University of Virginia Library

5. PART V
GETTING READY FOR THE REVOLUTION

45. A Furious Mob
BY THOMAS HUTCHINSON (1765)

I CAME from my house at Milton, on the 26th in the morning. After dinner it was whispered in town there would be a mob at night, and that the custom-house and admiralty officers' houses would be attacked; but my friends assured me that the rabble were satisfied with the insult I had received and that I was become rather popular.[114]

In the evening, whilst I was at supper and my children round me, somebody ran in and said the mob were coming. I directed my children to fly to a secure place, and shut up my house as I had done before, intending not to quit it; but my eldest daughter repented her leaving me, hastened back, and protested she would not quit the house unless I did.

I couldn't stand against this, and withdrew with her to a neighboring house, where I had been but a few minutes before the hellish crew fell upon my house

with the rage of devils, and in a moment with axes split down the doors and entered. My son being in the great entry heard them cry, with an oath, "He is upstairs, we'll have him" Some ran immediately as high as the top of the house, others filled the rooms below and cellars, and others remained outside the house to be employed there.

Messages soon came one after another to the house where I was, to inform me the mob were coming in pursuit of me, and I was obliged to retire through yards and gardens to a house more remote, where I remained until four o'clock, by which time one of the best finished houses in the Province had nothing remaining but the bare walls and floors.

Not contented with tearing off all the wainscot and hangings, and splitting the doors to pieces, they beat down the partition walls; and although that alone cost them near two hours, they cut down the cupola or lanthorn. They began to take the slate and boards from the roof, and were prevented only by the approaching daylight from a total demolition of the building. The garden-house was laid flat, and all my trees, etc., broken down to the ground.

Such ruin was never seen in America. Besides my plate[115] and family pictures, household furniture of every kind, my own, my children's, and servants' apparel, they carried off about £900 sterling[116] in money, and emptied the house of everything whatsoever, except a part of the kitchen furniture. They did not leave a single book or paper in it, and have scattered or destroyed all the manuscripts and other papers I had been collecting for thirty years together, besides a great number of public papers in my custody. The evening being warm, I had undressed, and put

on a thin camlet[117] surtout over my waistcoat. The next morning, the weather had changed, and I had not clothes enough in my possession to defend me from the cold, and was obliged to borrow from my friends. Many articles of clothing and a good part of my plate have since been picked up in different quarters of the

GOVERNOR HUTCHINSON'S HOUSE.

[Description: Drawing of Governor Hutchinson's house: a very large four-story colonial, surrounded by a fence. A man stands at the bottom of the front steps, facing the house.]

town, but the furniture in general was cut to pieces before it was thrown out of the house, and most of the beds cut open, and the feathers thrown out of the windows.

The next evening, I intended going with my children to Milton, but meeting two or three small parties of the ruffians, who I suppose had concealed themselves in the country, and my coachman hearing one of them say, "There he is!" My daughters were terrified

and said they should never be safe, and I was forced to shelter them that night at the Castle.

The encouragers of the first mob never intended matters should go this length, and the people in general expressed the utmost detestation of this unparalleled outrage. I wish they could be convinced what infinite danger there is of the most terrible consequences from such demons, when they are let loose in a government where there is not constant authority at hand sufficient to suppress them.

I am told the government here will make me a compensation for my own and my family's loss, which I think cannot be much less than £3,000 sterling[118]. I am not sure that they will. If they should not, it will be too heavy for me, and I must humbly apply to his majesty in whose service I am a sufferer. But this, and a much greater sum, would be an insufficient compensation for the constant distress and anxiety of mind I have felt for some time past, and must feel for months to come.[119]

Such is the resentment of the people against the Stamp-Duty, that there can be no dependence upon the General Court to take any steps to enforce, or rather advise, to the payment of it. On the other hand, such will be the effects of not submitting to it, that all trade must cease, all courts fall, and all authority be at an end.

Must not the ministry be excessively embarrassed? On the one hand, it will be said, if concessions are made, the Parliament endanger the loss of their authority over the Colony: on the other hand, if external force should be used, there seems to be danger of a total lasting alienation of affection. Is there no alternative? May the infinitely wise God direct you.

46. What our Ancestors did for Us
BY THE TOWN MEETING OF CAMBRIDGE (1765)

AT a legal meeting of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the Town of Cambridge this 14 day of October 1765.

The Honorable William Brattle Esq. chosen Moderator:

Voted (that with all humility) It is the opinion of the town that the inhabitants of this province have a legal claim to all the natural inherent constitutional rights of Englishmen notwithstanding their distance from Great Britain; that the Stamp Act is an Infraction upon these Rights.[120]

One instance out of many in our opinion is this: The distributor of stamps will have a Sovereignty over everything but the lives of the people, since it is in his power to summon everyone he pleases to Quebec, Montreal, or Newfoundland, to answer for the pretended or real breaches of this act. And when the faithful subject arrives there, by whom is he to be tried? Not by his peers (the birthright of every Englishman), no, but by the Judge of Admiralty without a jury, and it is possible without law.

Under these circumstances the stamp master may unrighteously get more than his Majesty will by the stamps, for who would not rather pay the fine than be thus harassed, thus tried? Why are not his Majesty's subjects in Great Britain treated in this manner?

Why must we in America, who have in every instance showed as much loyalty for his Majesty and

obedience to his laws as any of his British subjects, and whose exertions in some of the provinces during the last War have been greater, be thus discriminated against; at this time, especially, while we are under an almost unsupportable load of debt, the consequence of this exertion?

We believe it may be truly said that no one in Great Britain pays so great a tax as some do in this province in proportion to their estates. Let this act but take place, liberty will be no more, trade will languish and die; our money will be sent into his Majesty's exchequer, and poverty come upon us as an armed man.

The town therefore hereby advise and direct their representatives by no means whatsoever to do any one thing that may aid said act in its operation, but that in conjunction with the friends of liberty they use their utmost endeavours that the same might be repealed.

That this vote be recorded in the town book, that the children yet unborn may see the desire their ancestors had for their freedom and happiness.

47. Do not Tax the Colonies
BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1766)[121]

Q. WHAT is your name, and place of abode?

A. Franklin, of Philadelphia.

Q. Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes among themselves?

A. Certainly, many, and very heavy taxes.

Q. For what purposes are those taxes laid?

A. For the support of the civil and military establishments

of the country, and to discharge the heavy debt contracted in the last war.

Q. Are not all the people very able to pay those taxes?

A. No. The frontier counties, all along the continent, having been frequently ravaged by the enemy and greatly impoverished, are able to pay very little tax. And therefore, in consideration of their distresses, our[122] late tax laws do expressly favor those counties, excusing the sufferers; and I suppose the same is done in other governments.

Q. What was the temper of America toward Great Britain before the year 1763?

A. The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the government of the crown, and paid, in their courts, obedience to the acts of Parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper; they were led by a thread.

They had not only a respect, but an affection for Great Britain; for its laws, its customs and manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard; to be an Old England man was of itself a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us.

Q. What is their temper now?

A. O, very much altered.

Q. In what light did the people of America use to consider the Parliament of Great Britain?

A. They considered the Parliament as the great bulwark and security of their liberties and privileges,

and always spoke of it with the utmost respect and veneration. Arbitrary ministers, they thought, might possibly, at times, attempt to oppress them; but they relied on it that the Parliament, on application, would

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

[Description: Portrait of Benjamin Franklin, by Peale, circa 1790.]

always give redress. They remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this, when a bill was brought into Parliament, with a clause to make royal instructions laws in the colonies, which the House of Commons would not pass, and it was thrown out.

Q. And have they not still the same respect for Parliament?

A. No, it is greatly lessened.

Q. To what cause is that owing?

A. To a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately laid on their trade by which the bringing of foreign gold and silver into the colonies was prevented; the prohibition of making paper money among themselves, and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps, taking away, at the same time, trials by juries, and refusing to receive and hear their humble petitions.

Q. Don't you think they would submit to the Stamp Act, if it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken out, and the duty reduced to some particulars of small moment?

A. No, they will never submit to it.

Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would it induce the assemblies of America to acknowledge the rights of Parliament to tax them, and would they erase their resolutions?

A. No, never.

Q. Are there no means of obliging them to erase those resolutions?

A. None that I know of; they will never do it, unless compelled by force of arms.

Q. Is there a power on earth that can force them to erase them?

A. No power, how great soever, can force men to change their opinions.

Q. Do they consider the post-office as a tax, or as a regulation?

A. Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conveniency; every assembly encouraged it, and supported

it in its infancy by grants of money, which they would not otherwise have done; and the people have always paid the postage.

Q. When did you receive the instructions you mentioned?

A. I brought them with me, when I came to England, about fifteen months since.

Q. When did you communicate that instruction to the minister?

A. Soon after my arrival, while the stamping of America was under consideration, and before the bill was brought in.

Q. Would it be most for the interest of Great Britain to employ the hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in manufactures?

A. In tobacco, to be sure.

Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans?

A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain.

Q. What is now their pride?

A. To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make new ones.

48. The Boston Tea Party
FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS GAZETTE (1773)[123]

WHILE a public meeting was being held, to protest against the tea ships, a number of brave and resolute men, dressed in the Indian manner, approached near the door of the assembly. They gave a war whoop, which rang through the house and was answered by some in the galleries; but silence was commanded

and a peaceable behaviour until the end of the meeting.

The Indians, as they were then called, repaired to the wharf, where the ships lay that had the tea on board. They were followed by hundreds of people to see the event of the transactions of those who made so grotesque an appearance.

The Indians immediately repaired on board Captain Hall's ship, where they hoisted out the chests of tea. When on deck they stove them and emptied the tea overboard.

Having cleared this ship they proceeded to Captain Bruce's, and then to Captain Coffin's brig. They applied themselves so dexterously to the destruction of this commodity, that in the space of three hours they broke up three hundred and forty-two chests, which was the whole number of these vessels, and poured their contents into the harbor.

When the tide rose it floated the broken chests and the tea. The surface of the water was filled therewith a considerable way from the south part of the town to Dorchester Neck and lodged on the shores.

The greatest care was taken to prevent the tea from being purloined by the populace. One or two who were detected trying to pocket a small quantity were stripped of their plunder and very roughly handled.

It is worthy of remark that although a considerable quantity of other goods were still remaining on board the vessel, no injury was sustained.

Such attention to private property was observed that when a small padlock belonging to the captain of one of the ships was broken, another was procured and sent to him.

The town was very quiet during the whole evening and the night following. Those who were from the country went home with a merry heart, and the next day joy appeared in almost every countenance, some on account of the destruction of the tea, others on account of the quietness with which it was done. One of the Monday's papers says that the masters and owners are well pleased that their ships are thus cleared, without their being responsible.

49. Another Account of the Tea Party
BY JOHN ANDREWS (1773)

THE house was so crowded that I could get no further than the porch. I found the moderator was just declaring the meeting to be dissolved. This caused another general shout out-doors and inside, and three cheers.

What with that and the consequent noise of breaking up the meeting, you'd have thought the inhabitants of the infernal regions had broken loose. For my part I went contentedly home and finished my tea, but was soon informed what was going forward.

As I could not believe it without seeing for myself, I went out and was satisfied. The Indians mustered, I'm told, upon Fort Hill, to the number of about two hundred, and proceeded, two by two, to Griffin's wharf, where Hall, Bruce, and Coffin's vessels lay.

Coffin's ship had arrived at the wharf only the day before, and was freighted with a large quantity of

other goods, which they took the greatest care not to injure in the least.

Before nine o'clock in the evening every chest on board the three vessels was knocked to pieces and flung over the sides. They say the actors were Indians from Narragansett. Whether they were or not, to a transient observer they appeared such.

They were clothed in blankets, with their heads muffled and copper colored faces. Each was armed with a hatchet or axe or pair of pistols. Nor was their dialect different from what I imagine the real Indians to speak, as their jargon was nonsense to all but themselves.

Not the least insult was offered to any person, except to Captain Connor, a livery-stable keeper in this place, who came across the ocean not many years since. He ripped up the lining of his coat and waistcoat under the arms, and, watching his opportunity, he nearly filled them with tea.

When detected he was handled pretty roughly. The people not only stripped him of his clothes, but gave him a coat of mud, with a severe bruising into the bargain. Nothing but their utter aversion to making any disturbance prevented his being tarred and feathered.

50. Free America
BY JOSEPH WARREN (1774)[124]

51. Inside the Continental Congress
BY JOHN ADAMS (1774)

THIS day Mr. Chase introduced to us a Mr. Carroll,[129] of Annapolis, a very sensible gentleman, a Roman Catholic and of the first fortune in America. His income is ten thousand pounds[130] sterling a year now, will be fourteen in two or three years they say.

Besides, his father has a vast estate which will some day be his.

Sunday.—Spent the evening at home; wrote many letters to go by Mr. Paul Revere.[131]

Wednesday.—Dined with Mr. R. Penn; a magnificent house, a most splendid feast, and a very large company.

Young Ned Rutledge[132] is a perfect Bob-o-Lincoln,—a swallow, a sparrow, a peacock; excessively vain, excessively weak, and excessively variable and unsteady. Mr. Dickinson is very modest, delicate, and timid.

Friday.—Took our departure, in a very great rain from the happy, the peaceful, the elegant, the hospitable and polite city of Philadelphia.

52. Yankee Doodle[133]

53. Birth of Independence
BY JOHN ADAMS (1776)[140]

YESTERDAY, the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was nor will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, and as such they have, and of right ought to have, full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which other States may rightfully do."

You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the causes which have impelled us to this mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it in the sight of God and man. A plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days.

When I look back to the year 1761, and recollect the argument concerning writs of assistance in the superior court, which I have hitherto considered as the commencement of this controversy between Great Britain and America, and run through the whole period, from that time to this, and recollect the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness as well as greatness of this revolution.

Britain has been filled with folly, and America with wisdom. At least, this is my judgment. Time must determine. It is the will of Heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting, and distresses yet more dreadful.

If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect at least. It will inspire us with many virtues, which we have not, and correct many errors, follies and vices which threaten to disturb, dishonor, and destroy us. The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in States as well as individuals. And the new governments we are assuming in every part will require a purification from our vices, and an augmentation of our virtues, or they will be no blessings.

Had a Declaration of Independency been made seven months ago, it would have been attended with

many great and glorious effects. We might, before this hour, have formed alliances with foreign States. We should have mastered Quebec, and been in possession of Canada. You will perhaps wonder how such a declaration would have influenced our affairs in Canada, but if I could write with freedom, I could easily convince you that it would, and explain to you the manner how. On the other hand, the delay of this declaration to this time has many great advantages attending it. The hopes of reconciliation, which were fondly entertained by multitudes of honest and well-meaning, though weak and mistaken people, have been gradually and, at last, totally extinguished.

Time has been given for the whole people maturely to consider the great question of independence, and to ripen their judgment, dissipate their fears, and allure their hopes, by discussing it in newspapers and pamphlets, by debating it in assemblies, conventions, committees of safety and inspection, in town and county meetings, as well as in private conversations, so that the whole people, in every colony of the thirteen, have now adopted it as their own act.

This will cement the union, and avoid those heats, and perhaps convulsions, which might have been occasioned by such a declaration six months ago.

But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.[141] It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, forevermore.

You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than

worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even although we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not.

54. A Ballad on Taxation
BY PETER ST. JOHN (1778)