A Short History of the United States for School Use Part 13

[Sidenote: The Sugar Act.]

[Sidenote: Enforcement of the Navigation Acts.]

115. Colonial Opposition, 1768.--Many years before this, Parliament had made a law taxing all sugar brought into the continental colonies, except sugar that had been made in the British West Indies. Had this law been carried out, the trade of Ma.s.sachusetts and other New England colonies would have been ruined. But the law was not enforced. No one tried to enforce it, except during the few months of vigor at the time of the arguments about writs of a.s.sistance. As the taxes were not collected, no one cared whether they were legal or not. Now it was plain that this tax and the Townshend duties were to be collected. The Ma.s.sachusetts House of Representatives drew up a circular letter to the other colonial a.s.semblies asking them to join in opposing the new taxes.

The British government ordered the House to recall the letter. It refused and was dissolved. The other colonial a.s.semblies were directed to take no notice of the circular letter. They replied at the first possible moment and were dissolved.

[Sidenote: Seizure of the sloop _Liberty_, 1768.]

116. The New Customs Officers at Boston, 1768.--The chief office of the new customs organization was fixed at Boston. Soon John Hanc.o.c.k's sloop, _Liberty_, sailed into the harbor with a cargo of Madeira wine.

As Hanc.o.c.k had no idea of paying the duty, the customs officers seized the sloop and towed her under the guns of a wars.h.i.+p which was in the harbor. Crowds of people now collected. They could not recapture the _Liberty_. They seized one of the war-s.h.i.+p's boats, carried it to the Common, and had a famous bonfire. All this confusion frightened the chief customs officers. They fled to the castle in the harbor and wrote to the government for soldiers to protect them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ONE OF JOHN HANc.o.c.k'S BILL-HEADS.]

[Sidenote: Virginia Resolves, 1769.]

117. The Virginia Resolves of 1769.--Parliament now asked the king to have colonists, accused of certain crimes, brought to England for trial. This aroused the Virginians. They pa.s.sed a set of resolutions, known as the Virginia Resolves of 1769. These resolves a.s.serted: (1) that the colonists only had the right to tax the colonists; (2) that the colonists had the right to pet.i.tion either by themselves or with the people of other colonies; and (3) that no colonist ought to be sent to England for trial.

[Sidenote: Non-Importation Agreements, 1769.]

[Sidenote: Partial repeal of the Townshend Acts, 1770.]

118. Non-Importation Agreements, 1769.--When he learned what was going on, the governor of Virginia dissolved the a.s.sembly. But the members met in the Raleigh tavern near by. There George Was.h.i.+ngton laid before them a written agreement to use no British goods upon which duties had been paid. They all signed this agreement. Soon the other colonies joined Virginia in the Non-Importation Agreement. English merchants found their trade growing smaller and smaller. They could not even collect their debts, for the colonial merchants said that trade in the colonies was so upset by the Townshend Acts that they could not sell their goods, or collect the money owing to them. The British merchants pet.i.tioned Parliament to repeal the duties, and Parliament answered them by repealing all the duties except the tax on tea.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE "RALEIGH TAVERN"]

CHAPTER 13

REVOLUTION IMPENDING

[Sidenote: The British soldiers at New York.]

[Sidenote: Soldiers sent to Boston, 1768.]

119. The Soldiers at New York and Boston.--Soldiers had been stationed at New York ever since the end of the French war because that was the most central point on the coast. The New Yorkers did not like to have the soldiers there very well, because Parliament expected them to supply the troops with certain things without getting any money in return. The New York a.s.sembly refused to supply them, and Parliament suspended the a.s.sembly's sittings. In 1768 two regiments came from New York to Boston to protect the customs officers.

[Sidenote: The Boston Ma.s.sacre, 1770. _Higginson_, 166-169; _McMaster_, 118.]

120. The Boston Ma.s.sacre, 1770.--There were not enough soldiers at Boston to protect the customs officers--if the colonists really wished to hurt them. There were quite enough soldiers at Boston to get themselves and the colonists into trouble. On March 5, 1770, a crowd gathered around the soldiers stationed on King's Street, now State Street. There was snow on the ground, and the boys began to throw snow and mud at the soldiers. The crowd grew bolder. Suddenly the soldiers fired on the people. They killed four colonists and wounded several more. Led by Samuel Adams, the people demanded the removal of the soldiers to the fort in the harbor. Hutchinson was now governor. He offered to send one regiment out of the town. "All or none," said Adams, and all were sent away.

[Sidenote: Town Committees of Correspondence.]

[Sidenote: Colonial Committees of Correspondence, 1769.]

121. Committees of Correspondence.--Up to this time the resistance of the colonists had been carried on in a haphazard sort of way. Now Committees of Correspondence began to be appointed. These committees were of two kinds. First there were town Committees of Correspondence.

These were invented by Samuel Adams and were first appointed in Ma.s.sachusetts. But more important were the colonial Committees of Correspondence. The first of these was appointed by Virginia in 1769. At first few colonies followed Ma.s.sachusetts and Virginia in appointing committees. But as one act of tyranny succeeded another, other colonies fell into line. By 1775 all the colonies were united by a complete system of Committees of Correspondence.

[Sidenote: The tax on tea. _McMaster_, 119.]

122. The Tea Tax.--Of all the Townshend duties only the tax on tea was left. It happened that the British East India Company had tons of tea in its London storehouses and was greatly in need of money. The government told the company that it might send tea to America without paying any taxes in England, but the three-penny colonial tax would have to be paid in the colonies. In this way the colonists would get their tea cheaper than the people of England. But the colonists were not to be bribed into paying the tax in any such way. The East India Company sent over s.h.i.+p-loads of tea. The tea s.h.i.+ps were either sent back again or the tea was stored in some safe place where no one could get it.

[Sidenote: Boston Tea Party, 1773. _Higginson_, 171-173; _Eggleston_, 165; _Source-Book_, 137.]

123. The Boston Tea Party, 1773.--In Boston things did not go so smoothly. The agents of the East India Company refused to resign. The collector of the customs refused to give the s.h.i.+ps permission to sail away before the tea was landed. Governor Hutchinson refused to give the s.h.i.+p captains a pa.s.s to sail by the fort until the collector gave his permission. The commander at the fort refused to allow the s.h.i.+ps to sail out of the harbor until they had the necessary papers. The only way to get rid of the tea was to destroy it. A party of patriots, dressed as Indians, went on board of the s.h.i.+ps as they lay at the wharf, broke open the tea boxes, and threw the tea into the harbor.

[Sidenote: Repressive acts, 1774. _McMaster_, 120.]

124. Punishment of Ma.s.sachusetts, 1774.--The British king, the British government, and the ma.s.s of the British people were furious when they found that the Boston people had made "tea with salt water."

Parliament at once went to work pa.s.sing acts to punish the colonists.

One act put an end to the const.i.tution of Ma.s.sachusetts. Another act closed the port of Boston so tightly that the people could not bring hay from Charlestown to give to their starving horses. A third act provided that soldiers who fired on the people should be tried in England. And a fourth act compelled the colonists to feed and shelter the soldiers employed to punish them.

[Sidenote: The colonists aid Ma.s.sachusetts. _Higginson_, 174-177.]

[Sidenote: George Was.h.i.+ngton.]

125. Sympathy with the Bostonians.--King George thought he could punish the Ma.s.sachusetts people as much as he wished without the people of the other colonies objecting. It soon appeared that the people of the other colonies sympathized most heartily with the Bostonians. They sent them sheep and rice. They sent them clothes. George Was.h.i.+ngton was now a rich man. He offered to raise a thousand men with his own money, march with them to Boston, and rescue the oppressed people from their oppressors. But the time for war had not yet come although it was not far off.

[Sidenote: The Quebec Act, 1774.]

126. The Quebec Act, 1774.--In the same year that Parliament pa.s.sed the four acts to punish Ma.s.sachusetts, it pa.s.sed another act which affected the people of other colonies as well as those of Ma.s.sachusetts.

This was the Quebec Act. It provided that the land between the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Great Lakes should be added to the Province of Quebec. Now this land was claimed by Ma.s.sachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These colonies were to be deprived of their rights to land in that region. The Quebec Act also provided for the establishment of a very strong government in that province. This seemed to be an attack on free inst.i.tutions. All these things drove the colonists to unite. They resolved to hold a congress where the leaders of the several continental colonies might talk over matters and decide what should be done.

[Sidenote: The First Continental Congress, 1774.]

127. The First Continental Congress, 1774.--The members of the Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, in September, 1774. Never, except in the Federal Convention (p. 137), have so many great men met together. The greatest delegation was that from Virginia. It included George Was.h.i.+ngton, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee. From Ma.s.sachusetts came the two Adamses, John and Samuel.

From New York came John Jay. From Pennsylvania came John d.i.c.kinson. Of all the greatest Americans only Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were absent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARPENTER'S HALL, PHILADELPHIA.]

[Sidenote: The American a.s.sociation, 1774.]

128. The American a.s.sociation, 1774.--It soon became clear that the members of the Congress were opposed to any hasty action. They were not willing to begin war with Great Britain. Instead of so doing they adopted a Declaration of Rights and formed the American a.s.sociation. The Declaration of Rights was of slight importance. But the a.s.sociation was of great importance, as the colonies joining it agreed to buy no more British goods. This policy was to be carried out by the Committees of Correspondence. Any colony refusing to join the a.s.sociation should be looked upon as hostile "to the liberties of this country," and treated as an enemy. The American a.s.sociation was the real beginning of the American Union.

[Sidenote: Resistance throughout the colonies 1774-75.]

129. The a.s.sociation carried out, 1774-75.--It was soon evident that Congress in forming the a.s.sociation had done precisely what the people wished to have done. For instance, in Virginia committees were chosen in every county. They examined the merchants' books. They summoned before them persons suspected of disobeying "the laws of Congress." Military companies were formed in every county and carried out the orders of the committees. The ordinary courts were entirely disregarded. In fact, the royal government had come to an end in the Old Dominion.

[Sidenote: Parliament punishes Ma.s.sachusetts, 1774-75.]

130. More Punishment for Ma.s.sachusetts, 1774-75.--George III and his ministers refused to see that the colonies were practically united.

On the contrary, they determined to punish the people of Ma.s.sachusetts still further. Parliament pa.s.sed acts forbidding the Ma.s.sachusetts fishermen to catch fish and forbidding the Ma.s.sachusetts traders to trade with the people of Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and all foreign countries. The Ma.s.sachusetts colonists were rebels, they should be treated as rebels. General Gage was given more soldiers and ordered to crush the rebellion.

[Sidenote: General Gage.]

[Sidenote: Opposed by the Ma.s.sachusetts people.]

131. Gage in Ma.s.sachusetts, 1774-75.--General Gage found he had a good deal to do before he could begin to crush the rebellion. He had to find shelter for his soldiers. He also had to find food for them. The Boston carpenters would not work for him. He had to bring carpenters from Halifax and New York to do his work. The farmers of eastern Ma.s.sachusetts were as firm as the Boston carpenters. They would not sell food to General Gage. So he had to bring food from England and from Halifax. He managed to buy or seize wood to warm the soldiers and hay to feed his horses. But the boats bringing these supplies to Boston were constantly upset in a most unlooked-for way. The colonists, on their part, elected a Provincial Congress to take the place of the regular government. The militia was reorganized, and military stores gathered together.