For more than a century, from 1640 to 1763, England was consumed with Civil War, dynastic turbulence, and superpower land wars in Europe. During this time, England’s new American colonies enjoyed substantial autonomy. In 1763, at the end of what we call the French and Indian War, England found itself in possession of its own worldwide empire. But it also needed to administer, pacify, and protect these new colonies. Plus, there was the debt from the war that won the empire. Parliament reasoned, “These colonists benefit from the war; they shouldn’t object to paying a small tax to help.” This was a BIG mistake, leading in less than 20 years to Britain’s loss of its North American colonies.
The resistance to British rule began with the 1765 adoption of the Stamp Act, which required a special stamp on legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, pamphlets, etc. The tax was intended to pay for British troops stationed in America, but the colonists were conditioned to believe that taxes could only be levied by colonial assemblies. The famed expression, “No taxation without representation,” came from this crisis. Local political leader Samuel Adams organized the “Loyal Nine,” a group of socially conservative merchants threatened by the Stamp Act, which in turn created the Sons of Liberty.
Most dramatically, the Stamp Act led to the Stamp Act Riots, the earliest mass violent protests, aimed at tax collectors and colonial officials.
The resistance movement in Boston represented the uneasy partnership between two groups. First were the merchants and aristocrats and professionals like John Adams, John Hancock, and others pursuing resistance partly out of belief in rights, partly out of commercial interest.
The other group was “The waterfront mobs,” a combination of employed/unemployed seamen, escaped slaves and indentured servants, rope workers, small shopkeepers, and the masses typically found at a seaport. The mobs were organized in caucuses (social/political groups) by Samuel Adams and others. The upper classes counted on the mobs to do their dirty work; mobs often pressed leaders to more vigorous action. Typically, upper classes attempted to smooth over riots after they happened.
The Quartering Act, adopted on May 15, 1765, allowed British troops to demand housing. This meant not just a bed at no cost, but also cooking and laundry service as well as a spy in the house. It was so despised that 26 years later, the Founders listed it third in the Bill of Rights.
The following year, the Repeal Act repealed the Stamp Act, while the Declaratory Acts asserted, in effect, “But don’t think you got away with anything; we can tax anything we want, whenever…”
One of the last steps toward outright rebellion happened in 1773, when Parliament repealed all taxes except one tiny one on tea, obviously thinking, “maybe they’ll be grateful and be willing to pay just that one.” This was a huge miscalculation; rage spread throughout the colonies.
Many colonies destroyed tea, but none with Boston’s panache; men dressed as Indians and paraded openly through town to the wharf, forced their way onto the ships, and tossed the tea into the harbor.
Parliament retaliated with harsh legislation, closing the Port of Boston, and sent more troops. The confrontation continued to build with the assembly of the First Continental Congress, which met at Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia, September 5 to October 26, 1774. Representatives from 12 colonies attended, the first time many Colonial leaders met and a chance for politicians from Virginia and Pennsylvania to take the measure of their counterparts from Massachusetts and New York. The Congress adopted resolutions asserting colonial rights, demanding an end to repressive laws such as those closing the Port of Boston, canceling Massachusetts charter, and curtailing town meetings. The resistance had spread beyond New England and the stage was set for outright rebellion.
