WEBVTT NOTE 39. Conflict in Boston 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.080 Volume 3, Chapter 39, Conflict in Boston 2 00:00:05.920 --> 00:00:12.720 Meanwhile, during 1768, the British government managed only to stiffen American resistance 3 00:00:13.280 --> 00:00:20.480 by its frenzied reaction to the circular letter of Massachusetts. Charles Townsend had died suddenly 4 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:28.560 in early September 1767. The Townsend Acts, of course, remained. The evil that he did lived 5 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:35.320 after him. The subsequent reshuffle of the cabinet swung the balance of forces sharply 6 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:41.280 to the right, with new power accruing to the followers of the arch-imperialist Duke of 7 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:47.920 Bedford. Townsend's post as Chancellor of the Exchequer was filled by the arch-tory 8 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:55.000 Frederick Lord North, who also replaced the liberal Conway as leader in the Commons. A 9 00:00:55.000 --> 00:01:01.120 The critical new post of Secretary of State for the Colonies, in charge of colonial affairs, 10 00:01:01.120 --> 00:01:08.200 was filled by the imperialist Lord Hillsborough, formerly President of the Board of Trade. 11 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:16.320 Hillsborough reacted in horror to Massachusetts' circular letter. At the end of April 1768, 12 00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:23.440 he countered that mild action with a circular letter of his own, ordering the royal governors 13 00:01:23.440 --> 00:01:30.760 to Dissolve Any Colonial Assemblies that Would Dare to Endorse the Massachusetts Letter. 14 00:01:30.760 --> 00:01:37.680 For Massachusetts, Hillsboro ordered special punishment. Its cherished assembly was not 15 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:46.220 to be allowed to meet again until it repudiated its circular letter. Here, Hillsboro had been 16 00:01:46.220 --> 00:02:16.220 Lord Hillsboro's bombshell was issued too hastily on several counts. For one thing, it had been sent without consulting the Cabinet, where it was severely denounced by the Liberals. But the fat was already in the 17 00:02:16.220 --> 00:02:22.580 in the fire. Second, several of the assemblies had already endorsed the letter by the time 18 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:29.580 Lord Hillsborough's order was received in America. In any case, Hillsborough's effrontery 19 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:36.680 was enough to influence Americans once more against British tyranny. The colonies were 20 00:02:36.680 --> 00:02:42.500 incensed at this ferocious attack on their elementary right to petition, something enjoyed 21 00:02:42.500 --> 00:02:48.940 and even by the slaves in America. Even someone as conservative as George Washington began 22 00:02:48.940 --> 00:02:56.380 to think of taking up arms in defense of American liberty. Repression had only lit the spark 23 00:02:56.380 --> 00:03:03.540 of resistance in America. Colony after colony rushed to commend the Massachusetts circular 24 00:03:03.540 --> 00:03:10.100 letter. The spirit of resistance even stirred in Pennsylvania, although here Joseph Galloway 25 00:03:10.100 --> 00:03:18.980 was able to table any endorsement of Massachusetts. Massachusetts itself stood firm. Otis demanded 26 00:03:18.980 --> 00:03:25.820 that Britain promptly rescind its actions. The Massachusetts assembly on June 30 defeated 27 00:03:25.820 --> 00:03:34.020 the royal order to rescind by the overwhelming vote of 92 to 17. The assembly was then promptly 28 00:04:04.020 --> 00:04:10.180 The British were seriously miscalculating in thinking of the resistance as the product 29 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:17.180 only of a minority faction rather than of the bulk of the people. 30 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:24.540 The radical Massachusetts engraver Paul Revere depicted the seventeen in an influential cartoon 31 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:27.380 as marching into hell. 32 00:04:27.380 --> 00:04:33.100 Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty mobilized against the rescinders and no less than twelve 33 00:04:33.100 --> 00:04:40.220 Both of them lost their seats in the elections of the following May. Meanwhile, Boston was 34 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:46.300 particularly scourged by the presence of the new Board of Commissioners of the Customs, 35 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:53.980 which began operations at the end of 1767. The Customs Board soon found to its horror 36 00:04:53.980 --> 00:05:02.980 that salutary neglect had indeed been in operation. Violation of the imperial trade laws was rampant. 37 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:11.860 Only six seizures of shipping had been made in New England since 1765. In of these violations, 38 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:18.420 only one court case had been won by the Crown. Of the five other cases, two had been acquitted 39 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:23.720 in Rhode Island under severe public pressure, and the three other ships in Massachusetts 40 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:30.820 and Connecticut had been rescued by mobs. The Customs Board swiftly and radically transformed 41 00:05:30.820 --> 00:05:37.260 and the Customs Service. The old customs officials, who had settled into a mutually pleasant and 42 00:05:37.260 --> 00:05:45.620 profitable arrangement with the merchants, were dismissed and replaced by eager and unfortunately 43 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:53.620 incorruptible Scotsmen. The new bureaucracy led by a network of paid informers swept down 44 00:05:53.620 --> 00:06:23.620 Boston's economic depression was thereby greatly intensified. The board did not succeed in suppressing smuggling and hence shipping in the other ports. But Boston was seriously crippled. The Massachusetts merchants were understandably embittered, and the customs commissioners were denounced as robbers, miscreants, and thieves. 45 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:43.620 Confronted with the oppression of customs and of navigation acts enforcement, the people of the colonies, especially in the northern seaports, were forced to turn once again to their most powerful weapon, rebellion in the streets. 46 00:06:43.620 --> 00:06:55.620 The armed rioting was directed against the oppression of the customs officials. First, ships and cargos were recaptured from the clutches of the government, under cover of night. 47 00:06:55.620 --> 00:07:03.620 Second, as a supplement, stern warnings were issued to customs officials and their hired informers. 48 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:16.620 Throughout 1768 and 1769, stripping, tarring and feathering by mobs proved to be highly useful devices for intimidating the enemies of the people. 49 00:07:16.620 --> 00:07:26.620 Informers quickly learned a valuable lesson and abandoned their underhanded profession, while customs officials promptly fled the colony. 50 00:07:26.620 --> 00:07:33.580 Despite arrogant demands by the governors, local sheriffs and magistrates happily refused 51 00:07:33.580 --> 00:07:39.660 to do anything to stop the people's resistance. And even when officials were foolhardy enough 52 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:45.460 to track down the mob leaders and bring suit, the sympathetic juries invariably freed the 53 00:07:45.460 --> 00:07:52.420 resistance leaders. Prosecution of rebel leaders could only take place in common law courts, 54 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:58.780 And here, juries were eager to protect their heroes. The customs commissioners, like Lord 55 00:07:58.780 --> 00:08:05.300 Hillsborough and most of the British officialdom, were nothing if not hard-lined scorners of 56 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:11.900 any appeasement of the colonies. In this they were aided by the arrival of a British man 57 00:08:11.900 --> 00:08:19.780 of war sent in answer to their request for armed help. The consequence, each step of 58 00:08:19.780 --> 00:08:28.300 The way was to inflame and redouble the popular resistance. The Customs Board decided to repress 59 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:36.100 the resistance by concentrating on and crucifying a man who was the leading financial angel 60 00:08:36.100 --> 00:08:43.540 of the Massachusetts radicals, John Hancock. Hancock, one of the wealthiest merchants in 61 00:08:43.540 --> 00:08:50.260 in New England symbolized the popular struggle. He had refused to lead a parade in honor of 62 00:08:50.260 --> 00:08:56.340 the Commissioner's arrival and had snubbed them socially. More important, he had eagerly 63 00:08:56.340 --> 00:09:01.900 and energetically announced in the assembly that he would not permit any customs officials 64 00:09:01.900 --> 00:09:08.900 to board any of his ships. The first skirmish between the Commissioners and John Hancock 65 00:09:08.900 --> 00:09:21.900 came in April 1768. He refused to let customs officials search his ship Lydia and backed up this refusal with the presence of himself and numerous followers. 66 00:09:21.900 --> 00:09:33.900 The commissioners tried to bypass a jury trial in prosecuting Hancock, but the Attorney General of Massachusetts ruled for Hancock and was upheld by the Treasury in England. 67 00:09:33.900 --> 00:09:42.740 Thwarted here, the board struck again on June 10, seizing Hancock's Sloop Liberty in Boston 68 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:50.660 Harbor for loading without a license, a regulation here thereto unenforced. Knowing that for 69 00:09:50.660 --> 00:09:56.820 months no seized vessel in New England had gone unrescued by the people, the customs 70 00:09:56.820 --> 00:10:04.180 Those men towed the liberty out close to the British man of war, Romney. 71 00:10:04.180 --> 00:10:09.420 To the people of Boston, this act of oppression was the last straw. 72 00:10:09.420 --> 00:10:14.800 The Townsend taxes, the repression by the commissioners, the attempts by the British 73 00:10:14.800 --> 00:10:22.180 Navy to impress Bostonians as sailors on the Romney, all fused to provoke mob action to 74 00:10:22.180 --> 00:10:29.500 to defend their popular leader, Hancock. In addition, the new customs regime was hated 75 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:37.020 personally by Americans. One commissioner was the execrated John Robinson, formerly of 76 00:10:37.020 --> 00:10:43.260 Rhode Island. Another, Charles Paxton, was a friend of Hutchinson and an organizer of 77 00:10:43.260 --> 00:10:51.960 the Customs Board. It was for Boston the time of the Stamp Act all over again. A mob threatened 78 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:59.400 and set upon the customs officers, stoned their houses and burned one of their pleasure boats. 79 00:10:59.400 --> 00:11:05.800 Leaflets were distributed urging the people to rise and clear the country of the customs officials. 80 00:11:05.800 --> 00:11:14.040 The commissioners promptly fled to Castle William and continued their operations from that privileged sanctuary. 81 00:11:14.040 --> 00:11:20.840 Four days after this successful riot, James Otis led a tumultuous town meeting in Boston. 82 00:11:20.840 --> 00:11:26.120 The meeting demanded that every British naval commander in Boston be under the orders of 83 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:32.400 the Massachusetts General Court, that the Romney be removed, that the Customs Board 84 00:11:32.400 --> 00:11:39.280 be dissolved, that impressments cease, and that anyone who sought British troops in Boston 85 00:11:39.280 --> 00:11:46.400 be branded a traitor and a disturber of the peace. Impressments, incidentally, had been 86 00:11:46.400 --> 00:11:54.400 causing intensified bitterness and opposition in Boston during 1768. A Boston mob attacked 87 00:11:54.400 --> 00:12:00.600 boats from the Romney that were impressing fellow townsmen. Sailors were treated as criminals 88 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:07.140 by the press gangs, and conditions and pay were poor on the naval vessels. The Vice Admiralty 89 00:12:07.140 --> 00:12:12.880 Court went so far as to acknowledge that Americans who killed a British naval lieutenant during 90 00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:21.120 and Impressment had killed in justifiable self-defense against an invasion of their persons. 91 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:26.880 The Customs Commissioners, it was true, had been driven temporarily out of Boston. 92 00:12:26.880 --> 00:12:29.360 But what about the Liberty? 93 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:34.480 Under the protection of the Romney, Hancock's ship was quickly tried in the Vice Admiralty 94 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:39.880 Court without benefit of jury and condemned. 95 00:12:39.880 --> 00:12:45.140 But this was only the first step in the vindictive plan of the commissioners. The Liberty had 96 00:12:45.140 --> 00:12:50.920 been seized on a picayune technicality, but the commissioners were out to get Hancock 97 00:12:50.920 --> 00:12:57.520 personally. One of their officials, Thomas Kirk, suddenly changed his story and now told 98 00:12:57.520 --> 00:13:03.620 a wild tale of casks of Madeira wine being unloaded from the Liberty without payment 99 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:11.660 of Duty. Despite a lack of evidence or cooperation of this testimony, the Crown proceeded to 100 00:13:11.660 --> 00:13:19.380 try Hancock and five others for this alleged violation. Hancock was jailed by the Vice 101 00:13:19.380 --> 00:13:27.500 Admiralty Court and his bail set at the huge amount of £3,000 sterling. Hancock's trial 102 00:13:27.500 --> 00:13:36.060 was launched at the beginning of November 1768. British officialdom and the people of Massachusetts 103 00:13:36.060 --> 00:13:41.580 were now at the point of armed conflict, a point brought nearer by further requests for 104 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:48.380 British troops to put down the Bostonians. News of the Boston resistance fanned the flames 105 00:13:48.380 --> 00:13:55.200 of an aggressive tough-line attitude towards the Americans. Tories thundered that measures 106 00:13:55.200 --> 00:14:03.000 Procedures must be taken to show those braggarts their insignificancy in the scale of the Empire, 107 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:10.520 and to reduce the great metropolis of Boston to a poor, smuggling village. Even Lord Rockingham 108 00:14:10.520 --> 00:14:18.400 regarded Boston's resistance as most dangerous and offensive. The fatal decision was made 109 00:14:18.400 --> 00:14:25.680 to send four regiments of troops to occupy Boston and to put down its virtual rebellion. 110 00:14:25.680 --> 00:14:32.120 Few yet had the courage or insight to call for escaping from Britain's dilemma by repealing 111 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:38.920 the Townsend Act structure. Still, pro-American opinion among the English public was very 112 00:14:38.920 --> 00:14:44.900 much alive, and newspaper articles hailed the American spirit of liberty in struggling 113 00:14:44.900 --> 00:14:50.980 against Oppression and Unconstitutional Coercion, and in fact mentioned that the bulk of the 114 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:57.660 British people were wholehearted believers in the American cause. Furthermore, the eminent 115 00:14:57.660 --> 00:15:05.620 Whig, Sir George Seville, perceptively wrote Rockingham that it is in the nature of things 116 00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:13.420 that the colonies must assume to themselves the rights of nature and resist those of law, 117 00:15:13.420 --> 00:15:20.320 which is rebellion, and the great Newcastle, remonstrated with Rockingham, about coercing 118 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.240 the colonies. 119 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:30.420 For my own part, whoever is for it, I must in conscience enter my protest against it, 120 00:15:30.420 --> 00:15:36.420 and I hope our friends will well consider before they give in to so destructive a measure.