1767

their colors.

The Boston Massacre.

127

The whole city rose up as one man in opposi

66

tion to the Stamp Act (Oct. 1765)." 5. "The first Monday of November," the day on which the obnoxious measure was to go into effect, broke upon a people unanimously resolved on nullifying the Stamp Act. From New Hampshire to the far south, the day was introduced by the tolling of muffled bells; minute-guns were fired, and penants hoisted at half-staff." Not a stamp was to be seen, for everywhere it was the fixed purpose that the act should not go into effect. As business, therefore, continued to be conducted in the old method, that is without stamps, for all of them had been concealed or destroyed; and as the merchants of all the cities agreed to import no goods while the Stamp Act remained a law, Parliament yielded. The Stamp Act was repealed, but the right to tax America was again asserted and proclaimed (1766). The stamps, what became of them? They were returned to England "where the curious traveler may still see bags of them, cumbering the office from which they were issued.

The

massacre.

6. The repeal of the Stamp Act caused great rejoicing throughout the colonies. Virginia and New York voted statues to the king. New York also voted a statue to Pitt, who, in Parliament had declared "that the kingdom had no right to levy a tax on the colonies. Boston A second statue was voted to Pitt by Maryland. But the joy was short-lived; for soon another law was passed by Parliament imposing a tax on all glass, painters' colors, and tea, imported into the colonies (1767). Again the spirit of opposition was aroused not unlike that which had been caused by the Stamp Act. The colonists determined to import no more of these articles. Franklin, still in England, advised his countrymen "to light the torches of industry and economy." As the people of Boston showed the most decided opposition to the tax, a body of the king's soldiers were sent to keep them in subjection. The presence of these "redcoats," or "lobsterbacks," as they were called by

It

the boys in the streets, caused constant affrays, in one of which, known as the "Boston Massacre," the soldiers fired on the people. "A gush of smoke overspread the scene. rose heavily, as if it were loath to reveal the dreadful spectacle beneath it. Eleven of the sons of New England lay stretched upon the street. Some, sorely wounded, were struggling to rise again. Others stirred not nor groaned; for they were past all pain. Blood was streaming upon the snow; and though that purple stain melted away in the next day's sun, it was never forgotten nor forgiven by the, people (1770)." 1

The

Boston

2

7. Before the news of this event reached England, Parlia ment revoked the duty which had been imposed on glass and painters' colors, but retained that of three pence a pound on tea. This concession, however, did not satisfy the people, for they were contending, not against the tea party. amount of the tax but for the principle of “no taxation without representation." They were determined not to be taxed except by their own representatives. Accordingly, the tea brought to New York and Philadelphia was sent back. That which came to Charleston was stored in damp cellars, and as no one would buy or use it, it soon became worthless.

66

8. Samuel Adams was the true king in Boston at that time, though honors, emoluments, and even power he never

1 Two years later an affair occurred in Narragansett bay, which, says Arnold, Rhode Island's historian, is deserving of commendation as it was the first blow, in all the colonies, for freedom. The Gaspee, a British schooner, was stationed in the bay "to prevent the clandestine landing of goods subject to the payment of duty. The packet Hannah, from New York, while proceeding up the bay was chased by the Gaspee, but the latter ran aground, and the Hannah thus escaped to Providence. The situation of the hated enemy was soon proclaimed at Providence by beat of drum, calling upon those who desired to go and destroy her, to meet that evening. Eight long-boats were provided, and the party embarked. It was past midnight when they approached the Gaspee. The attacking party boarded the schooner, and, after a brief struggle, the crew surrendered and were put on shore, their vessel being set fire to and completely destroyed.

1773

The Boston Tea Party.

129

sought. He was a man of cultivated mind and stainless reputation, a powerful speaker and writer, a man in whose sagacity and moderation all men trusted. He was among the first to see that there was no resting place in this great struggle short of independence. The men of Boston felt the power of his resolute spirit, and manfully followed where Samuel Adams led. With his tongue and pen he made the king of England tremble on his throne." "The king,” he said, "has no right to send troops here to invade the country; if they come, they will come as foreign enemies. We will not submit to any tax, nor become slaves. We will take up arms, and spend our last drop of blood before the king and Parliament shall impose upon us. It was not reverence for kings that brought the ancestors of New England to America. They fled from kings and looked up to the King of kings. We are free, and want no king.”

66

9. Three "tea-ships" arrived at Boston, and the agents refused to send them back to London. Public meetings were held. Faneuil (fan'-you'l) Hall' could not contain the people that poured into the town, so they adjourned to the "Old South Meeting House." Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Warren, and other notable patriots conducted the proceedings. The time for action at length arrived and Adams gave the word. "On the instant, a cry was heard at the porch; the war-whoop resounded; a body of men, forty or fifty in number, disguised with painted faces and clad in blankets as Indians, each holding a hatchet, passed by the door." The crowd followed. The ships were boarded. Silently and quickly "these grim figures, the painted war

• 1 Faneuil Hall, in Boston, was used by the patriots during the revolution, and for that reason is often called the Cradle of American Liberty." The original building, comprising a market-place on the ground floor, a town-hall, and other rooms, was erected by Peter Faneuil. In 1761, it was destroyed by fire; but in 1763 it was rebuilt at the expense of the town; and when the British occupied Boston in 1775, they used the Hall for a theatre. In 1805, the building underwent considerable alteration.

riors, hoisted the tea chests on the decks of the vessels, broke them open, and threw all their contents" into the water (1773).'

10. It began to be suggested that a union of the colonies would be the best barrier against the wrongful measures of

Parliament.

The first

Accordingly, committees of correspondence

were speedily formed in New England and Virginia, and communication by letters was opened with the The first result all the colonies, The low-roofed held, is, to this

Continental leading patriots in every colony. Congress. was soon seen. Delegates from except Georgia, met in Philadelphia (1774). quaint old room in which the meeting was day, one of the shrines which Americans delight to visit.

1" When tidings of this bold deed were carried to England, King George was greatly enraged. Parliament immediately passed an act known as the "Boston Port Bill," by which all vessels were forbidden to take in or discharge their cargoes at the port of Boston. In this way they expected to ruin all the merchants, and starve the poor people by depriving them of employment." Thus was Boston punished."

1775

The Struggle Begins.

131

Washington was there, and so too were Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Samuel and John Adams, John Jay, and other good men and true. It was resolved that all commerce with England should be stopped, addresses were voted to the king and the people of Great Britain, and an appeal for support was made by the delegates to their brother colonists of Canada. "Whenever my country calls upon me," said Washington, "I am ready to take my musket on my shoulder."

for war.

11. Previous to this, General Gage had been appointed to the command of the king's troops in the colonies, and had also been made governor of Massachusetts. The people, though greatly excited, acted with prudence and Preparations caution. They did not desire a conflict with the "mother country," but were prepared for it, should it prove unavoidable. The militia were organized; and, in Massachusetts, men capable of bearing arms were put under daily training. The Americans called them Minute Men, because they engaged to be ready to fight at a minute's warning. The English officers laughed, and said that the name was a very proper one, because the 'Minute Men' would run away the minute they saw the enemy. Whether they would fight or run was soon to be proved.'

66

THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.

The

12. England showed no disposition to relent. The king, not only returned no reply to the address of the American Congress, but Parliament would not even allow the address to be read in either of its houses. In America, events were approaching a crisis. Late one April night eight hundred of the king's soldiers, commanded by Colonel Smith, left Boston to destroy some ammunition and provisions which the patriots had collected at Concord, a small town about sixteen miles distant (1775).

struggle begins.

13; "Gage thought that the movement was a profound secret, but Lord Percy, who had heard the people say on the