WEBVTT

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Prof: Last week we ended
with the Boston Massacre in

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1770,
and I mentioned at the very end

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of the lecture the ways in which
both onlookers in the British

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government and the colonists
ended up wondering,

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each one, if the other one was
somehow engaged in a plot.

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Right?

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And I mentioned that the
British were perhaps wondering

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if this had all been a plot to
rob the customs house;

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the colonists were wondering
about the possibility of this

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being some kind of ongoing plot
to subdue and repress the

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American colonists.

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So clearly at the end of the
lecture from last week you can

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really begin to sense a growing
sense of mounting hostility,

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even among some people a sense
of growing alienation.

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And you can hear this on both
sides coming from the accounts

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of the Boston Massacre by both
Gage and Adams--and I read from

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them last week.

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And I did mention in class when
I read from them that they were

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of course writing with a purpose
in mind so they were interested

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in being particularly bold and
dramatic in what they were

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saying.

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Gage really had to excuse what
happened and Adams was trying to

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promote people to get upset
about what had happened,

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but even so you can hear even
just in the way that they framed

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their accounts some of what I'm
talking about here with growing

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hostility,
growing alienation.

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So for example,
Gage at the very start of the

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letter that I read from in the
last lecture tells the person

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he's writing to that he's
writing this letter to inform

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the King's ministry,
quote, "of the critical

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situation of the troops and the
hatred of the people towards

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them."

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That's how he starts his
letter, which is really

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interesting.

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So to Gage, clearly,
what he's stating in this

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letter to his people back home
within the King's Ministry is

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that it doesn't really even feel
safe for British soldiers on the

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streets of Boston;
the people here hate us.

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And Adams also emphasizes this
kind of growing alienation and

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animosity,
and in his case he does it in a

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particularly strong way in a
series of newspaper articles for

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the Boston Gazette that
he wrote a few months after the

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massacre.

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So Adams writes:
"I appeal to the common

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sense of mankind.

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To what a state of misery and
infamy must a people be reduced!

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To have a governor by the sole
appointment of the crown;

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under the absolute control of a
weak and arbitrary minister,

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to whose dictates he is to
yield an unlimited obedience,

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or forfeit his political
career: while he is to be

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supported at the expense of the
people,

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by virtue of an authority
claimed by

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strangers."

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And that's really an
interesting statement.

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Strangers--He's referring to
Parliament.

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Right?

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It's these strangers who are
telling these officials what to

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do.

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That's again a striking word
and a striking statement.

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Now of course,
here Adams says that really

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striking thing--
and then he's careful to add

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right after it that,
quote, "For opposing a

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threatened tyranny we have been
not only called,

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but in effect adjudged rebels
and traitors to the best of

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kings."

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OK--He's making a really
important distinction there.

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He's saying,
'Yes, maybe we're upset at what

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Parliament is doing,
maybe Parliament is behaving

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like a group of strangers,
but we are still good British

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subjects and we are loyal to our
King,

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to the best of kings.'

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And it's an important point,
that even in the midst of all

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of this animosity and all of
these misunderstandings,

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troops are in Boston streets
and the colonists obviously

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still feel like British subjects
who are loyal to their King and

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who are objecting because their
rights as British subjects are

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being violated.

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That's the logic that we're
working on here.

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And you can see this in
Adams--Samuel Adams' actions.

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At the same time that he's
writing all these sort of

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propaganda newspaper accounts
and trying to stir up animosity,

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he also was writing letters to
people in England trying to

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persuade them and hopefully
inspire them to persuade others

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that the people of Boston were
rightfully defending their

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liberties and deserved to be
defended by people in

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Parliament,
not condemned and punished.

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Equally important,
the colonists were not saying

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that they wanted nothing to do
with Parliament,

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or even that Parliament had no
authority over the colonies--

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even though the occasional bold
statement sort of runs out on an

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edge and says 'we hate
Parliament.'

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Most colonists thought that the
colonists--the colonies were

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subordinate to Parliament in
some way.

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The problem,
Massachusetts Governor Thomas

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Hutchinson later remarked,
is that subordination,

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quote, "was a word without
any precise meaning to it."

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Okay?

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That's a really insightful
comment.

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Yeah, okay, colonies are
subordinate but what does that

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mean?

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And obviously what we're
looking at now is a sort of

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non-debate debate in which it's
clear people have different

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understandings of exactly what
the imperial system is supposed

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to look like and how it
functions.

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So all in all it's important to
remember here that even with all

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of this friction that we're
seeing between colonists and the

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British,
the colonists are still loyal

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British subjects who want the
imperial system to function

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happily again.

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And this is a really great
example of why it's always

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important--
and I think it's particularly

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important when studying anything
in the founding era,

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but I think history
generally--but when studying the

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Revolution or the founding era--
but when studying the

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Revolution, it's important not
to jump on to the independence

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bandwagon too quickly and assume
that a separation is inevitable,

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because the people that we're
studying did not assume that.

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It's so easy for us to assume
that, right?

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Because we know it's
coming--but remember Freeman's

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Top Tips for Studying the
Revolution, right?

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Contingency.

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Our historical subjects didn't
know what was going to

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happen--and anything could have
happened.

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So from our perspective,
we're looking at the events

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here-- we almost can't help it,
I think on all of our parts,

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even on my part.

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It all looks like a ticking
clock,

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like there's an inevitable
pulling away from the British,

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and everything I talk about
here represents one step closer

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to independence,
another step closer to

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independence.

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And part of what I'm trying to
say here is: clearly that's not

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how the colonists or the British
at this point are thinking.

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That's not how they understand
their actions.

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That's not how they understand
what's happening.

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The colonists at this point are
not trying to rebel and they're

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not trying to retreat away from
the British empire.

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They're trying to fix things.

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They're trying to figure out
how to fix things.

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So in a sense,
the best way to understand the

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events of the first half of the
1770s is to look at the whole

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revolutionary era without
thinking about the Revolution,

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and by that I mean the war.

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Just forget that there's going
to be a war.

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The war doesn't exist.

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I--Always as a historian I do
this to myself when I'm sitting

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down to write something,
like if I'm writing a

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project--as I'm working on a
book now that takes me up to the

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Civil War,
so I have to constantly say,

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'Civil War?

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I don't know if they had a
Civil War.

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What Civil War?'

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Because my subjects aren't
assuming until a very late point

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that there might be one.

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And I'm sort of saying the same
thing here,

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that it's useful to just sort
of put the assumption that

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there's going to be a war over
here and watch the logic of

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events as they unfold.

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It's a good reminder I think
for the study of history

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generally,
because part of what you're

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trying to do as historians is
understand what your historical

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subjects are thinking and why
they're thinking that way,

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and you make that much harder
when you stick the outcome right

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in front of them and compare
what they're doing with what you

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assume to be an inevitable
outcome.

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Okay.

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Now I mentioned last time that
one way in which the colonists

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responded to the Townshend Acts
was to propose boycotting

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British goods again,
as they had before--in their

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minds successfully--
with the Stamp Act.

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So now, feeling even more
threatened, the colonists didn't

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simply urge a boycott in an
informal way.

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Now they actually organize.

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So remember there's a pattern I
pointed out in an earlier

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lecture when I was talking about
previous attempts at colonial

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union,
and I mentioned in that lecture

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that one of the main things that
really drives the colonies to

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join together in an effort is
some kind of a threat--

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so basically self-defense is a
really good motivator.

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And so typically in the past
something would threaten the

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colonies,
inter-colonial unity suddenly

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seemed important,
there'd be some kind of a

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movement to do something
together for the moment,

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and then when the crisis passed
the unity passed as well.

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So we're sort of seeing some of
that go into operation here.

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Way down the road for
Americans, one of the big

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lessons of the Revolution would
ultimately be how powerful it is

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when you combine and organize
and associate--

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when you form associations or
organizations--

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and as we'll begin to see soon,
when people organize into small

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coordinated groups,
they can have an enormous

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impact--and that's essentially
what happens here in the course

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of the American Revolution.

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So between 1768 and 1770,
as they begin to contemplate

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boycotting British goods yet
again, people begin to form

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non-importation associations,
okay?

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Non-importation associations.

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Now these associations--these
organizations in a sense--

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were extra-constitutional,
so they're springing up from

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outside of the formal political
system,

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but in a variety of different
ways they actually had some real

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power.

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In the North,
merchants were at the core of

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this movement,
this non-importation

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association movement,
although it was grounded on

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popular support,
but merchants were really at

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the center of it because one key
to the success of this whole

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endeavor was for merchants to
join together in promising not

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to import British goods.

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And sometimes merchants
actually signed written

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agreements that they would not
import British goods,

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so unity among the merchants
could be a powerful thing and in

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the North that operated pretty
effectively.

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So for example,
when--And I swear I'm really

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not inserting Rhode Island into
every moment in which a random

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bad thing happens.

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Today we have two--at least
two--several Rhode Island

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moments,
and every time I come across

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one I think,
is it just because I'm aware of

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Rhode Island?

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Is it because I'm thinking
about Rhode Island that Rhode

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Island appears to be there so
much?

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But it makes me think of--I got
my undergraduate degree at

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Pomona College in California,
and Pomona has a thing about

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the number forty-seven,
which they think appears

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everywhere, right?

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Everything is forty-seven,
so when you go to Pomona,

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it's like the magic of
forty-seven constantly being

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talked about.

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You add letters up to various
things,

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and it always equals --
ooh!--forty-seven,

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and then people graduate from
Pomona and go on to become film

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writers and then you'll see all
these forty-sevens.

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Everyone's like:
there's another one in Star

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Wars;
it's a forty-seven!

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So forty-seven was the Pomona
thing and after a while you

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begin to think well,
if I'm looking for forty-sevens

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I'm always going to find
forty-sevens.

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So today I actually--when I was
writing this,

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I thought, maybe I'm doing that
to Rhode Island.

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I hope not, but here is a Rhode
Island moment,

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okay?

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And it's an actual Rhode Island
moment.

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Some Rhode Island merchants
threatened to pull out of the

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non-importation agreement
because it's proving to be

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troublesome in a variety of
ways,

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so when these Rhode Island
merchants threatened this,

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merchants in Boston and New
York and Philadelphia actually

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imposed a boycott on Newport and
Providence, Rhode Island.

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Right?

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Okay.

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There's the power of
association.

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'Oh, you're going to--think
you're going to import British

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goods?

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Okay.

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We boycott you,
Rhode Island.'

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[laughs]
'You're now going to be

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boycotted.'

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That's pretty powerful.

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So merchants were key here,
as was the public.

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So for example,
in various places in the North,

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colonial legislatures sometimes
passed resolutions commending

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these non-importation
associations to the people.

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Right? The people are vital too.

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So you have colonial
legislatures passing resolutions

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to the public saying,
this whole association effort

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here is good and you should
really listen to it,

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basically lending legitimacy to
what were essentially really ad

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hoc organizations,
ad hoc committees.

12:41.158 --> 12:43.628
Now in the South,
the non-importation

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associations were more centered
on the populace,

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not quite as centered on
merchants,

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so southern non-importation
associations were often very

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careful to have members sign on
from throughout the community,

12:57.870 --> 13:00.590
so not just merchants but
artisans and planters.

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And because in the South they
were more popularly based,

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they were more centered on
non-consumption than on

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non-importation--
but of course if you're looking

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at the North,
it's all about seaports and

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importing goods.

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It makes sense that in the
South, maybe there'd be more of

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a focus on not consuming
imported British goods,

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as opposed to not importing
British goods.

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Now as suggested in the
comments that I just made about

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northern legislatures supporting
northern non-importation

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associations,
it's important to note that

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these are not rebellious groups
acting against the structure of

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colonial government.

13:40.269 --> 13:42.909
They're not competing with
colonial assemblies.

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They're actually in some ways
acting in harmony with them,

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and as a matter of fact some
people who were in these

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non-importation associations
probably were in the colonial

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legislatures too.

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So we're not talking about
opposing efforts.

13:55.009 --> 13:58.089
We're talking about sort of
parallel efforts that sometimes

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intersect.

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Okay.

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So as organizations linking the
will of the people with

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politicized action,
these associations are pretty

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significant because--
I'm sure you can see now just

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based on my description of
them--

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they're really promoting broad,
popular,

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organized, coordinated
politicized action.

14:19.720 --> 14:23.230
And this model is going to
become more and more significant

14:23.225 --> 14:25.215
as the Revolution continues on.

14:25.220 --> 14:30.370
And broadly based as they were,
these associations really did

14:30.366 --> 14:34.396
help to spread a sense of
popular involvement in

14:34.399 --> 14:37.229
resistance to British policy.

14:37.230 --> 14:42.080
Boycotting British goods was a
political act and everyone from

14:42.075 --> 14:46.995
all levels of society including
women could be involved in this

14:46.999 --> 14:49.949
in some way,
spreading a real sense of

14:49.952 --> 14:53.742
popular involvement in acts of
resistance to these seemingly

14:53.739 --> 14:55.599
unfair acts of Parliament.

14:55.600 --> 14:58.260
So average people--we're not
just talking legislators and

14:58.259 --> 15:00.159
political radicals like Samuel
Adams--

15:00.158 --> 15:03.418
but average people had a sense
of involvement in a larger

15:03.423 --> 15:03.893
cause.

15:03.889 --> 15:07.079
And newspaper articles and
broadsides helped spread this

15:07.077 --> 15:10.627
sense of involvement,
urging the colonists to avoid

15:10.630 --> 15:14.060
luxuries like imported silks or
English rum,

15:14.058 --> 15:17.118
and instead people should be
virtuous and they should wear

15:17.115 --> 15:20.115
homespun clothing made of cloth
that could be made in the

15:20.119 --> 15:22.659
colonies,
and they should drink whiskey

15:22.660 --> 15:26.060
and beer and cider that could be
made in the colonies.

15:26.058 --> 15:29.998
Now you'll notice things to
drink include whiskey,

15:30.000 --> 15:32.670
beer and cider,
but you'll notice water

15:32.673 --> 15:35.633
[laughter]
isn't included in that list--

15:35.629 --> 15:39.709
and actually it wasn't
considered a normal beverage at

15:39.714 --> 15:42.634
this point in time,
which I always thought was an

15:42.625 --> 15:43.375
interesting fact.

15:43.379 --> 15:47.669
And when I was in grad school I
read this really interesting

15:47.672 --> 15:50.002
British novel written in 1796.

15:50.000 --> 15:51.250
It has a very strange title.

15:51.250 --> 15:55.060
The title is Hermsprong;
Or Man As He is Not.

15:55.058 --> 15:57.058
There were a lot of novels
at the time called Man as He

15:57.062 --> 15:58.942
is,
Man as He is Not--but what

15:58.942 --> 16:01.772
Hermsprong is about,
among other things,

16:01.769 --> 16:05.309
is: the central character is
this American in England,

16:05.308 --> 16:07.898
and he's this sort of exotic,
strange,

16:07.899 --> 16:10.979
independent-minded creature.

16:10.980 --> 16:13.930
And two things that he does
that are sort of shockingly

16:13.932 --> 16:17.002
bizarre to all of the British
onlookers in this novel is:

16:16.995 --> 16:19.835
he walks places instead of
riding in a carriage.

16:19.840 --> 16:20.770
'Oh, my gosh.

16:20.765 --> 16:24.895
He got up this morning from the
tavern and went walking.'

16:24.899 --> 16:28.209
And then the second even more
horrifying thing is:

16:28.211 --> 16:29.431
he drinks water.

16:29.429 --> 16:31.999
[laughter] He drank water.

16:32.000 --> 16:32.910
He had a normal dinner.

16:32.909 --> 16:34.689
He drank water.

16:34.690 --> 16:37.200
And there's a weird scene in it
in which someone says,

16:37.202 --> 16:39.812
'I can't even describe to you
what water tastes like.

16:39.809 --> 16:40.499
Why do you drink it?

16:40.500 --> 16:41.770
Water has no taste.'

16:41.769 --> 16:43.659
'Water tastes like,' Hermsprong
says, 'water.'

16:43.658 --> 16:46.848
[laughs]
Water tastes like water.

16:46.850 --> 16:48.420
That was kind of radical.

16:48.418 --> 16:51.168
So, being very patriotic here,
drink whiskey,

16:51.168 --> 16:52.728
beer and cider,
period.

16:52.730 --> 16:55.080
[laughs]
Don't worry about that boring

16:55.080 --> 16:55.970
water stuff.

16:55.970 --> 16:59.340
It's fascinating that that's
considered a weird thing at that

16:59.336 --> 16:59.726
time.

16:59.730 --> 17:00.130
Okay.

17:00.125 --> 17:03.775
So people are encouraged to
drink and wear only

17:03.778 --> 17:07.748
colonial-made goods,
and this was true all over the

17:07.746 --> 17:08.616
place.

17:08.618 --> 17:12.818
So as a symbolic gesture,
Harvard students gave up

17:12.823 --> 17:14.113
drinking tea.

17:14.108 --> 17:17.588
Students at the College of New
Jersey, now Princeton,

17:17.586 --> 17:19.256
wore homespun clothing.

17:19.259 --> 17:22.169
And students at Yale
[laughs]--I wonder what this

17:22.171 --> 17:24.841
says about Yale--renounced
imported wines.

17:24.839 --> 17:28.469
[laughter] Huh?

17:28.470 --> 17:29.880
[laughs]
I actually went and

17:29.880 --> 17:31.030
double-checked that.

17:31.029 --> 17:32.729
I was like: really?

17:32.730 --> 17:35.300
[laughter] Yeah, really.

17:35.299 --> 17:38.249
[laughs] Yale. Okay.

17:38.250 --> 17:42.470
South Carolina assemblymen
renounced the wearing of wigs

17:42.465 --> 17:45.295
and stockings--
which must have looked very

17:45.296 --> 17:47.666
odd--with the result one
observer noted,

17:47.670 --> 17:49.560
that a foreign visitor arriving
in Charleston,

17:49.558 --> 17:52.588
quote, "would probably
from their dress take them for

17:52.592 --> 17:55.682
so many unhappy persons ready
for execution who had come to

17:55.676 --> 17:57.376
petition for a pardon."

17:57.380 --> 17:59.240
[laughter]
Some of these people with no

17:59.237 --> 18:02.117
wigs and no--kind of dressed
really badly and hanging out in

18:02.122 --> 18:03.102
the legislature.

18:03.098 --> 18:03.428
Okay.

18:03.425 --> 18:07.015
So clearly, based on those
examples, even Yale students,

18:07.016 --> 18:10.796
non-import--although maybe I
don't know about the--[laughs]

18:10.800 --> 18:12.760
not having imported wine.

18:12.759 --> 18:17.199
Non-importation does represent
one way in which many people,

18:17.200 --> 18:18.820
and as I said before including
women,

18:18.818 --> 18:22.638
became directly involved in
colonial protest efforts.

18:22.640 --> 18:26.510
But women were often the
primary purchasers of goods,

18:26.508 --> 18:29.928
so their actions were central
on this front.

18:29.930 --> 18:32.700
They had to be appealed to,
they had to be included,

18:32.700 --> 18:37.810
so non-importation politicized
the daily activities of women as

18:37.811 --> 18:40.481
well as men,
spreading feelings of

18:40.479 --> 18:44.219
community-level patriotism with
people joined in a joint

18:44.222 --> 18:47.152
political effort to defend their
rights.

18:47.150 --> 18:50.040
So you have people who are sort
of joined in this effort of

18:50.035 --> 18:52.705
patriotic austerity;
they're all sort of joining in

18:52.705 --> 18:55.645
a willingness to sacrifice
luxuries for a worthy cause.

18:55.650 --> 18:57.280
Now of course not every
American and not every colonist

18:57.277 --> 18:58.467
is doing this,
so when I say "joined,

18:58.470 --> 19:00.660
everyone's joined,"
maybe not everyone,

19:00.660 --> 19:04.450
but there were a lot of people
who were paying attention to

19:04.451 --> 19:06.481
this idea of non-importation.

19:06.480 --> 19:08.200
But of course,
now that I've made

19:08.201 --> 19:10.301
non-importation sound so
impressive,

19:10.298 --> 19:14.748
I will add that it ultimately
was not a roaring success

19:14.751 --> 19:17.261
because,
as I just hinted a minute ago,

19:17.259 --> 19:20.359
not everyone really found it
very easy to surrender English

19:20.355 --> 19:22.905
luxuries,
and as always there was a lot

19:22.911 --> 19:23.811
of smuggling.

19:23.808 --> 19:27.918
So it wasn't an amazing roaring
success but that said,

19:27.920 --> 19:32.290
there was some impact on
British manufacturers and there

19:32.287 --> 19:36.807
was some recognition that
considering the relatively small

19:36.814 --> 19:41.424
amount of revenue being raised
by the Townshend Acts,

19:41.420 --> 19:45.340
maybe the effort wasn't worth
all of the trouble.

19:45.338 --> 19:49.158
So some onlookers in Britain
began to regret the Townshend

19:49.160 --> 19:49.630
Acts.

19:49.630 --> 19:53.490
And it's important to note even
Members of Parliament who were

19:53.488 --> 19:57.278
sympathetic to the colonies and
who wanted the Townshend Acts

19:57.284 --> 20:00.044
repealed--
even these sympathetic Members

20:00.041 --> 20:03.851
didn't question the right of
Parliament to tax the colonies.

20:03.848 --> 20:06.948
They may have felt that
Parliament was behaving too

20:06.951 --> 20:10.081
aggressively or unwisely,
maybe it's an unwise policy,

20:10.078 --> 20:12.698
but even people who were--
considered themselves sort of

20:12.696 --> 20:14.386
supporters,
real dire supporters of the

20:14.388 --> 20:17.208
American colonists,
even they were not questioning

20:17.207 --> 20:21.097
the constitutional supremacy of
Parliament to tax the British

20:21.101 --> 20:21.881
colonies.

20:21.880 --> 20:23.530
That's almost like a line in
the sand.

20:23.528 --> 20:26.398
So along these lines,
despite the fact that you have

20:26.395 --> 20:29.535
some people in Parliament who
are sympathetic towards the

20:29.542 --> 20:32.262
colonies,
Parliament could not just back

20:32.258 --> 20:35.278
down and take all of the
Townshend Acts back,

20:35.279 --> 20:37.599
and there are two main reasons
for that.

20:37.598 --> 20:41.038
There's such power when you say
that: 'there are two

20:41.041 --> 20:44.621
reasons'--and a hundred people
go "gonk."

20:44.619 --> 20:45.759
Satisfaction.

20:45.759 --> 20:47.709
Note-taking.

20:47.710 --> 20:48.460
But there are two main reasons.

20:48.460 --> 20:52.510
First and most obvious,
Parliament just didn't want to

20:52.511 --> 20:53.431
lose face.

20:53.430 --> 20:53.790
Right?

20:53.785 --> 20:57.155
They felt that they truly were
upholding the supremacy and

20:57.161 --> 20:59.591
sovereignty of the British
Parliament.

20:59.588 --> 21:03.848
Second, related to that and
perhaps more important as far as

21:03.846 --> 21:07.656
our understanding of different--
two evolving mindsets is

21:07.660 --> 21:10.440
concerned,
the sovereignty of Parliament

21:10.439 --> 21:14.999
over the colonies by this point
had become inextricably bound up

21:14.999 --> 21:17.749
with the right of taxing
Americans.

21:17.750 --> 21:19.140
And I'll repeat that again.

21:19.140 --> 21:22.100
By this point,
the sovereignty of Parliament

21:22.096 --> 21:26.086
over the colonies had become
inextricably bound up with the

21:26.086 --> 21:28.766
right of taxing American
colonists.

21:28.769 --> 21:32.539
So at this point,
Parliament couldn't back down

21:32.540 --> 21:37.540
on a tax without seeming to give
up their sovereignty over the

21:37.544 --> 21:38.614
colonies.

21:38.608 --> 21:43.668
By 1770, the right of taxation
was not just a means of

21:43.673 --> 21:47.213
producing revenue for the
British,

21:47.210 --> 21:52.200
but it actually had become an
assertion of British sovereignty

21:52.196 --> 21:54.156
over its own colonies.

21:54.160 --> 21:54.570
Okay.

21:54.569 --> 21:58.099
So now we're in 1770 and
surprise, surprise,

21:58.097 --> 22:01.787
by this time we have a new
Prime Minister.

22:01.788 --> 22:04.258
Lord North is now Prime
Minister.

22:04.259 --> 22:06.539
Townshend is gone,
although we're sort of in a

22:06.538 --> 22:08.768
period of revolving doors of
Prime Ministers,

22:08.766 --> 22:10.586
but in this case Townshend
died.

22:10.588 --> 22:14.208
Townshend actually died back in
1767 and so Lord North is the

22:14.210 --> 22:16.020
next person who comes along.

22:16.019 --> 22:18.889
Townshend's Acts live on
without him for a little while,

22:18.890 --> 22:23.520
but now Lord North is the Prime
Minister so he assumes this

22:23.519 --> 22:28.549
position and with familiar logic
he decides that the only way to

22:28.548 --> 22:33.258
withdraw the Townshend Acts is
going to be to leave behind a

22:33.257 --> 22:37.567
token tax in the colonies to
prove that England reigned

22:37.567 --> 22:41.157
supreme over its colonial
properties.

22:41.160 --> 22:45.780
As Lord North himself put it,
"If I thought I could

22:45.778 --> 22:50.168
appease that factious and
disobedient temper which

22:50.166 --> 22:53.656
prevails, I should be glad to do
it.

22:53.660 --> 22:57.180
And yet, to these people,
who ought to be our subjects,

22:57.182 --> 23:00.972
we are to make concessions,
because they have the hardihood

23:00.967 --> 23:02.857
to set us at defiance!...

23:02.858 --> 23:04.808
Upon my word,
if we are to run after America

23:04.811 --> 23:06.951
in search of reconciliation,
in this way,

23:06.950 --> 23:09.930
I do not know a single act of
Parliament that will

23:09.934 --> 23:10.914
remain."

23:10.910 --> 23:13.830
But despite having said all
that, North concluded this

23:13.833 --> 23:15.823
speech by saying he wanted to
be,

23:15.818 --> 23:18.258
quote, "thought,
what I really am,

23:18.259 --> 23:21.239
to the best of my conviction--a
friend to trade,

23:21.240 --> 23:23.780
a friend to America."

23:23.778 --> 23:23.968
Okay.

23:23.974 --> 23:26.014
There's a lot of stuff bound up
in that statement--

23:26.009 --> 23:29.159
but you can really see him
processing through what's

23:29.164 --> 23:32.694
happening versus what he assumes
about the workings of the

23:32.692 --> 23:33.932
imperial system.

23:33.930 --> 23:37.800
It's a complicated situation to
North and the British as well as

23:37.795 --> 23:38.895
to the colonies.

23:38.900 --> 23:41.490
So in the end,
thinking about all of this and

23:41.489 --> 23:44.169
thinking well,
I need to leave some kind of

23:44.165 --> 23:47.035
tax in place to prove
Parliamentary supremacy,

23:47.038 --> 23:51.078
he decides to leave the tea tax
in effect,

23:51.078 --> 23:55.998
and the logic behind that is,
of all the taxed items this was

23:56.000 --> 24:01.270
the most profitable to England,
and it couldn't be manufactured

24:01.269 --> 24:04.069
in the colonies,
so it would have to be

24:04.067 --> 24:07.397
imported--plus it was kind of
central to socializing.

24:07.400 --> 24:08.640
Everybody drank tea.

24:08.640 --> 24:11.330
That was the thing to do--was
to drink tea with great

24:11.328 --> 24:13.648
ceremony--
among some people to have tea

24:13.650 --> 24:16.350
cups and tea spoons--
so North just assumed on a

24:16.348 --> 24:19.058
whole bunch of levels:
can't be easily boycotted;

24:19.058 --> 24:22.688
they really like tea in those
colonies, just like us here;

24:22.690 --> 24:24.820
makes us a reasonable amount of
money;

24:24.819 --> 24:27.569
that's the thing that'll stay.

24:27.568 --> 24:31.328
Now when I was writing this
lecture, I was thinking about

24:31.328 --> 24:31.798
that.

24:31.798 --> 24:34.988
I was thinking about tea and
tea ceremonies and the drinking

24:34.989 --> 24:37.559
of tea,
and I suppose we all have in

24:37.561 --> 24:41.411
our mind a sense of that being
the case in England,

24:41.410 --> 24:44.220
but it was no less the case in
the colonies.

24:44.220 --> 24:48.630
And when I was--I guess when I
was researching my first book I

24:48.628 --> 24:50.218
came across a story.

24:50.220 --> 24:52.880
I'm going to mention it now
only because it relates to the

24:52.875 --> 24:55.715
tea ceremony and this is my
opportunity to tell this story.

24:55.720 --> 24:58.240
There will be random moments
when I just have to tell a story

24:58.243 --> 24:59.763
'cause you guys are like
hostages.

24:59.759 --> 25:01.789
[laughter]
It means I get to say whatever

25:01.788 --> 25:03.968
I want and I get to tell random
stories--

25:03.970 --> 25:06.960
but this actually does
demonstrate the sort of ritual

25:06.961 --> 25:08.631
of tea drinking everywhere.

25:08.630 --> 25:12.450
So the whole tea ceremony was
important in the colonies.

25:12.450 --> 25:15.630
I came across this account from
a foreign observer,

25:15.634 --> 25:17.104
actually from France.

25:17.098 --> 25:19.698
And he shows up in the
colonies, and he says in a

25:19.701 --> 25:22.851
letter to a friend that he'd
never quite seen anything like

25:22.845 --> 25:25.225
the colonial obsession with
serving tea.

25:25.230 --> 25:28.010
And he describes this visit
that he paid to a woman,

25:28.009 --> 25:31.219
and he said that he would take
a sip and then she would

25:31.223 --> 25:35.393
immediately refill the cup,
so he couldn't figure out how

25:35.391 --> 25:36.871
to empty the cup.

25:36.868 --> 25:38.768
Basically, he doesn't want any
more tea [laughs]

25:38.768 --> 25:40.908
and he can't figure out how to
make it stop coming.

25:40.910 --> 25:42.780
'I'll drink a little more fast.

25:42.779 --> 25:45.069
Maybe she'll'--And he kept
basically trying out one thing

25:45.073 --> 25:47.043
after another and she kept
refilling the cup--

25:47.038 --> 25:48.348
and then he felt compelled to
drink,

25:48.348 --> 25:49.948
because it was the proper thing
to do--

25:49.950 --> 25:52.320
was to eat or drink what he was
served.

25:52.318 --> 25:55.378
He didn't know that the code in
the tea ceremony to stop tea

25:55.384 --> 25:58.604
from being poured was to place
your tea spoon across the top of

25:58.604 --> 25:59.284
your cup.

25:59.279 --> 25:59.589
Right?

25:59.586 --> 26:02.556
He didn't think about that,
so at one point he's desperate,

26:02.558 --> 26:05.018
because he just can't deal with
any more tea.

26:05.019 --> 26:08.409
So she pours more tea in his
cup and when she turned away he

26:08.411 --> 26:11.971
actually swallowed everything in
the cup in a gulp and then put

26:11.974 --> 26:13.474
the cup in his pocket.

26:13.470 --> 26:18.290
[laughter]
Like she's not going to notice.

26:18.288 --> 26:20.038
[laughs]
Right?

26:20.042 --> 26:22.802
Oh, you ate the cup.

26:22.798 --> 26:24.638
[laughter]
And he doesn't say what

26:24.644 --> 26:25.264
happened.

26:25.259 --> 26:27.329
He just describes putting it in
his pocket like:

26:27.327 --> 26:27.677
There.

26:27.680 --> 26:29.340
Now I've settled that.

26:29.339 --> 26:30.849
Great thinking.

26:30.848 --> 26:33.188
[laughter]
They were serious about tea

26:33.188 --> 26:34.008
ceremonies.

26:34.009 --> 26:34.469
Okay.

26:34.468 --> 26:39.778
So with full knowledge of the
cultural importance of tea in

26:39.781 --> 26:43.031
the colonies,
North left the tea tax in

26:43.032 --> 26:46.622
effect, hoping that a slight
concession on the part of

26:46.624 --> 26:50.084
England maybe would chip away at
colonial unity.

26:50.078 --> 26:50.458
Right?

26:50.458 --> 26:54.048
Maybe some colonists would be
convinced to stop resisting,

26:54.051 --> 26:57.581
maybe non-importation would
thus collapse--and eventually

26:57.583 --> 26:59.793
non-importation does collapse.

26:59.788 --> 27:04.918
It kind of dribbles to a
close--1770,1771.

27:04.920 --> 27:08.180
And as with the Stamp Act,
both the colonies and the

27:08.183 --> 27:12.093
British administration assumed
that they had emerged from this

27:12.088 --> 27:13.048
victorious.

27:13.048 --> 27:13.378
Right?

27:13.384 --> 27:16.304
The colonies think ha,
we got most of those offensive

27:16.298 --> 27:17.248
acts repealed.

27:17.250 --> 27:19.900
Parliament thinks well,
we are still maintaining our

27:19.895 --> 27:21.915
sovereignty so our point stands
firm.

27:21.920 --> 27:25.950
And of course this did nothing
to resolve the conflict about

27:25.951 --> 27:28.481
the precise nature of
sovereignty,

27:28.480 --> 27:30.910
the precise nature of the
imperial system,

27:30.910 --> 27:36.500
and the precise power of
Parliament over the colonies.

27:36.500 --> 27:39.850
At about this time,
however, Lord North once again,

27:39.848 --> 27:42.468
thinking about the colonies,
attempting reform,

27:42.470 --> 27:45.380
he's struggling clearly--You
have to feel--

27:45.380 --> 27:47.860
I just feel bad for a Prime
Minister at this moment of

27:47.856 --> 27:49.536
massive confusion in the
colonies.

27:49.538 --> 27:52.218
He's trying to figure out some
way to get colonial affairs in

27:52.218 --> 27:54.318
control,
so at this point he figures

27:54.318 --> 27:57.598
maybe one way to sort of calm
things down is to focus on

27:57.596 --> 27:58.606
Massachusetts.

27:58.608 --> 27:58.908
Right?

27:58.907 --> 28:01.587
Massachusetts is the pesky
colony, bad things happen in

28:01.594 --> 28:03.974
Massachusetts,
so he says maybe one way to

28:03.969 --> 28:07.419
resolve things is to make a few
little tweaks in their political

28:07.422 --> 28:07.972
system.

28:07.970 --> 28:12.380
So he decides that henceforth
Superior Court judges will be

28:12.376 --> 28:17.236
paid by tax revenue collected by
the Crown from the colonies,

28:17.240 --> 28:19.910
which means in effect Superior
Court judges are not going to be

28:19.911 --> 28:23.761
paid by colonial legislatures;
they're going to be paid by the

28:23.760 --> 28:24.320
Crown.

28:24.318 --> 28:24.648
Okay.

28:24.652 --> 28:28.642
So certainly to some people in
Massachusetts this seemed like

28:28.641 --> 28:31.771
it's a way to make judges
accountable to British

28:31.766 --> 28:34.356
authorities and not to
colonists,

28:34.358 --> 28:38.538
and in a sense that was part of
what North was trying to do

28:38.544 --> 28:39.054
here.

28:39.048 --> 28:43.258
But unfortunately about the
same time, in June of 1772,

28:43.262 --> 28:46.152
there was a crisis in Rhode
Island.

28:46.150 --> 28:48.900
[laughter]
A British ship,

28:48.900 --> 28:53.460
the Gaspee,
which was used in Rhode Island

28:53.457 --> 28:57.587
to prevent smuggling,
ran aground in Rhode Island and

28:57.586 --> 29:00.766
that night colonists swarmed
aboard it,

29:00.769 --> 29:03.629
forced the crew off and burned
it to the ground.

29:03.630 --> 29:06.540
That's kind of a strong
anti-British "we hate that

29:06.540 --> 29:08.590
you're stopping smuggling"
act.

29:08.588 --> 29:13.728
So the Crown responded by
creating a commission of inquiry

29:13.732 --> 29:17.972
to investigate the matter,
and ultimately this committee

29:17.965 --> 29:20.135
decides it's going to let this
slide,

29:20.140 --> 29:22.750
which is a major concession
because [laughs]

29:22.750 --> 29:26.210
burning one of His Majesty's
ships is a serious matter.

29:26.210 --> 29:28.910
Right? It's not a minor crime.

29:28.910 --> 29:32.630
Even so, colonists just took
offense at the existence of the

29:32.625 --> 29:35.955
commission which seemed to
interfere with the internal

29:35.964 --> 29:38.934
affairs of a colony,
and even worse--this gets back

29:38.928 --> 29:41.748
to something that people have
been upset about in the colonies

29:41.750 --> 29:43.890
before--
the commission would have sent

29:43.894 --> 29:47.004
the people who were going to be
tried to England for their

29:47.000 --> 29:48.040
trials,
right?

29:48.035 --> 29:51.805
So--and this also feels like a
threat to self-rule.

29:51.808 --> 29:53.358
So you have these sorts of
things going on.

29:53.359 --> 29:54.709
They're individual acts.

29:54.710 --> 29:56.970
They're not connected,
but they're--in the eyes of

29:56.968 --> 29:58.488
many colonists not good things.

29:58.490 --> 30:01.960
Samuel Adams,
brilliant propagandist that he

30:01.955 --> 30:04.375
is,
decides there has to be an

30:04.376 --> 30:09.066
immediate response to these new
encroachments on colonial rights

30:09.073 --> 30:12.133
and it needs to not just be in
Boston.

30:12.130 --> 30:15.570
There needs to be a widespread
inter-state protest to what's

30:15.567 --> 30:18.007
happening and to the
implications of what's

30:18.013 --> 30:18.833
happening.

30:18.828 --> 30:24.108
So in November of 1772,
building on the whole model of

30:24.105 --> 30:27.685
the non-importation
associations,

30:27.690 --> 30:32.130
he suggests in the Boston town
meeting that a committee of

30:32.127 --> 30:36.177
correspondence be formed in
Boston to communicate the

30:36.178 --> 30:40.768
current state of affairs in
Boston to the rest of the colony

30:40.772 --> 30:42.492
and,
quote, "to the

30:42.489 --> 30:43.439
world"-- right?

30:43.440 --> 30:46.720
He's ambitious,
Samuel Adams--and to solicit

30:46.722 --> 30:47.642
responses.

30:47.640 --> 30:50.750
So a committee of
correspondence of roughly

30:50.747 --> 30:54.147
twenty-one men is created with
the purpose--

30:54.150 --> 30:56.050
as stated in the Boston town
meeting--

30:56.048 --> 30:58.358
of stating, quote,
"the rights of the

30:58.362 --> 31:01.072
Colonists and of this Province
in particular,

31:01.068 --> 31:04.628
as men and Christians,
and as subjects"--

31:04.630 --> 31:06.190
which is an interesting
trio--as men,

31:06.190 --> 31:09.650
as Christians and as subjects,
and "to communicate and

31:09.653 --> 31:13.243
publish the same to the several
towns and to the world as the

31:13.236 --> 31:16.046
sense of this town,
with the infringements and

31:16.048 --> 31:17.958
violations thereof that have
been,

31:17.960 --> 31:20.310
or from time to time may be,
made." Right?

31:20.308 --> 31:23.168
Infringements that have been
made or may be made,

31:23.173 --> 31:23.593
right?

31:23.588 --> 31:26.008
So he's even--Something else is
going to happen,

31:26.010 --> 31:27.920
and if it is,
we've got a committee of

31:27.916 --> 31:29.356
correspondence in place.

31:29.358 --> 31:32.278
So by the end of November of
1772,

31:32.278 --> 31:36.278
the committee had produced an
open letter to all of the towns

31:36.277 --> 31:40.037
in Massachusetts urging them,
quote, not "to doze or sit

31:40.044 --> 31:43.054
supinely indifferent on the
brink of destruction"--

31:43.049 --> 31:45.719
that Samuel Adams;
he's really a master at the

31:45.721 --> 31:48.781
strong words--and to create
their own committees of

31:48.779 --> 31:49.879
correspondence.

31:49.880 --> 31:54.100
And more than half of the towns
in Massachusetts responded,

31:54.098 --> 31:59.208
encouraging more widespread
participation in the controversy

31:59.210 --> 32:02.780
than before,
more widespread willingness to

32:02.778 --> 32:07.008
act alongside the normal
political system to protest what

32:07.012 --> 32:10.192
people saw as an
unconstitutional act--

32:10.190 --> 32:13.500
and there were more than eighty
of these local committees of

32:13.501 --> 32:16.311
correspondence created within
just a few months.

32:16.308 --> 32:19.758
One observer called these
committees,

32:19.759 --> 32:23.009
quote, "the foulest,
subtlest and most venomous

32:23.010 --> 32:26.390
serpent ever issued from the egg
of sedition."

32:26.390 --> 32:29.260
And you can kind of see this
person's fears.

32:29.256 --> 32:29.786
Right?

32:29.788 --> 32:33.708
This is a person who sees what
he perceives to be as organized

32:33.708 --> 32:37.238
resistance to the British
government sort of bubbling up

32:37.240 --> 32:38.590
in Massachusetts.

32:38.588 --> 32:41.438
And this sort of bubbling
committees,

32:41.440 --> 32:43.390
these committees of
correspondence are going to be

32:43.385 --> 32:45.725
spreading sedition,
according to this person,

32:45.727 --> 32:48.717
throughout the colonies and
possibly to the world.

32:48.720 --> 32:51.510
And this person had a right to
be suspicious,

32:51.511 --> 32:55.511
because organized resistance is
partly what these committees are

32:55.510 --> 32:56.400
all about.

32:56.400 --> 33:01.150
So this unfolding of events in
Massachusetts led radicals

33:01.145 --> 33:05.125
elsewhere to do what
Massachusetts had done,

33:05.130 --> 33:08.720
and create their own committees
of correspondence for

33:08.717 --> 33:12.647
communication within colonies
and between the colonies.

33:12.650 --> 33:16.760
So within roughly a year,
by very, very early in 1774,

33:16.759 --> 33:20.949
there were committees of
correspondence in almost every

33:20.946 --> 33:21.796
colony.

33:21.798 --> 33:24.418
And these committees did a
number of things.

33:24.420 --> 33:28.770
They strengthened ties between
radical colonies like

33:28.770 --> 33:33.720
Massachusetts and less active or
less-radical colonies,

33:33.720 --> 33:37.040
and they created a way for
radical-minded people in

33:37.038 --> 33:40.288
different colonies to interact
with each other.

33:40.288 --> 33:43.338
So clearly these committees of
correspondence--

33:43.338 --> 33:45.498
just like the non-importation
associations--

33:45.500 --> 33:50.410
are an important stepping-stone
in the growing sense of colonial

33:50.405 --> 33:51.025
unity.

33:51.029 --> 33:56.479
Now it was at this moment that
Lord North passed the Tea Act.

33:56.480 --> 34:01.040
It actually had less to do with
the colonies than it had to do

34:01.035 --> 34:03.645
with a miserably timed
necessity.

34:03.650 --> 34:07.140
North was trying to save the
East India Tea Company from

34:07.141 --> 34:07.841
collapse.

34:07.838 --> 34:15.728
The Tea Act of 1773 removed
import duties on East India tea,

34:15.730 --> 34:19.070
which basically made British
tea cheaper than Dutch tea,

34:19.070 --> 34:23.190
in the hope that this would
inspire colonists to purchase

34:23.190 --> 34:24.220
British tea.

34:24.219 --> 34:24.509
Okay.

34:24.509 --> 34:27.639
So you would think and
certainly you can understand why

34:27.635 --> 34:31.225
Lord North would think that this
would make the colonists happy

34:31.226 --> 34:33.656
because he is lowering duties on
tea.

34:33.659 --> 34:37.359
The East India Company
hopefully, as he's thinking,

34:37.360 --> 34:40.610
would be solvent,
maybe the Townshend Act,

34:40.610 --> 34:42.920
my little tea tax left in place
there,

34:42.920 --> 34:46.150
is going to matter less because
I've just lowered duties on some

34:46.150 --> 34:48.540
tea,
so maybe now the colonists will

34:48.539 --> 34:51.139
pay the tea tax,
Parliament will obviously have

34:51.137 --> 34:53.307
the right to tax the colonies in
their eyes,

34:53.309 --> 34:55.669
and maybe this will actually
quiet things a little.

34:55.670 --> 34:59.370
But once again the British
government misjudged the

34:59.367 --> 35:02.187
colonial reaction--
again showing how you have

35:02.190 --> 35:05.270
different evolving mindsets here
and they're not necessarily,

35:05.268 --> 35:09.158
either one, understanding
what's happening in the other

35:09.155 --> 35:09.655
case.

35:09.659 --> 35:12.719
So the colonists not
surprisingly had their own

35:12.724 --> 35:14.594
interpretation of the act.

35:14.590 --> 35:18.570
They actually felt that the act
was granting a monopoly to the

35:18.565 --> 35:21.995
East India Tea Company,
enforcing the control of the

35:21.998 --> 35:25.598
British government over what
they felt like was supposed to

35:25.601 --> 35:28.601
be free trade,
so maybe in the future the

35:28.597 --> 35:32.927
British would begin to control
the importation of other goods

35:32.934 --> 35:33.734
as well.

35:33.730 --> 35:39.700
Okay, so somewhat paradoxically
by reducing the duty on English

35:39.704 --> 35:42.404
tea,
North helped fuel colonial

35:42.402 --> 35:46.602
fears that there was a plot in
England against colonial

35:46.603 --> 35:49.483
rights--
which inspired the colonists to

35:49.478 --> 35:52.998
imagine the worst immediately
when a suspicious act was

35:52.998 --> 35:53.648
passed.

35:53.650 --> 35:57.320
So: 'oh, this must be part of
that plot, this Tea Act.

35:57.320 --> 35:59.780
Yes, he may seem to be lowering
the duty on tea.

35:59.780 --> 36:01.660
There must be another motive.

36:01.659 --> 36:03.749
Ah, they must be trying to
control our trade.'

36:03.750 --> 36:07.460
You can sort of see on both
sides how the logic makes sense.

36:07.460 --> 36:09.540
You can also see how this is a
problem.

36:09.539 --> 36:12.549
As with the Stamp Act,
colonists responded by

36:12.547 --> 36:16.377
pinpointing the people who would
be distributing the tea,

36:16.376 --> 36:17.056
right?

36:17.059 --> 36:18.779
So first, you didn't want to be
a stamp agent;

36:18.780 --> 36:22.260
now you don't want to be a
person selling tea.

36:22.260 --> 36:24.940
So they pinpointed the
merchants who were selling tea

36:24.943 --> 36:27.063
and they pressured them not to
sell it.

36:27.059 --> 36:30.529
And broadsides were posted in
public places to inform and

36:30.525 --> 36:33.275
involve the populace,
saying things like:

36:33.280 --> 36:36.000
"Friends!--
Brethren!-- Countrymen--that

36:35.998 --> 36:38.218
worst of plagues,
the detested TEA,

36:38.221 --> 36:41.611
shipped for this port by the
East-India Company,

36:41.610 --> 36:45.790
is now arrived in this Harbour;
the Hour of Destruction,

36:45.786 --> 36:49.136
or manly opposition to the
Machinations of Tyranny,

36:49.135 --> 36:51.275
stares you in the face."

36:51.280 --> 36:53.020
It's a big drama.

36:53.018 --> 36:56.018
These are not people who do
things halfway:

36:56.021 --> 37:00.741
destruction--staring you in the
face--tyranny--manly opposition.

37:00.739 --> 37:05.189
So when ships loaded with tea
began arriving in major colonial

37:05.188 --> 37:08.468
ports, obviously things become
more heated.

37:08.469 --> 37:13.299
In some cities the tea was just
unloaded and then locked up in a

37:13.302 --> 37:16.142
warehouse and left there,
not sold.

37:16.139 --> 37:20.369
In Philadelphia and New York
they actually kept these ships

37:20.367 --> 37:23.647
with tea on them out away from
the harbor,

37:23.650 --> 37:26.510
so that they just never came in
close to shore.

37:26.510 --> 37:30.700
However, in Boston [laughs]
Governor Hutchinson decided to

37:30.702 --> 37:33.722
force the issue,
in his mind as a means of

37:33.717 --> 37:37.467
protecting British sovereignty
in the colonies.

37:37.469 --> 37:41.729
So Hutchinson ordered the tea
ships to be unloaded.

37:41.730 --> 37:42.160
Okay.

37:42.164 --> 37:47.034
So we have an eyewitness
account of someone who heard the

37:47.027 --> 37:51.757
response to that announcement,
who heard what happened when

37:51.757 --> 37:55.757
it--people heard that Hutchinson
was going to ask for the tea to

37:55.757 --> 37:58.737
be unloaded and it was at a
Boston town meeting:

37:58.742 --> 38:00.142
December 16,1773.

38:00.139 --> 38:04.489
Basically, people knew that
there was this tea-bearing ship

38:04.492 --> 38:07.932
in the harbor,
and they knew that on December

38:07.927 --> 38:11.197
16, in the evening,
the captain of that ship was

38:11.199 --> 38:14.969
going to go to the town meeting
and tell the town meeting--

38:14.969 --> 38:16.519
Samuel Adams who was chairing
the meeting--

38:16.518 --> 38:18.968
what was going to happen with
the tea.

38:18.969 --> 38:21.119
People knew that,
and thus there was an enormous

38:21.123 --> 38:23.653
crowd gathered outside of the
Old South Church where the

38:23.646 --> 38:26.026
meeting was being held to see
what would happen.

38:26.030 --> 38:26.350
Right?

38:26.347 --> 38:28.577
So everyone knows this is the
stare-down.

38:28.579 --> 38:30.259
Okay. What's going to happen?

38:30.260 --> 38:31.360
Is the tea coming off the boats?

38:31.360 --> 38:34.000
And if the tea's coming off the
boats, what happens next?

38:34.000 --> 38:37.430
Big crowd, and here's what this
eyewitness heard as the crowd

38:37.425 --> 38:40.615
learned that Hutchinson was
insisting on the unloading of

38:40.623 --> 38:41.313
the tea.

38:41.309 --> 38:44.739
So this eyewitness,
he's at home drinking tea

38:44.744 --> 38:46.384
[laughs]
when he said,

38:46.382 --> 38:49.742
I heard "such prodigious
shouts...

38:49.739 --> 38:52.469
that induced me,
while drinking tea at home,

38:52.465 --> 38:54.805
to go out and know the cause of
it.

38:54.809 --> 38:57.529
The meeting house was so
crowded I could get no farther

38:57.530 --> 39:00.500
than the porch ...You'd have
thought that the inhabitants of

39:00.503 --> 39:02.573
the infernal regions had broke
loose.

39:02.570 --> 39:05.020
For my part,
I went contentedly home and

39:05.021 --> 39:06.531
finished my tea."

39:06.530 --> 39:08.440
[laughter] What's going on?

39:08.440 --> 39:09.930
I got to go finish my tea.

39:09.929 --> 39:12.689
[laughs]
"But was soon informed

39:12.686 --> 39:15.126
what was going forward."

39:15.130 --> 39:15.350
Right?

39:15.353 --> 39:17.113
Is soon told they're going to
unload the tea,

39:17.110 --> 39:20.200
"but still not crediting
it without ocular

39:20.195 --> 39:22.005
demonstration"
[laughs]

39:22.007 --> 39:23.767
okay,
eighteenth century:

39:23.766 --> 39:25.946
I wanted to see it for myself,
right?

39:25.945 --> 39:28.245
But not crediting it without
"ocular

39:28.253 --> 39:30.563
demonstration,"
I went to watch.

39:30.559 --> 39:30.909
Okay.

39:30.907 --> 39:35.147
So our eyewitness goes off to
get ocular demonstrations of the

39:35.150 --> 39:39.070
unloading of the tea,
but what he ends up watching is

39:39.065 --> 39:42.855
an assemblage of somewhere
between thirty and sixty men

39:42.856 --> 39:47.276
disguised as Indians aboard
three ships on Griffin's Wharf,

39:47.280 --> 39:52.670
and these men basically worked
on those ships for several hours

39:52.666 --> 39:56.486
and threw 342 chests of tea over
the side.

39:56.489 --> 40:00.419
A huge number of people watched
from the docks and,

40:00.420 --> 40:03.850
as I mentioned before when I
was talking about the Stamp Act,

40:03.849 --> 40:06.439
riots and popular
demonstrations were kind of a

40:06.443 --> 40:08.983
regular part of the system in
the colonies.

40:08.980 --> 40:12.240
Riots were not normally chaotic
moments of violence and disorder

40:12.240 --> 40:14.620
unless you were
shingle-by-shingle taking apart

40:14.621 --> 40:16.491
[laughs]
the house of the stamp agent

40:16.485 --> 40:18.835
for example,
but usually they were almost

40:18.835 --> 40:20.685
ritualized demonstrations of
protest.

40:20.690 --> 40:25.590
So what we have here is not a
wild riot on these ships.

40:25.590 --> 40:29.410
Protestors were so careful not
to do anything other than make

40:29.414 --> 40:32.104
their point,
not to do anything other than

40:32.103 --> 40:34.783
destroy tea,
that allegedly they brought a

40:34.777 --> 40:38.447
locksmith with them to open
locks or repair locks that were

40:38.454 --> 40:39.094
broken.

40:39.090 --> 40:40.590
These are people who understand
property rights.

40:40.594 --> 40:40.854
Right?

40:40.849 --> 40:41.739
'We value property.

40:41.739 --> 40:43.029
We don't want to break your
locks.'

40:43.030 --> 40:44.730
They're not actually out to get
the ship owners;

40:44.730 --> 40:46.720
they just want the tea.

40:46.719 --> 40:49.639
So they actually were very
orderly about the way in which

40:49.641 --> 40:51.261
they went to destroy the tea.

40:51.260 --> 40:54.050
So to give us a sense of what
happened, I'm going to use an

40:54.054 --> 40:55.264
account by another man.

40:55.260 --> 40:56.900
His name is George Hughes.

40:56.900 --> 40:59.720
He actually helped destroy the
tea, so he's one of the people

40:59.724 --> 41:01.564
throwing chests of tea over the
side.

41:01.559 --> 41:04.319
And in his account,
Hughes says that back at the

41:04.315 --> 41:06.675
Old South Church,
the announcement that

41:06.675 --> 41:10.285
Hutchinson was going to order
the unloading of the tea led to,

41:10.289 --> 41:13.299
quote, "a general huzzah
for Griffin's Wharf."

41:13.300 --> 41:16.390
A huzzah is an
eighteenth-century hooray:

41:16.393 --> 41:19.103
'hooray, off to Griffin's
Wharf.'

41:19.099 --> 41:20.599
So these guys were like:
You're going to unload the tea?

41:20.599 --> 41:23.299
We're there [laughs]
and something bad is going to

41:23.295 --> 41:23.785
happen.

41:23.789 --> 41:28.059
So Hughes, a participant in
what would come to be known--

41:28.059 --> 41:29.619
but not until well into the
nineteenth century--

41:29.619 --> 41:33.509
as the Boston Tea Party,
continues his account.

41:33.510 --> 41:35.900
He says, "It was now
evening, and I immediately

41:35.900 --> 41:38.850
dressed myself in the costume of
an Indian equipped with a small

41:38.853 --> 41:39.513
hatchet...

41:39.510 --> 41:41.890
with which and a club,
after having painted my face

41:41.887 --> 41:44.547
and hands with coal dust in the
shop of a blacksmith,

41:44.550 --> 41:47.180
I repaired to Griffin's Wharf
where the ships lay that

41:47.177 --> 41:49.857
contained the tea,"
and Hughes is ordered to go to

41:49.856 --> 41:52.336
the captain and "demand of
him the keys to the

41:52.335 --> 41:54.265
hatches"
because they don't want to

41:54.269 --> 41:56.679
damage the ship,
"and a dozen candles"

41:56.681 --> 41:58.231
so that they can see what
they're doing.

41:58.230 --> 41:59.200
[laughs]
Right?

41:59.195 --> 42:01.815
Just being very sort of polite
here.

42:01.820 --> 42:03.990
"The captain promptly
replied and delivered the

42:03.992 --> 42:06.722
articles but requested me at the
same time to do no damage to the

42:06.721 --> 42:07.831
ship or rigging."

42:07.829 --> 42:11.069
So these Indians cut and split
the tea chests with their

42:11.070 --> 42:13.250
tomahawks and threw them
overboard.

42:13.250 --> 42:16.400
There were some people who
tried to climb on board the ship

42:16.400 --> 42:18.900
to scoop up tea to take back
home with them.

42:18.900 --> 42:22.070
This was not a wise thing to do
because they were caught and

42:22.068 --> 42:25.288
their hats and wigs were dumped
in the water with the tea and

42:25.291 --> 42:27.281
they were kicked away,
literally.

42:27.280 --> 42:30.540
The crowd sort of just kicked
them away from the ships on the

42:30.543 --> 42:30.983
wharf.

42:30.980 --> 42:33.330
So Hughes concludes his account
by saying,

42:33.329 --> 42:36.429
"We then quietly retired
to our several places of

42:36.429 --> 42:38.619
residence,
without having any conversation

42:38.621 --> 42:41.301
with each other or taking any
measures to discover who were

42:41.297 --> 42:42.727
our associates,"
right?

42:42.730 --> 42:44.340
Because they're all
disguised."

42:44.340 --> 42:47.450
"Nor do I recollect of our
having had the knowledge of the

42:47.454 --> 42:50.324
name of a single individual
concerned in the affair....

42:50.320 --> 42:52.510
There appeared to be an
understanding that each

42:52.510 --> 42:55.420
individual should volunteer his
services, keep his own secret,

42:55.418 --> 42:57.418
and risk the consequences for
himself.

42:57.420 --> 43:00.770
No disorder took place during
that transaction,

43:00.768 --> 43:03.388
and it was observed at that
time that the stillest night

43:03.393 --> 43:06.023
ensued that Boston had enjoyed
for many months."

43:06.019 --> 43:07.129
So, not wild abandon.

43:07.130 --> 43:10.870
It's a pretty controlled riot.

43:10.869 --> 43:13.569
However, Lord North was
dumbfounded because he really

43:13.570 --> 43:16.110
thought he had given the
colonies what he called a

43:16.114 --> 43:18.664
"relief"
instead of an oppression,

43:18.659 --> 43:21.739
and he assumed that only what
he called,

43:21.739 --> 43:23.989
quote, "New England
fanatics"

43:23.990 --> 43:26.480
would have rebelled against his
measure.

43:26.480 --> 43:31.080
So this event,
this tea event in Boston,

43:31.079 --> 43:34.669
is proof to him that the issue
no longer is one of taxation but

43:34.670 --> 43:38.090
now this appears to him to be
more about whether Britain had

43:38.088 --> 43:40.938
any authority over,
quote, "the haughty

43:40.943 --> 43:43.083
American republicans at
all."

43:43.079 --> 43:45.659
And this is an actual
transcription of part of the

43:45.657 --> 43:49.077
parliamentary debate over what
to do after this was discovered.

43:49.079 --> 43:52.409
North said,
"The Americans have tarred

43:52.414 --> 43:55.014
and feathered your subjects,
plundered your merchants,

43:55.010 --> 43:57.780
burnt your ships,
denied all obedience to your

43:57.782 --> 44:00.822
laws and authority;
yet so clement and so long

44:00.815 --> 44:04.785
forbearing has our conduct been,
that is--it is incumbent on us

44:04.789 --> 44:06.969
now to take a different course.

44:06.969 --> 44:08.919
Whatever may be the
consequence, we must risk

44:08.918 --> 44:09.448
something.

44:09.449 --> 44:12.569
If we do not all is over."

44:12.570 --> 44:15.640
And another Member of
Parliament said he thought,

44:15.639 --> 44:18.779
quote, "The town of Boston
ought to be knocked about their

44:18.780 --> 44:20.150
ears and destroyed."

44:20.150 --> 44:22.180
[laughter] Okay.

44:22.179 --> 44:25.109
"I am of opinion you will
never meet with that proper

44:25.114 --> 44:28.254
obedience to the laws of this
country until you have destroyed

44:28.253 --> 44:29.853
that nest of locusts."

44:29.849 --> 44:30.099
Okay.

44:30.097 --> 44:31.927
Boston is not popular in
Parliament.

44:31.929 --> 44:34.809
Another member said--we're
moving back in to arrogant

44:34.813 --> 44:38.343
British quotation territory--
Lord North could not do "a

44:38.342 --> 44:41.512
better thing than to put an end
to their town meetings.

44:41.510 --> 44:44.840
I would not have a man of a
mercantile cast every day

44:44.836 --> 44:48.286
collecting him--themselves
together, and debating about

44:48.291 --> 44:49.701
political matters.

44:49.699 --> 44:52.529
I would have them follow their
occupations as merchants,

44:52.525 --> 44:55.705
and not consider themselves as
ministers of that country....

44:55.710 --> 44:57.450
You have, Sir,
no government,

44:57.447 --> 44:59.847
no governor,
the whole are the proceedings

44:59.851 --> 45:01.731
of a tumultuous and riotous
rabble,

45:01.730 --> 45:04.240
who ought, if they had the
least prudence,

45:04.239 --> 45:06.599
to follow their mercantile
employment,

45:06.599 --> 45:09.889
and not trouble themselves with
politics and government,

45:09.889 --> 45:12.049
which they do not
understand."

45:12.050 --> 45:12.890
[laughs]
Okay.

45:12.893 --> 45:15.303
Go back to your regular jobs,
guys.

45:15.300 --> 45:17.120
Don't mess in government.

45:17.119 --> 45:18.619
What are they doing?

45:18.619 --> 45:20.099
Why are they doing this?

45:20.099 --> 45:21.059
They're merchants.

45:21.059 --> 45:22.859
They're not politicians,
and look what they're doing.

45:22.860 --> 45:25.310
They're messing up the imperial
system.

45:25.309 --> 45:25.639
Okay.

45:25.643 --> 45:29.383
The result of that kind of
sentiment would be the passage

45:29.382 --> 45:33.392
of four acts that Americans
termed the Intolerable Acts,

45:33.389 --> 45:39.019
passed in Parliament in the
spring of 1774.

45:39.018 --> 45:43.338
And I'm so on the cusp of
running out of time.

45:43.340 --> 45:47.300
I think what I will do is pause
there since we're just about out

45:47.302 --> 45:48.562
of time for class.

45:48.559 --> 45:50.019
We will continue.

45:50.018 --> 45:54.408
We will add the details of the
Intolerable Acts and then move

45:54.407 --> 45:58.647
in to the logic of resistance,
which is going to look at how

45:58.654 --> 46:02.644
this is adding up to an ongoing
logic in the colonial mindset.

46:02.639 --> 46:04.299
I'll stop there.

46:04.300 --> 46:10.000