

  autonomy in internal affairs, 65–66

  call for colonial union, 194

  Committee of Correspondence, 66

  dissolved by Moore, 141

  failure to comply with Quartering Act, 119

  refusal to select delegates to Second Continental Congress, 240

  refusal to submit to Continental Congress resolves, 240

  Resolves, 46

  Stamp Tax protest sent to London, 35

  troop payment approved, 143

  New York City. See also Fort George; New York Sons of Liberty

  antitax demonstrations, 63–77, 83

  Battle of Golden Hill, 145–47, 176, 278n

  Bowling Green, 77, 94, 176

  broadside by British troops, 144–45

  Burns’s Tavern, 66, 74, 75

  Committee of Fifty-One, 224

  Committee of Inspection, 233, 234

  Committee of Sixty, 233, 240

  currency printing allowed, 142–43

  customs officials and, 179

  DeLancey machine in, 141, 176

  effigy of Colden, 75–77

  Federal Hall, 59

  liberty pole in, 110–14, 141–47, 148, 176

  loyalists roughed up, 240

  Maryland stamp agent flees to, 68

  McDougall imprisoned on libel charges, 176

  McEvers resignation as stamp distributor, 23, 58, 67, 76

  Merchants Coffee House, 73, 75, 85–86, 106

  merchants’ Resolves penned, 74

  Montagne’s Tavern, 144

  nonimportation agreements, 123, 164

  politics in, 141, 143

  population of, 28

  quartering troops in, hostility toward, 110, 111–14

  quartering troops protests (1769–1770), 142–47

  quiet period, early 1770s, 175–76

  ships of Robert Murray blocked, 233–34

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

  Stamp Act protests and noncompliance, 46, 67, 72, 78–86, 101

  Stamp Act repeal commemorated, 141–42

  Vaux Hall (home of Major James), 75, 77, 84, 106

  voting in, 141

  New-York Gazette, 68

  account of Golden Hill battle, 145–47

  account of stamp paper arrival, 71–72

  accounts of growing unrest, 74–75

  accounts of tax demonstrations elsewhere, 67

  articles by “Freeman,” 66–67, 68, 86

  “funeral” for death of Liberty, 73–74

  independence movement denied, 66

  “Journal of Transactions in Boston” published, 137

  letter about stamp commissioner resignation and call addressed “To the Stamp Officers who have not yet resign’d,” 58–59

  as “liberal rag,” 66

  liberty pole reports, 110

  Virginia Resolves version in, 67

  New-York Historical Society, 68

  New York Journal

  declarations against importing tea reported, 214

  liberty pole reports, 141–42

  New York Mercury, 104

  letter reprinted from London merchants, 74

  liberty pole reports, 110

  Sons of Liberty mutual defense pacts, 92

  Sons of Liberty resolves, 91–92

  Stamp Act resistance, 20–21, 22

  New York Post-Boy, 113, 143–44

  New York Restraining Act, 119

  New York Sons of Liberty

  attempt to retrieve Battery cannon, 103

  call for Continental Congress, 224

  declarations against tea, 213–14

  disruption of play The Twin Rivals, 104

  on docks, 94

  dominate in city, 234

  first named, 86

  leaders, 176 (see also Lamb, John; Sears, Isaac)

  organizing themselves, 88–89

  parade (March 9, 1766), 93

  plan to storm Fort George, 89, 93

  political alliances, 141, 142–43

  repeal of Stamp Act and, 106

  resolves, 91–92

  seizure merchant ship, 103

  as voice of people, 215

  New York Weekly Journal, 65

  Nixon, Richard, 71, 267

  North, Lord Frederick

  Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts) crafted by, 218–19

  Conciliatory Resolution, 239–40

  New England Trade and Fisheries Act (New England Restraining Act), 239

  petition of Continental Congress and, 235, 236–37

  proposals concerning military and trade with the colonies, 239

  response to Boston Tea Party, 217–18

  Tea Act of 1773 and, 198

  North Carolina

  population of, 28

  as “royal province,” 5

  tax demonstrations in, 84

  Norwich, Connecticut, Sons of Liberty in, 90

  “No taxation without representation,” 261. See also Stamp Act of 1765; “taxation without representation”

  Oliver, Andrew, 196

  “On the Affray in King-Street” (Wheatley), 279n

  “On the Death of Mr. Snider, Murder’d by Richardson” (Wheatley), 155

  “Oration on the Beauties of Liberty” (Allen), 193

  Order of American Knights, 267

  Order of the Sons of Liberty, 267

  Otis, James, Jr., 16–17, 115, 260

  coffeehouse tussle, 149–50, 261

  custom grievances and, 130

  death of, by lightning strike, 261

  defamation charged by, 149

  Dickinson letter to, 122–23

  loyalty to Britain maintained, 149

  “No taxation without representation” coined by, 261

  protest pamphlet (1764), 16

  rift with Adams, 125–26, 132

  Stamp Act repeal commemorations, 116, 135

  withdrawal from public life, 150

  Oyster Bay, New York, 92

  Paine, Robert Treat, 165

  Parker, James, 243

  Parker, John, 252

  Paxton, Charles, 52

  Paxton Boys, 6

  Pennsylvania. See also Philadelphia

  Franklin’s testimony before Parliament on taxes in, 97–101

  French and Indian War debt, 98–99

  Penn family dispute and, 5, 6

  as Penn family land grant, 5–6

  Philadelphia Tea Party, 213

  population of, 28

  Pennsylvania Assembly

  as conservative, 122

  Franklin sent to Britain by, 5, 6–7

  opposition to new taxes, 13

  Pennsylvania Journal, 36–37

  Philadelphia

  “birthp
lace of liberty,” 260, 261

  blaspheming the king in, 89

  bound apprentices in, 29

  Continental Congress of 1774 in, 225

  Franklin’s home threatened by anti–Stamp Tax activists, 84

  nonimportation agreements and, 164

  population of, 28

  public apathy to British repression, 93

  refusal to join boycott of British goods, 123, 131

  resolutions on unjust tea tax, 200

  shipment of stamped paper arrives in, 46

  Sons of Liberty in, 89, 93

  tax demonstrations in, 84

  Philadelphia Gazette, 213

  Philadelphia Tea Party, 213–14, 282n

  Pierce, John, 136

  Pinckney, Charles, 241

  Pintard, Lewis, 90

  Pitcairn, John, 251–54

  Pitt, William, the “Great Commoner,” 12, 94, 96

  defense of the colonies, 90, 97, 103

  petition of Continental Congress and, 236

  Polly (tea ship), 213

  Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Sons of Liberty chapters in, mutual defense pact, 92

  Prescott, Samuel, 247–48

  Preston, Capt. Thomas, 158–59, 160, 175, 279n

  Providence, Rhode Island, xv

  antitax demonstrations, 67

  burning of the Gaspée, 179–89

  smuggling and, 179

  Sons of Liberty chapter, 92

  Putnam, Israel, 95

  Quakers, 120

  Quartering Act of 1765

  noncompliance, 137, 141

  opposition to, 116

  Quartering Act of 1774, 223

  Quartering Act of 1775, refusal to submit to, 231

  Quebec Act, 228

  refusal to submit to, 231

  Suffolk Resolves and, 230

  Quincy, Josiah, 165, 167, 168, 175

  Reid, John Phillip, 168

  Revere, Paul, xiv

  in American Revolution, 263

  arrives in New York City, 215

  death and burial, 263

  Longfellow’s poem and, 246

  as messenger with news of Boston Tea Party, 212

  “one if by land,” 246

  repeal of the Stamp Act commemoration, Dorchester, 1769, 135

  as successful businessman (Revere Copper Company), 263

  Suffolk Resolves carried to Philadelphia by, 230

  warning Adams and Hancock the British are coming (Midnight Ride), 245–49, 250, 251

  Rhode Island

  antitax demonstrations, 57, 58, 67

  burning of the Gaspée and, 179–89

  as “charter” colony, 5, 190

  Committee of Correspondence, 35

  nonimportation agreements signed by merchants in, 131

  Sons of Liberty chapters in, mutual defense pact, 92

  Sons of Liberty in, 91

  Rhode Island Assembly

  call for colonial union, 194

  call for Continental Congress, 224

  Resolves, 45

  Stamp Tax protest sent to London, 35

  Richard I, King of England, 151

  Richardson, Ebenezer, 152–54

  Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, The (Otis), 16–17

  Rivington’s Gazette, 240

  Robinson, John, 149–50, 261

  Rockingham, Lord, 96

  Rotch, Francis, 204–5, 208, 209

  Rowe, John, 206–7

  Ruggles, Timothy, 61

  Rush, Benjamin and, 134

  Rutledge, John, 241

  Salem-Marblehead, Massachusetts

  as garrisoned town, 220

  population of, 28

  Salomon, Haym, 268

  Savannah, Georgia

  liberty pole erected in, 226

  Tondee’s Tavern, 226

  Saxby, George, 62

  Scarlet Letter, The (Hawthorne), 31

  Schlesinger, Arthur, 45

  Scott, John Morin, 66, 68, 70, 86

  Sears, Isaac

  alliance with DeLancey, 141

  alliance with Livingston, 143

  in American Revolution, as privateer, 262

  background and occupation, 90, 176

  boards HMS Garland, 94

  boards merchant ship in New York harbor, 103

  Boston Tea Party news and, 215

  boycott of British goods supported, 224

  broadside by British troops protested, 145

  burial of, 263

  call for Continental Congress, 224

  erection of fifth liberty pole and, 148

  final years, death in China, 262

  letter from Pinckney, 241

  liberty pole struggles and, 111

  Murray and, 234

  mutual defense pact with Connecticut, 90–91

  as prime mover of revolution, 260

  scandal and disgrace, post-Revolution, 262, 265–66

  Seider, Christopher, 154

  Sentinel, 68

  Sessions, Darius, Deputy Governor of Rhode Island, 179

  burning of the Gaspée and, 186–87

  Samuel Adams and, 190

  Shays Rebellion, 269–70

  “Short Narrative of the Horrid Massacre in Boston, The” (pamphlet), 174–75

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

  Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry (Wirt), 40

  Smith, Adam, 12

  Smith, Francis, 251, 252

  Smith, William, Jr., 36, 177

  smuggling

  admiralty courts and, 119

  Boston as center of, 118

  customs officials and bribes, 118

  in Providence, 179

  of tea, 117, 197

  Sons of Liberty (film), 268–69

  Sons of Liberty (or Liberty Boys). See also specific colonies; specific issues; Stamp Act of 1765

  accomplishment of, xiv

  agenda of becomes policy for all colonies, 231

  Albany as birthplace of, 19–24, 87–88

  characterization of, xv

  coining of name, 33–34, 86

  Committee of Correspondence and, 194

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

  ending of as political entity, 266

  enduring spirit of, 266–67

  Gage’s secret plans to arrest leaders of, 237–38

  leaders of, 90, 178, 182 (see also Adams, Samuel; Gadsden, Christopher; Hancock, John; Lamb, John; Otis, James; Revere, Paul; Sears, Isaac)

  “Midnight Ride” of Paul Revere and, 245–49

  mind set of, 27

  monument to, 250

  motivation as ideological or economic, 25–27, 198, 263–64, 284n

  New York–Connecticut mutual defense pact, 90–91

  nonimportation agreements and, 123, 131, 140, 148–49, 150, 152, 163, 175

  as “Old Revolutionaries,” xiv, 269

  as paramilitary guerrilla organization, 93, 102

  plan of unity, 92–93

  popular ballads and, 69–70

  in popular culture (books and films), 267–69

  post-Revolution, antiloyalist program, 261–62

  as prime movers of revolution, 264

  proclamations to go “the last extremity,” 92

  Red Men connection to, 267

  royal courts of admiralty protested, 103

  Sears and Lamb in scandal, 261–62

  as secret radical society, xv

  solidarity and common resolve, 115–16

  states’ rights and, 263, 269

  tea-tax activism, 199–203

  as terrorists, xv–xvi

  South Carolina

  Committee of Correspondence formed, 241

  impact of currency law, 108

  “irreconcilables” (nonsigners of embargo), 140

  loyalists in, 140

  manufacturing prompted by embargo, 140

  nonimportation agreements and, 140


  Provincial Congress formed, 241

  radical element in, 139

  refusal to stop exporting rice, 241

  as “royal province,” 5

  Sons of Liberty leaders in, 139–40

  trade boycott problems, 241–42

  South Carolina Assembly

  call for colonial union, 194

  Resolves, 46

  South-Carolina Gazette, 37, 109

  Gadsden advertises in, 139

  report of tea dumped in harbor, 233

  report on seizure of tea ship London, 216

  Stamp Act Crisis, The (Morgan and Morgan), 38

  Stamp Act of 1765, 10, 13, 32, 96–107

  Albany resistance and activism, 1–4, 19–24

  Boston rebellion against, 46–55

  burden of, to average colonial, 32

  Colonial newspapers and, 36–38

  Colonial reaction to news of, 36–43

  day of implementation, 46

  demonstrations in colonies, 84

  as first direct tax on colonists, 4, 15

  intimidation of distributors, 1–4, 17, 19–24, 48–54, 57, 58–59, 62, 63–77, 84

  loss of Parliamentary authority in colonies and, 55

  New York City protests and violence, 63–84

  passage of, 4, 13

  provisions of, 13–15

  repeal anniversary celebrations, 116, 134–35, 141–42

  repeal of, 95, 96–101, 103, 105

  shift in Anglo-American Affairs and, 17–18, 56

  shipment of stamped paper and, 46

  spread of demonstrations and rebellions against, 58

  taxation without representation and, 15, 45

  as tipping point, 17–18

  Townshend and, 33

  Staples, William, 180

  Story, William, 56

  Suffolk Resolves, 230–31

  carried to Continental Congress of 1774, 230–31

  Sugar Act, 9, 10, 61, 66, 128, 138, 152

  resistance to, 34–35

  tarring and feathering, 150–51

  “taxation without representation,” xv, 9, 45, 123–24

  origins of phrase, 15–16, 33

  quartering troops as, 110

  taxes. See also Stamp Act of 1765

  distinction between “internal” and “external,” 45–46, 117, 120–21

  Franklin’s testimony before Parliament on, 97–101

  imposed on colonies by British Parliament, xv, 4, 9–10, 13, 45, 110, 123–24 (see also specific tax acts)

  modern-day Americans and, 26–27

  on tea, 117, 138, 152, 164, 179, 197–203, 214

  Townshend Acts and, 116–24

  tea

  agreements against drinking, 152

  Boston resolutions against unjust tax, 200

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

  boycotts and/or embargos, 204–25

  Dartmouth in Boston harbor and, 202–6

  Governor’s Council recommends return of British tea to England, 201–2

  Indemnity Act and, 117–18