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
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