The Handy Boston Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Sir Francis Bernard, 1st Baronet, was the British governor of New Jersey (1758–1760) and then, from 1760 to 1769, of Massachusetts.

      From our modern-day perspective, this sounds extreme, as if Governor Bernard did not see all the Americans that were still loyal to the crown. But he was on the ground, as we say today, and the chances are that he really felt that the British Empire—in America, at least—was coming to an end. The proof is that he summoned the first British regiments to Boston. They arrived on October 1, 1768.

      What did the Massachusetts legislature say to King George III?

      In January 1768, the Massachusetts House of Representatives sent a humble address to King George III. Some of the language is overdone, and even flighty, but there are sections in which the Bostonians’ case is laid out extremely well.

      It is with the deepest concern that your humble suppliants would represent to your Majesty that your Parliament, the rectitude of whose intentions is never to be questioned, has thought proper to pass diverse acts imposing taxes on your Majesty’s subjects in America with the sole and express purpose of raising a revenue. If your Majesty’s subjects here shall be deprived of the honor and privilege of voluntarily contributing their aid to your Majesty.… If these Acts of Parliament shall remain in force … your people must then regret their unhappy fate in having only the name left of free subjects.

      In all this time, had there been no real British regular troops stationed in Boston?

      Correct. George III and his ministers believed, until 1768, that the disturbances in America were essentially civil in nature: that they could be contained by just a handful of officials. Governor Bernard’s dispatches convinced them otherwise, and the first British redcoats arrived in October 1768. Paul Revere, who doubled as a silversmith and an engraver, made a fine illustration of the soldiers coming ashore, complete with horses and artillery. Lacking barracks, most of the soldiers pitched tents on Boston Common.

      How did Bostonians respond to the arrival of British troops?

      One way to answer this is to quote from the Boston Evening Post. On October 3, 1768, the paper editorialized: “We now behold the Representatives’ Chamber, Court-House, and Faneuil-Hall, those seats of freedom and justice occupied with troops, and guards placed at the doors, the Common covered with tents, and alive with soldiers; marching and countermarching to relieve the guards, in short, the town is now a perfect garrison.” Two months later, on Christmas Day, the same paper commented “One great objection to the quartering of troops in the body of a town, is the danger the inhabitants will be in of having their morals debauched. The ear being accustomed to oaths and imprecations, will be the less shocked at the profanity, and the frequent spectacles of drunkenness.”

      Did the townspeople adjust to having troops in their midst?

      One thousand soldiers came at first, but their number was increased and by the summer of 1769 there were four thousand British soldiers in town, about one for every four civilians. Not only did this make the narrow peninsula crowded, but there were inevitable tensions between troops and townspeople. The Bostonians took a “good cop, bad cop” approach, meaning that they were very accommodating at certain times, and absolutely maddening at others. The British soldiers were not well paid by King George, and many were pleased to take up odd jobs working for the townspeople. The rope walks, which turned out the vital necessaries for ships, were a popular place of work.

THE BOSTON MASSACRE

      Do we know everything about the Boston Massacre?

      We don’t. Even though hundreds of pages of testimony were included in the official record, and even though there were dozens of anecdotal reports, some parts of the Boston Massacre remain somewhat obscure. Why did the terrible occasion take place on this particular night, for example, and not earlier? Why didn’t someone in authority as-certain the danger, and do something to put out the flame of discontent?

      What we can say is that no one planned the Massacre. Neither the British soldiers who emptied their muskets in the direction of the crowd, or even the most aggressive member of that crowd, really believed it would turn into the first bloodshed of the American Revolution. British soldiers and Bostonians had conflicted many times previous, but no group of British soldiers had ever opened fire on a crowd.

      Is it surprising that tensions grew between Bostonians and the British soldiers in the winter of 1769–1770?

      Not at all. Firewood was very costly (all the trees in the local area had long since been cut down), and both townspeople and soldiers found it difficult to stay warm. That winter was no worse than average, but that meant plenty of ice and snow. And when a crowd of Bostonians came to the door of the Customs House on March 5, 1770, they were looking for trouble.

      Two weeks earlier there had been a nasty scuffle outside the home of a firm Loyalist. Rushing upstairs, he seized a pistol and discharged it, killing a nine-year-old boy. Some historians consider Christopher Seider the first casualty of the American Revolution. Nearly two thousand people attended his funeral, and Bostonians were tense beyond the usual degree when February turned to March. On the evening of March 5, a group of perhaps forty Bostonians came to the Customs House, and harassed the one British soldier standing guard outside the door.

      How did the discontent turn into the Boston Massacre?

Private Hugh White stood his ground for some time, using his bayonet to keep the Boston crowd at bay. Bostonians hurled snowballs, and then ice balls at him. White ran inside the Customs House and rang the one large bell, which summoned seven other soldiers and Captain Thomas Preston. Eight British soldiers stood with their muskets in front of a crowd of Bostonians that grew to over two hundred.