250 Years Ago: The Road to the Revolutionary War

Angry American colonists dressed up as Mohawk Indians while they destroyed hundreds of pounds of British tea, in an event known as the Boston Tea Party. Public Domain

As the tea in the Boston Harbor cleared, reaction poured in.

“This is the most magnificent Movement of all. There is a Dignity, a Majesty, a Sublimity in this last Effort of the Patriots, that I greatly admire. ... This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid, and inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences, and so lasting, that I cannot but consider it as an Epocha in History,” said John Adams.

How did it happen? As 92,000 pounds of tea, worth 10,000 pounds, floated in Boston Harbor, a group of men dressed as Mohawk Indians, with one playing a fife, marched past British Adm. John Montagu. They were careful not to reveal their identities, for they, according to the law, just committed an act of treason. Adm. Montagu, who had witnessed the defiant act aimed at British authority, shook his head, and warned them: “Well boys, you have had a fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven’t you? But mind, you have got to pay the fiddler yet!”

Hours later, Paul Revere, on behalf of the Committee of Correspondence, set off to New York and Philadelphia to deliver the news of the “Destruction of the Tea” (later known as the Boston Tea Party). He averaged 63 miles a day during his travels. Upon his return home days later, Revere informed the Committee that the Philadelphia and New York City chapters of the Sons of Liberty promised to supply needed aid and assistance in the future. They urged the people to “keep up your [c]ourage” and vowed to stand with Boston, no matter the consequences they expected would soon be leveled against them.

John Singleton Copley's painting of Paul Revere depicted the revolutionary prior to American Independence. Public Domain

“I found the moderator was just declaring the meeting to be dissolv‘d that caused another general shout, outdoors and in, and three cheers. ... For my part, I went contentedly home and finish’d my tea, but was soon inform‘d what was going forward. ...  They say the actors were Indians from Narragansett. ... [T]hey were ... cloath’d in Blankets, with the heads muffled, and copper colored countenances, being each arm'd with a hatchet or axe, and pair pistols, nor was their dialect different from what I conceive these geniusses to speak, as their jargon was unintelligable to all but themselves.”—John Andrews (eyewitness to the Boston Tea Party)

Massachusetts Bay Governor Thomas Hutchinson was livid upon hearing the news. He vowed before the Massachusetts Bay Council that Attorney General Jonathan Sewall would locate the culprits and charge them with high treason. He then requested the Council to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. The reluctant Council instead instructed Sewall to investigate the matter and present his findings to a grand jury.

During the investigation, the identities of the perpetrators could not be found due to a lack of evidence. Those suspected of participating in the destruction of the tea provided alibis for their whereabouts on Dec. 16, 1773, and either remained silent or pleaded ignorance of the events of that evening. Hutchinson and Montagu were convinced that John Hancock and Samuel Adams were the ringleaders. However, only one man, Francis Akeley, was imprisoned, but he was soon released due to a lack of evidence.

Defiant Patriots Double Down

“Rally, Mohawks! bring out your axes: And tell King George we'll pay no taxes.”—Patriots at the Green Dragon Tavern

As a demonstration of their unity against the Tea Act and Parliament’s belief in its supreme authority to tax the colonists, protesters gathered across British North America, including in Philadelphia, New York City, Charles Town (Charleston), Annapolis, and other locations throughout Maryland, New Jersey, the Carolinas, and New England. In many cases, tea was destroyed.

By March 1774, Boston Harbor reeked with the stench of rotting tea as a ship named Fortune arrived with 30 chests of tea. On March 7, 60 men dressed as Indians boarded the ship and dumped its cargo overboard, adding to the harbor’s foul odor.

However, not all patriots were pleased with the events in Boston. Some feared that Parliament would use the radicalism displayed in Massachusetts Bay to drive a wedge between them and the moderates in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the southern colonies. Benjamin Franklin even offered to compensate the East India Company for its losses. Both he and George Washington believed that the Bostonians had gone too far and would ultimately harm the American cause, especially with sympathetic parties in Britain. They predicted that Massachusetts Bay would soon suffer consequences that would directly affect all North American colonies.

The News Reaches London

“We must master them or totally leave them to themselves and treat them as aliens.”—King George III

On Jan. 19, 1774, news of the Destruction of the Tea arrived in London. King George III’s initial response was disappointment that the people of Boston were once again being instigated by a few agitators to “take such unjustifiable steps.” However, as more detailed reports came in, revealing the considerable defiance towards Parliament and the Crown, the sentiment among the people of London, the king, and his ministers turned to shock and outrage. This act was no longer seen as just a small demonstration by disgruntled troublemakers; it was perceived as a direct challenge to royal authority, and dismissing its severe implications would undoubtedly threaten Britain’s authority over all its colonies.

“The Supremacy of Crown and Parliament must be asserted—or else be lost. The father must discipline the rebellious child—or else lose him forever.”—the king’s ministers

Eyewitnesses, including Francis Rotch (owner of the Dartmouth—one of the ships boarded and emptied of its tea cargo during the Boston Tea Party), and other ship captains arrived in England and testified before Lord Dartmouth (William Legge), the secretary of state for the American colonies. They informed Lord Dartmouth of their inability to identify any of the individuals responsible for the destruction of the tea.

From Moderate British to Revolutionary American

Although appointed as the colonial postmaster general of America, Benjamin Franklin also served as the agent for the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, which allowed him to reside in London. He relished his celebrity status in the bustling and exciting city. Unfortunately for Franklin, his ideal, comfortable situation was about to change. Events in Boston had already made things tense for him around his fellow Londoners, who viewed him as a spokesman for the ungrateful American rebels.

When he was summoned to appear before the Privy Council on Jan. 29, 1774, under the pretense of discussing a petition to remove Governor Thomas Hutchinson and Lt. Governor Andrew Oliver, adopted the previous June by the Massachusetts Bay Assembly and delivered by Franklin to Lord Dartmouth, Franklin hoped for the best. However, due to the timing, he expected a day of reckoning to be more likely. Before that day ended, he would be transformed from a loyal British subject to a radical American revolutionary.

The Privy Council and the Cockpit

Situated in an octagonal-shaped room known as the Cockpit inside Whitehall Palace, the Privy Council was composed of the King’s ministers. The hearings for that day were conducted by Solicitor General Lord Alexander Wedderburn, a man notorious for abusing judges.

The Cockpit was packed with hostile officials and spectators when Lord Wedderburn began the hearings with a defense of Hutchinson and Oliver. For an hour, instead of discussing the petition to remove the two men, Lord Wedderburn unleashed a vitriolic diatribe that undoubtedly represented the anger and resentment most Britons felt towards their American cousins. His continuous rant covered topics such as American insolence, disobedience to Royal Authority, the illegal actions and unruly behavior of Bostonians, and finally, Franklin’s character. He accused Franklin of sedition, thievery, and dishonor for stealing and publishing private letters written by Massachusetts Bay officials to the late Thomas Whately, the British official who drafted the Stamp Act of 1765.

Alexander Wedderburn, also known as Lord Loughborough, was a formidable adversary to the American revolutionaries, as evidenced by his involvement in anti-patriot legal matters. Public Domain

The Thomas Whately Letters

As he stood silent and motionless for an hour while enduring the harshest verbal abuse of his professional career, Franklin must have pondered the events that led up to this moment. An unknown source presented Franklin with letters from various Massachusetts Bay officials, including those from Hutchinson and Oliver, written to Thomas Whately. These letters contained opinions of the colonial officials who believed that colonists were not entitled to the same rights and liberties as citizens residing in the mother country. They further stated that colonists must accept only “an abridgement of what are called English liberties.”

After analyzing the letters, Franklin believed that Hutchinson and Oliver had misrepresented events in Massachusetts Bay to the members of Parliament, thereby causing much resentment and misunderstanding between London and the colonists. He then contacted Thomas Cushing, the speaker of the Massachusetts Bay Assembly, and divulged the presence of the letters with instructions not to publish or circulate them, but to share them with only a select few. Franklin hoped the letters would lead to conciliation between the colonies and London, while also enlightening the Committees of Correspondence about the origins of the troubles: Hutchinson and Oliver.

Unfortunately for Franklin’s plans, Samuel Adams obtained the letters and publicized them, leading to their appearance in the Boston Gazette. Soon after, a political firestorm erupted throughout Massachusetts Bay. Effigies of Hutchinson and Oliver were burned in the streets. Subsequently, the Massachusetts Bay Assembly drafted a petition for the removal of both men—the same petition used to summon Franklin to the Privy Council.

The source of the leak remained unknown for six months. William Whately (Thomas’s brother) and John Temple accused each other of leaking the letters and ultimately fought a duel, resulting in some injuries. When the two men challenged each other to a second duel, Franklin felt compelled to confess his role to prevent further bloodshed. His confession was published in the London Chronicle on Christmas Day of 1773.

It is lesser-known that Paul Revere was a talented engraver. He engraved this cartoon, which depicts loyalist Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson being attacked by Death. Public Domain

Franklin likely refocused his attention back to the present moment within the Cockpit. An hour had passed before Lord Wedderburn finally ended his beratement of the American scapegoat. Without examining Franklin, Lord Wedderburn dismissed the petition. Franklin walked away feeling angry and humiliated.

The next day Franklin received a letter telling him he had been dismissed as Colonial postmaster general. He later heard that William Whately was suing him to collect any profits from the edition of letters the patriots had printed and sold.

The Ministers Brainstormed

After  the verbal attack on Franklin, Prime Minister Lord Frederick North, Attorney General Edward Thurlow, Lord Wedderburn, Lord Dartmouth, and other cabinet ministers met to discuss their next steps. They approved arrest warrants for John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Thomas Cushing, and Joseph Warren. However, without hard evidence or witnesses, securing a conviction would be highly unlikely.

Due to public demand for harsh measures and the cabinet’s determination to execute them, it was suggested that if individuals could not be prosecuted, then the entire province of Massachusetts Bay should be punished as an example to frighten the agitators and suppress the rebellion. Additionally, British subjects in other colonies witnessing the punitive measures taken against Massachusetts Bay might behave more obediently to avoid similar treatment.

The Coercive Acts

“What Measures will the Ministry take, in Consequence of this—Will they resent it? will they dare to resent it? will they punish Us? How? By quartering Troops upon Us?—by annulling our Charter?—by laying on more duties? By restraining our Trade? By Sacrifice of Individuals, or how.”—John Adams

On Feb. 19, 1774, the cabinet began drafting the Coercive Acts, which consisted of the following:

1. The Boston Port Act (passed on March 31, 1774)—which closed Boston Harbor (effective June 1, 1774) to all trade except for food and fuel until full compensation for the tea was made.
2. The Massachusetts Government Act (passed on May 20, 1774)—which revoked the colony’s charter of 1691, replaced the elective local council with an appointed one, appointed British General Thomas Gage as Military Governor of Massachusetts Bay, and outlawed town meetings without the approval of Gen. Gage—except for yearly elections.
3. The Administration of Justice Act (passed on May 20, 1774)—which protected British officials charged with capital offenses, and allowed the trial moved to England or another colony.
4. The Quartering Act (passed on June 2, 1774)—which expanded the previous Quartering Act of 1765—this time allowing soldiers to be quartered in people’s homes during peacetime.
5. The Quebec Act (passed on June 22, 1774)—which enlarged Quebec to include the Ohio Territory at the expense of American expansion and recognized the Roman Catholic Church as the established church throughout the Ohio Valley. This was proposed before the Boston Tea Party in 1773—and is technically not part of the Coercive Acts, but its timing of passage made it so.

Parliament Debates the Coercive Acts

Lord North introduced the Coercive Acts to Parliament, much to the chagrin of Whigs (such as Isaac Barré, Edmund Burke, Rose Fuller, John Sawbridge, William Dowdeswell, Lord Chatham (William Pitt), and many others)—and to the satisfaction of the Tories. Heated debates ensued:

“The town of Boston ought to be knocked about the ears and destroyed. Delenda est Carthago! [Carthage must be destroyed!] You will never meet with the proper obedience to the laws of this country, until you have destroyed that nest of locusts.”—MP Charles Van

Responding to Van’s statement: “I should not have risen … had it not been for those words. The Bill before you is the first vengeful step that you have taken. … This Bill, I am afraid, draws in the fatal doctrine of submitting to taxation; it is also a doubt by this Bill, whether the port is to be restored to its full extent. Keep your hands out of the pockets of the Americans, and they will be obedient subjects.”—MP Isaac Barré

“[T]hat mad and cruel measure should be pushed [out] … [for] such a punitive bill is meant to crush the spirit of liberty among the Americans.”—MP Lord Chatham

“Captain Preston and the soldiers, who shed the blood of the People, were fairly tried, and fully acquitted. It was an American jury, a New England jury, a Boston jury which tried and acquitted them.”—MP Isaac Barré (on the Boston Massacre and subsequent trials)

“You are, by this Bill, at war with your Colonies. … Therefore, let me advise you to desist. … I see nothing in the present measures but inhumanity, injustice, and wickedness; and I fear that the hand of Heaven will fall down on this country with the same degree of vengeance.”—MP Isaac Barré

Later, Barré said: “The People of America will receive these regulations as edicts from an arbitrary Government. ... I do not apprehend the Americans will abandon their principles; for if they submit, they are slaves.”

The Intolerable Acts

“The die is now cast. The Colonies must either submit or triumph.”—King George III

According to Robert Leckie’s “George Washington’s War,” on May 17, 1774, Gen. Thomas Gage arrived in Boston to assume his new role as military governor and to enforce the Coercive Acts, dubbed by the colonists as the Intolerable Acts. Hutchinson was informed that Gen. Gage would oversee the administrative duties of Massachusetts Bay in his absence, and that he could sail to London to meet with the ministers, state his case, and defend his name. He believed Gage’s appointment was temporary and that he could resume his duties as governor upon his return from England. Hutchinson embarked on June 1, 1774, unaware that he would never return to Massachusetts Bay, and thus never see his home again.

"The able doctor, or America swallowing the bitter draught," a political cartoon depicting the 13 Colonies as a Native American woman. She is accosted and attacked from all directions by the British. Public Domain

Lt. Governor Oliver was not present to welcome Gen. Gage. Oliver died from apoplexy on March 3, 1774. His death came as a severe blow to Hutchinson as the two were very close.

For the following two years, the people of Boston witnessed their city evolve into an occupied, armed camp as several infantry regiments and artillery units appeared. The harbor was closed, meetings were outlawed, debates ended, and the right to speak freely was curtailed.

Americans from the other colonies watched the situation in Massachusetts Bay with growing alarm. The Committees of Correspondence planned and organized what they saw as the coming storm. They spoke and demonstrated in support of the people of Massachusetts Bay, provided aid to the people of Boston, and wrote pamphlets that denounced the Intolerable Acts. However, royal governors such as William Tryon of New York, Lord Dunmore of Virginia, and William Franklin of New Jersey (the son of Benjamin Franklin) were prepared to silence the vocal supporters of Massachusetts Bay, and suppress any colonists they deemed as insurrectionists.

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