The Handy Boston Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ rose to about 14,000, but plateaued there, and saw no visible increase for some time thereafter. Competition from other coastal towns inside and outside of New England, cut into the profits of the Boston merchants. One of the outstanding changes of the decade was seen in the creation of Faneuil Hall, still known today as one of the most popular and attractive of all places in Boston.

      Andrew Faneuil was the son of a Huguenot merchant who escaped France during a period of religious persecution and settled in Boston. Andrew built a large establishment close to Long Wharf, and when his financial situation called for retrenchment, he asked the town to take Faneuil Hall as a free gift. Bostonians are known for prickly, even suspicious behavior; even so, it was astounding that the special Town Meeting approved the gift by the narrow margin of seven votes! One wonders if the subsequent public history of Boston might have been different if the voters had rejected the measure.

      Did the rise of George Whitefield come at about the same time (1740s) as that of the House of Hancock?

      Thomas Hancock was a very successful merchant who raised himself by his bootstraps to become the richest man in town (he profited mightily from the trade in food stuffs and military stores during King George’s War). Not having any son to leave the business to, Hancock eventually adopted his nephew, John Hancock, and the family firm was on its way to prosperity and fame.

      How did King George’s War affect Boston?

      One might think the Bostonians would be blasé where war was concerned, but this turned out to be false. When the news arrived that King George II of England had exchanged declarations of war with King Louis XV of France, Massachusetts was eager to strike a blow on behalf of the Hanoverian monarchy. Two birds could be felled by the same stone, some merchants argued because the fortified town of Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island, competed with Boston in the lumber and cod fish trade. Governor William Shirley was already popular with the people of Massachusetts, but he went one step further by recommending a naval expedition to subdue Louisbourg. On previous occasions, Boston had supplied most of the men and materiel, but this time the entire Province of Massachusetts—which then included Maine—came forward. Farmers and fishermen from all parts of the province volunteered, and numerous merchants offered their ships to the flotilla.

In March 1745, more than one hundred vessels sailed from Boston, carrying more than four thousand men and a great deal of military supplies. The Yankee fleet rendezvoused with a British naval squadron, commanded by Admiral Sir Peter Warren off the coast of Nova Scotia, and the combined Anglo-American force sailed on to assault Louisbourg.

      The year 1745 seems early in the life of Boston and Massachusetts to launch such an ambitious undertaking as the assault on Louisbourg. Were there any foul-ups?

      There were quite a few, in fact. Not only did certain men and officers refuse to serve under those from other towns and counties, but there was quite a deal of competition between the sailors of the British men-of-war and the American transport ships. Even so, the force landed in May, at the cost of only a few men wounded. The French knew that Americans were coming, but their preparations were, if anything, even more delayed.

      How long did it take to subdue Louisbourg?

      The siege ran for just about forty days, during which the French garrison resisted stubbornly. The Anglo-American force had too much firepower, however, and when the Yankee soldiers captured the so-called Grand Battery and turned its guns against the fortress, Louisbourg was doomed. On June 17, 1745, the French garrison hauled down its flag, which was replaced by the Union Jack. The extremely audacious expedition had succeeded.

      Town after town, up and down the eastern coast of North America, celebrated as the good news arrived. One newspaper after another ran special extras, singing the praises of Governor Shirley and Major-General William Pepperrell (both men were soon knighted as a result of their efforts). Two sour notes were sounded, however. First, the British Royal Navy men took a hefty share of the prize money, and second, many Massachusetts men died from smallpox while guarding the captured fort over the next two years. Many Yankees had a bitter taste in their mouth, especially when Louisbourg was returned to France under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.

      A c. 1747 painting of the siege of Louisbourg in 1745. Boston forces aided the English to capture the French garrison. Interestingly, it would not be that many years before the Americans and French were allies.

      Did the capture of Louisbourg better Boston’s economic prospects, at least?

      Even this failed to materialize. Louisbourg was out of economic action for several years, but Boston did not see any corresponding rise in its own wealth. Many Massachusetts men declared the entire Louisbourg enterprise a debacle, and they vowed to have nothing further to do with any military events that included the British. Then too, Boston saw several riots against British press gangs in the autumn of 1747. All told, the 1740s were a decade that witnessed Boston growing further apart from the English motherland.

FORESHADOWING THE REVOLUTION

      Most of us know Boston either as “The Cradle of Liberty” or “The Athens of America.” Where did the phrase “Cradle of Violence” come from?

      Historian Russell Bourne issued his book Cradle of Violence in 2006, and discussions of early maritime history have been better informed ever since. Bourne saw it as his job to free the Boston waterfront mobs from the negative impression most people had of them; he successfully argued that the Boston waterfront mobs were, in fact, vital to the winning of American independence. In his book, Bourne presented his first case, about the Knowles Riots of 1747, to readers who had never heard the story before.

      Who was Commodore Knowles and why were there riots in 1747?

      In 1747 Commodore John Knowles commanded the British vessels in and around Boston. Many of these ships had been involved in the Louisbourg expedition of 1745, and bad feelings lingered, especially between the Royal Navy sailors and the people of the Old North End. In November 1747, Knowles learned that thirty of his men had deserted, and, furious that they found shelter in Boston, he sent press gangs right into the heart of the town. The press gangs succeeded initially—they brought back forty-six men to replace the thirty that were lost—but they also evoked the anger of the Boston mob. Perhaps three hundred men participated in the initial resistance, but they were joined by perhaps two thousand others. Governor Shirley had to take refuge on Castle Island.

      Not surprisingly, Commodore Knowles threatened to bombard the town, and there is no doubt he would have singled out the North End for special punishment. Governor Shirley was able to dissuade him, and Knowles sailed away a few weeks later, but lingering fears and suspicions developed. Was the Boston mob truly this unruly? Why was the civil authority unable to deal with the situation?

      Was there any way to differentiate a native Bostonian—in around the year 1750—from a recent arrival?

      True Bostonians claimed they could tell the difference in a heartbeat (some of their descendants make that claim today). The native Bostonian tended to be cool on first acquaintance, but if he or she became a friend, it was usually as a friend for life. The average Bostonian tended to be more concerned with nautical matters than with agricultural ones, and to be keen on learning everything possible about what transpired in other parts of the Atlantic world.

      Where was Benjamin Franklin during the 1750s?

      Franklin was by now the leading citizen of Quaker Philadelphia, and he had long since shaken the dust of Boston from his boots. Franklin was farsighted enough, however, to see that the calendar change might СКАЧАТЬ