Run up to the Revolution, V: Olive branches and stolen cannons

Before the Continental Congress ended in late October, 1774, it had shot arrows toward King George III and Parliament in London, one of them a last-ditch “olive branch” appealing to the king to solve the dispute with the Mother Country, and the other a warning to Parliament that if it was not solved, a boycott of British goods was about to begin in earnest.

While a few delegates expected the arrows to ameliorate the problems between the colonists and Great Britain, most did not, and had successfully pushed in Philadelphia to decree militia training under local auspices. So before returning to Mount Vernon, Virginia delegate George Washington bought muskets and military apparel, and ordered a book on military discipline. Once home, he actively supported the boycott.

Massachusetts delegate John Adams, upon returning home, became enraged by a newspaper essay from a man calling himself Massachusettensis, who hated the boycott idea; so Adams, under the pseudonym Novanglus, began to compose an ardent defense of the boycott, the military training, and of putting economic distance between the colonies and Great Britain.

A similar goad from a pro-British essayist who called himself a farmer awakened the talents of a then-unknown sophomore at Kings College in New York, Alexander Hamilton. He wrote, in anonymous articles later collected as “The Farmer Refuted,” that it was stupid of Great Britain to attempt to stifle the economic growth of a continent whose natural resources “will infinitely exceed the demands that Great Britain and her connections can possibly have for them.” Hamilton predicted that these natural resources, and America’s prodigious population growth, would assure the colonies’ win in any future conflict.

That same argument – population growth, natural resources – was being woven into the fabric of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, then in preparation, and had long been proffered by the Massachusetts and Pennsylvania colonies’ agent in London, Benjamin Franklin, 68, who had all but exhausted his nine-year attempt to sway British opinion to reduce rather than exacerbate tensions. Then Franklin received an odd invitation: to play chess with the sister of the two Lord Howes, so they could chat about how to prevent things from becoming worse. That session went well, and at a second, during his courtesy visit on Christmas Day, she asked if he would like to speak privately with her brother, who soon arrived. Viscount Howe requested that Franklin write up a proposal for reconciliation. He did.

It was rejected out of hand, as was the “olive branch.” King George III’s reaction: “The New England governments are now in a state of rebellion [and] blows must decide whether they are to be subject to this country or independent.” Virtually no one else was uttering that incendiary word, “independence,” even in America. A new Parliament had been selected at the behest of the king, who judged the old one too lenient. The new MPs vowed to support the king in whatever he did. Troops were readied to sail and instructions were sent to Boston to seize the property of the wealthy John Hancock and other leaders.

The wound was not to be treated; more salt was to be poured in.

And this, despite George’s general in America, Thomas Gage, having pleaded with London to rescind the main cause of the wound, the Coercive Acts.

Gage sought to avoid war but prepared for it, augmenting his Boston garrison to nine regiments – one Redcoat for every five Bostonians. Emboldened, the Redcoats ran their sabers through Hancock’s wooden fence and barged into his stables to assess them for a barracks. In reaction, a Hancock-led “safety committee” stole some British cannons. In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, several hundred like-minded colonists invaded Fort William and Mary, looting cannons and gunpowder.

There were still thoughtful Americans who believed that outright war could be averted. Twenty-three-year old college graduate James Madison, at his estate, Montpelier, looked into having a “Bill of Rights” adopted by Parliament to give colonists a way of redressing grievances and enabling America’s liberties to be “firmly fixed.” But Madison too joined his local Committee of Safety and prepared its militia for service.

Next time: In early 1775, further provocations and preparations.

Salisbury resident Tom Shachtman has written many books, including three about the Revolutionary Era.

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

All are welcome at The Mahaiwe

Paquito D’Rivera performs at the Mahaiwe in Great Barrington on April 5.

Geandy Pavon

Natalia Bernal is the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center’s education and community engagement manager and is, in her own words, “the one who makes sure that Mahaiwe events are accessible to all.”

The Mahaiwe’s community engagement program is rooted in the belief that the performing arts should be for everyone. “We are committed to establishing and growing partnerships with neighboring community and arts organizations to develop pathways for overcoming social and practical barriers,” Bernal explained. “Immigrants, people of color, communities with low income, those who have traditionally been underserved in the performing arts, should feel welcomed at the Mahaiwe.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Living with the things you love:
a conversation with Mary Randolph Carter
Mary Randolph Carter teaches us to surround ourselves with what matters to live happily ever after.
Carter Berg

There is magic in a home filled with the things we love, and Mary Randolph Carter, affectionately known as “Carter,” has spent a lifetime embracing that magic. Her latest book, “Live with the Things You Love … and You’ll Live Happily Ever After,” is about storytelling, joy, and honoring life’s poetry through the objects we keep.

“This is my tenth book,” Carter said. “At the root of each is my love of collecting, the thrill of the hunt, and living surrounded by things that conjure up family, friends, and memories.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Beloved classic film ‘The Red Shoes’ comes to the big screen for Triplex benefit
Provided

On Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m., The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington and Jacob’s Pillow, the dance festival in Becket, Massachusetts, are presenting a special benefit screening of the cinematic masterpiece, “The Red Shoes,” followed by a discussion and Q&A. Featuring guest speakers Norton Owen, director of preservation at Jacob’s Pillow, and dance historian Lynn Garafola, the event is a fundraiser for The Triplex.

“We’re pitching in, as it were, because we like to help our neighbors,” said Norton. “They (The Triplex) approached us with the idea, wanting some input if they were going to do a dance film. I thought of Lynn as the perfect person also to include in this because of her knowledge of The Ballets Russes and the book that she wrote about Diaghilev. There is so much in this film, even though it’s fictional, that derives from the Ballets Russes.” Garafola, the leading expert on the Ballets Russes under Serge Diaghilev, 1909–1929, the most influential company in twentieth-century theatrical dance, said, “We see glimpses of that Russian émigré tradition, performances we don’t see much of today. The film captures the artifice of ballet, from the behind-the-scenes world of dressers and conductors to the sheer passion of the audience.”

Keep ReadingShow less