“Massachusetts, [Samuel Adams] insisted, needed to step forward to serve as an example for the other colonies in order to win their backing for a boycott of British goods” (116).
The Book
American colonists loved tea. They loved it so much that it
was a lucrative item for smugglers, who avoided the East India Company (EIC)
monopoly and crown taxes. The Tea Act of 1773 was meant to bring down the price
of tea and save EIC from bankruptcy. Responses throughout the colonies varied,
but the majority of colonists saw this as another example of taxation without
representation. Several months after news of the act arrived in America, a ship
with a cargo of tea sailed into the Boston harbor. There was a 20-day deadline
to pay the tax or have the cargo confiscated. A two-day meeting resulted in a
unanimous vote to prevent its landing and send it back to England. The ship’s
captain resisted and one night before the deadline, the Boston Tea Party occurred.
From that moment on, Norton traces the reactions of the other
colonies and the progression towards declaring independence; and Boston looms
large as the catalyst. In May 1774, Parliament retaliated by closing the ports
of Boston and New York City. Shocked, Boston asked the other colonies to join
them in a boycott of trade with Great Britain. Deliberation occurred in town
meetings, personal correspondence, broadsides, and editorial letters. None of
the colonies supported the boycott, but they did all agree to a continental
congress. Meanwhile, Boston was an occupied city with British troops, a closed
port, and an altered governing charter.
The First Continental Congress—which met from September
5-October 26, 1774—agreed to a staggered response: October 1774, they would
stop buying tea and in March 1775, they would stop consuming tea. During the
winter of 1774-1775, letters from prominent and regular colonists reflected a
crisis about to come to a head and the term “loyalist” first appeared. Calls
for a Second Continental Congress reflected a shift from peacefully resolving
the issues to talk of independence. In spring 1775, British soldiers in Boston
increased their harassment of colonists and news arrived that Parliament
declared the American colonies in rebellion.
1774: The Long Year of Revolution opens up a new window into the American Revolution. Its focus on providing context and insight from everyday colonists enhanced my understanding of what happened in 1774. Much of the deliberation occurred in print and Norton liberally quotes from letters, newspapers, and pseudonym letters to the editor. She provides a fuller picture by incorporating well-known figures as well as those lost to history. These figures are from all sides: royal governors, Sons of Liberty, printers, moderate colonists, loyalists, and patriots. They also include women who wrote letters to their husbands serving in the First Continental Congress. The letters include political commentary, highly unusual for that time. The chapters are long, but they are split into sections. Each chapter begins with an introductory story that sets the stage for the rest of the chapter. A handful of black and white images are sprinkled throughout, mostly depicting political illustrations of the time.
The Place
