In Boston in early summer of 1765 a group of shopkeepers
and artisans who called themselves The Loyal Nine, began preparing for agitation
against the Stamp Act. As that group grew, it came to be known as the Sons of
Liberty. And grow it did! These were not the leading men of Boston, but rather
workers and tradesmen. It was unseemly that they would be so agitated by a
parliamentary act. Though their ranks did not include Samuel and John Adams, the
fact may have been a result of a mutually beneficial agreement. The Adams' and
other radical members of the legislature were daily in the public eye; they
could not afford to be too closely associated with violence, neither could the
secretive Sons of Liberty afford much public exposure. However, amongst the
members were two men who could generate much public sentiment about the Act.
Benjamin Edes, a printer, and John Gill of the Boston Gazette produced a steady
stream of news and opinion. Within a very short time a group of some two
thousand men had been organized under Ebenezer McIntosh, a South Boston
shoemaker.
The first widely known acts of
the Sons took place on August 14, 1765, when an effigy of Andrew Oliver (who was
to be commissioned Distributor of Stamps for Massachusetts) was found hanging in
a tree on Newbury street, along with a large boot with a devil climbing out of
it. The boot was a play on the name of the Earl of Bute and the whole display
was intended to establish an evil connection between Oliver and the Stamp Act.
The sheriffs were told to remove the display but protested in fear of their
lives, for a large crowd had formed at the scene. Before the evening a mob
burned Oliver's property on Kilby street, then moved on to his house. There they
beheaded the effigy and stoned the house as its occupants looked out in horror.
They then moved to nearby Fort Hill were they built a large fire and burned what
was left of the effigy. Most of the crowd dissipated at that point, however
McIntosh and crew, then under cover of darkness, ransacked Oliver's abandoned
home until midnight. On that evening it became very clear who ruled Boston. The
British Militia, the Sheriffs and Justices, kept a low profile. No one dared
respond to such violent force.
By the end of that year the Sons
of Liberty existed in every colony. Their most popular objective was to force
Stamp Distributors throughout the colonies to resign. The groups also applied
pressure to any Merchants who did not comply with the non-importation
associations. Wherever these groups existed they were either directed in secret
by leading men in the community or actually lead by them. However, there were
opportunists everywhere, too, who would use the name Sons of Liberty to carry
out acts of revenge and other violence not related to the cause. For example, in
South Carolina a group of sailors, calling themselves The Sons of Liberty,
formed a mob to coerce money from people on the streets*. Such behavior could
certainly undermine the cause, so the Sons spent a great deal of time policing
themselves and pretenders. This was the origin on names such as "True Sons," and
"True-born Sons" of Liberty.
The success of these movements in undermining the Stamp Act
cannot be attributed to violence alone. Their most effective work was performed
in newsprint. A great many of the Sons were printers and publishers themselves
and even those who were not, were sympathetic to the cause. It was they who
would pay the most in duties, after all. Nearly every newspaper in the colonies
carried daily reports of the activities of the Sons. Accounts of the most
dramatic escapades spread throughout the colonies. In one most remarkable
incident, an account of the Virginia Stamp Act Resolutions was printed far and
wide. It is not certain how many of the editors who reprinted it were aware of
the status of the resolutions, but
seven
were printed, while only five actually passed (the fifth was in fact rescinded
the day after adoption.) The ultimate effect of such propaganda was to embolden
both citizens and Legislatures in every colony. When the Stamp Act became
effective on the 1st of November, 1765, nearly all of these papers went right on
publishing without the required Stamp.
In the early months of 1766 there was such chaos that many
of the royal governors had gone into hiding. The Sheriffs and Militia that they
might have counted on to keep the peace were mostly members of the Sons of
Liberty. Governors were afraid to unlock the weapons stores. Few royal troops
were available and they were vastly outnumbered in any case. The Sons of Liberty
had displaced the royal government in nearly every colony. The Stamp Act
Congress had concluded its business, but there was little hope that its petition
to Gr. Britain would be heard. Correspondence between the various groups began,
toward the mutual support and defense of the cause. It was expected that
eventually British troops would land and attempt to reassert control. So it was
that the first efforts to unite the colonies were not undertaken by their
respective legislatures, but by these independent radical groups. The various
Sons throughout the colonies began to correspond and develop a larger
organization.
Even though the
tax was only on team, and as of the 1773 law went to British importers and
exporters rather than to the government, it was still illegal in the American’s
view. Colonials groups called the Sons of Liberty led resistance to this tax. In
New York City they passed a resolution that stated their position in five parts.
The Sons of
Liberty circulated these resolutions outside their membership, to the merchants,
lawyers, and important people in New York City, and obtained many signatures.
The boycott of tea by New York and other colonial cities was a key event along
the road to the American Revolution.
Source:
The Annals of America,
Vol. 2, pages 240-242, Encyclopedia Britannica 1968