Part 36 (2/2)
By another act a drawback for five years was granted on tea reexported from England to Ireland or the colonies.
d.i.c.kinson's ”Farmer's Letters.”--The Townshend Acts were received with alarm throughout the colonies. ”Awed by the suddenness and magnitude of the peril, the colonial leaders acted with circ.u.mspection and rare self-control.” The most powerful statement of the colonial viewpoint came from John d.i.c.kinson whose ”Farmer's Letters” were read throughout the colonies, were published in London, translated into French, ”and were read by everybody in the two capitals of civilization who read anything more serious than a playbill.” d.i.c.kinson recognized the vagueness of the const.i.tutional relations of the colonies to the mother country. He urged that a spirit of compromise should prevail and that no abstract theory of sovereignty should be pushed to its logical conclusions. He admitted that parliament possessed legal authority to regulate the trade of the empire, but the recent attempts to raise a revenue he considered a most dangerous innovation. ”Great Britain claims and exercises the right to prohibit manufactures in America. Once admit that she may lay duties upon her exportations to us, for the purpose of levying money on us only, she then will have nothing to do but to lay those duties on the articles which she prohibits us to manufacture, and the tragedy of American liberty is finished.”
”I would persuade the people of these Colonies ... to exert themselves in the most firm, but the most peaceable manner, for obtaining relief.
If an inveterate resolution is formed to annihilate the liberties of the governed, English history affords examples of resistance by force.”
”Let us consider ourselves as ... freemen, ... _firmly bound together_ by the _same rights_, _interests_, and _dangers_ ... What have these colonies to _ask_, while they continue free; Or what have they to _dread_, but insidious attempts to subvert their freedom?... They form one political body, of which each _colony_ is a _member_.”
The Ma.s.sachusetts protest--In Ma.s.sachusetts the Townshend Acts were received by a public which was already irritated by the untactful course of Governor Bernard. Soon after the repeal of the Stamp Act he had negatived the election of Otis as speaker of the a.s.sembly, and when that body retaliated by refusing to reelect certain members of the council, the governor had refused to accept six members elected by the popular party. Difficulties had also arisen when the governor demanded compensation for those who had suffered by the Stamp Act riots and when he demanded compliance with the Quartering Act.
The first protest of Ma.s.sachusetts against the Townshend Acts was on October 28, 1767, when the Boston town-meeting renewed the non-importation agreement The General Court convened on December 30 and shortly afterward the acts were read in the a.s.sembly and referred to a committee for consideration. The committee drafted a letter to the colonial agent which reviewed the arguments against taxation and protested against the Townshend Acts. A pet.i.tion to the king and letters to members of the ministry were also prepared. A circular letter to the a.s.semblies in the other colonies, drawn by Samuel Adams, was adopted on February 11, 1768.
The circular letter stated that it seemed necessary that the representatives of the several a.s.semblies should act in harmony ”upon so delicate a point” as the recent imposition of duties and taxes. The argument regarding taxation without representation was restated, and objection was made to the payment of the salaries of governors and judges by the crown, to the large powers of appointment given to the commissioners of the customs, and to the Quartering Act. Denial was made that independence was in the minds of the Ma.s.sachusetts representatives and the letter closed with an expression of confidence in the king.
Several of the colonies sent sympathetic replies and Virginia issued a circular letter to the other colonies calling upon them to unite with Ma.s.sachusetts in her pet.i.tion for redress.
Hillsborough's reply.--When the Ma.s.sachusetts protests reached England, they came before a ministry which was prejudiced by letters from royal officials in America. Lord Hillsborough, who had recently been appointed to the newly created position of colonial secretary, laid the Ma.s.sachusetts protests before the cabinet. On April 21 he sent letters to all the colonial governors, with the exception of Bernard, ordering them to ignore the Ma.s.sachusetts circular letter. If the a.s.semblies took notice of it, they were to prorogue or dissolve them. Bernard was commanded to require the Ma.s.sachusetts a.s.sembly to rescind its action and to declare its disapprobation of its recent action. The Ma.s.sachusetts a.s.sembly refused and the other a.s.semblies commended its course.
The customs officials defied.--Acts of violence soon occurred. The wars.h.i.+p _Romney_ was anch.o.r.ed in Boston harbor and the captain angered the people by impressing seamen, one of whom was rescued. On the same day the sloop _Liberty_, owned by John Hanc.o.c.k, arrived with a cargo of Madeira wine. The customs collector was locked up by the crew while the cargo was landed and a false entry made. The _Liberty_ was seized and moored under the guns of the _Romney_. A riot then occurred; the houses of two of the customs officials were damaged and a boat belonging to the controller was burned. The officials fled to the _Romney_ and later took refuge in Castle William. The Boston town-meeting requested the removal of the war vessel, but the governor refused on the ground that such action would be beyond his jurisdiction. At Newport a revenue cutter was burned and at Providence a coat of tar and feathers was administered to a customs official.
Action of the Boston town-meeting and the Ma.s.sachusetts convention.--Before the occurrence of these riotous acts, the ministry had determined to send troops to Boston. When this became known, the town-meeting a.s.sembled in Faneuil Hall and resolved that the inhabitants defend their rights, and they were called upon to provide themselves with arms. When the governor refused to summon the a.s.sembly, the selectmen called a convention of delegates from the Ma.s.sachusetts towns.
Ninety-six towns responded. The governor refused to recognize the convention, but it remained in session for six days and did not adjourn until a statement of grievances had been formulated. On September 28, 1768, the day of adjournment, two regiments arrived at Boston.
Prisoners accused of treason to be tried in England.--The rebellious acts of Ma.s.sachusetts were condemned by parliament which also advised the enforcement of the statute of Henry VIII which allowed the government to bring to England for trial persons accused of treason committed outside of the kingdom. This aroused a storm of protest. In Virginia the burgesses adopted resolutions which a.s.serted that the right of taxation was vested in the House of Burgesses, that pet.i.tioning the sovereign was an undoubted privilege of the colony, and that it was lawful and expedient to procure the concurrence of other colonies ”in dutiful addresses, praying the royal interposition in favour of the violated rights of America;” that trials for treason or for any felony or crime committed in the colony should be held in the courts of that colony, and that the sending of suspected persons beyond the sea for trial was derogatory of the right of trial by a jury of the vicinage and deprived the accused of summoning witnesses. The resolutions were sent to the other a.s.semblies. When the governor dissolved the burgesses, the members met in a private house and drew up a non-importation agreement.
Other a.s.semblies approved the Virginia resolutions and non-importation agreements were signed throughout the colonies.
Departure of Bernard.--Ma.s.sachusetts continued to be the center of unrest. The unpopularity of Governor Bernard increased when it became known that he was collecting evidence against Samuel Adams. The public ire grew more intense when some of the governor's letters to the Ministry were published. The council drew up charges against him and the a.s.sembly pet.i.tioned for his recall. In July, 1770, he voluntarily departed, leaving Hutchinson in charge.
The Boston ”Ma.s.sacre.”--The troops remained in Boston where they were heartily detested. Difficulties between soldiers and townspeople became more and more frequent and in March, 1770, there was a serious collision. On the fifth a sentinel at the custom house was pelted with snow b.a.l.l.s, and when he called for aid the guard came to his a.s.sistance.
A soldier was knocked down, shots were fired by the guard, and several citizens were killed or wounded. Preston, the commanding officer of the guard, surrendered to the civil authorities, and the privates were placed under arrest. The selectmen demanded the withdrawal of the troops to Castle William and Hutchinson hesitatingly complied. When the soldiers were brought to trial, they were defended by John Adams and Josiah Quincy, who obtained acquittal for all but two who were lightly sentenced.
BEGINNING OF ORGANIZED RESISTANCE
Partial repeal of the Townshend Acts.--The Townshend Acts had proved a complete failure. Exports from England to America had dropped from 2,378,000 in 1768 to 1,634,000 in 1769. The customs were yielding little revenue while the colonial military establishment had become extremely expensive. In addition the colonies had been brought close to rebellion. Lord North, who became Prime Minister on January 31, 1770, hoped to end the commotions in America which had been so injurious to English merchants and manufacturers. He accordingly obtained a repeal of the duties on paints, gla.s.s, and paper, but at the suggestion of the king, the tea tax was retained in order to maintain the principle that parliament had the right to tax the colonies. The economic result of the repeal was immediately evident, for in 1770 the English exports to America reached nearly two million pounds sterling and during the next year more than doubled.
Arbitrary att.i.tude of the governors.--The public, however, was kept in a state of agitation by the arbitrary acts of the governors who reflected the royal will. In Georgia the governor vetoed the a.s.sembly's choice for speaker, provoking a controversy which ended in the dissolution of the a.s.sembly. In South Carolina the governor was in frequent quarrels with the a.s.sembly, first over the salaries of the judges, then regarding the veto of an appropriation but, and finally over convening the a.s.sembly at Beaufort instead of at Charleston. Virginia was irritated by the royal instructions which forbade the governor to a.s.sent to any law which would prohibit or obstruct the importation of slaves. In Maryland the governor by proclamation revived a law regulating fees which had expired by limitation, an action which was looked upon as an a.s.sertion of the right to levy taxes.
In Ma.s.sachusetts the General Court, which was to have met at Boston in January, 1770, was called to meet at Cambridge on March 15. The a.s.sembly objected to the change of time and place and demanded a copy of Hutchinson's instructions, but he refused to comply. The a.s.sembly would do no business while thus constrained to hold its sessions away from Boston, and declared that the people and their representatives had a right to withstand the abusive exercise of the crown's prerogative.
Under protest the a.s.sembly finally proceeded to business, but another difficulty immediately arose when the colonial troops were removed from Castle William which was then garrisoned by the regulars. In July, 1771, Hutchinson, who had recently been appointed governor, vetoed a bull which provided for the salaries of the crown officials, an action which called forth a protest from the a.s.sembly which held that royal instructions were thus given the force of law. The following year the a.s.sembly was informed that henceforth the salaries of the governor and judges would be paid by the crown.
The Gaspee affair.--In Rhode Island an event occurred in 1772 which had far-reaching influence. The numerous inlets and islands of Narragansett Bay made smuggling easy, and revenue vessels, though constantly on the alert, experienced great difficulty in detecting the illicit traders.
The revenue boats _St. Johns_ and _Liberty_ were destroyed by men from Newport and the customs officials were annoyed by suits to recover vessels and cargoes which they had seized; Admiral Montagu accordingly ordered that seized vessels be sent to Boston. To Rhode Islanders Dudington, the commander of the _Gaspee_, was especially obnoxious.
According to Trevelyan, ”He stopped and searched vessels without adequate pretext, seized goods illegally, and fired at the market boats as they entered Newport harbour. He treated the farmers on the islands much as the Saracens in the Middle Ages treated the coast population of Italy, cutting down their trees for fuel, and taking their sheep when his crew ran short of meat.” The injured parties made their voices heard, and the case was laid before the Admiral, who approved the conduct of his subordinate officer, and announced that, ”as sure as any people from Newport attempted to rescue a vessel, he would hang them as pirates.” On June 9 the _Gaspee_ ran aground seven miles below Providence and during the night the vessel was boarded, Dudington was wounded, he and his crew were put on sh.o.r.e, and the vessel was burned.
The act of violence aroused the British government and orders were sent to the governor of Rhode Island, the admiralty judge at Boston, and the chief justices of Ma.s.sachusetts, New Jersey, and New York to act as a commission of inquiry. The commission held sessions in January and May, 1773, but failed to obtain any evidence.
Local committees of correspondence.--The arbitrary acts of the crown officials, the extension of the royal prerogative, and the _Gaspee_ affair made possible the organization of the radical elements in the colonies. In Ma.s.sachusetts opposition centered in Samuel Adams, ”the man of the town meeting,” who put forth pamphlet after pamphlet which struck at the encroachments upon colonial rights. ”While he restated the old argument against the right of parliament to tax, he closely examined the foundations of the claim of the ministers to govern by royal instructions. He had grasped the idea that the king, lords, and commons, as well as the colonies, were subject to the authority and bound by the limitations of const.i.tutional law.” In the a.s.sembly, in the town meeting, through the press, on the street, among the sailors, fishermen, and ropemakers, he advocated the necessity of union. During the contest over the salaries of the crown officials, Adams seized the opportunity to put his ideas into tangible form. On November 2, 1772, in the Boston town meeting he moved that a committee of twenty-one be appointed to state the rights of the colonists, particularly of Ma.s.sachusetts, and to communicate and publish the same to the Ma.s.sachusetts towns and to the world as the sense of Boston ”with the infringements and violations thereof that have been or ... may be, made; also requesting of each town a free communication of their sentiments on this subject.” By January, 1773, more than eighty towns in Ma.s.sachusetts had committees.
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