However, a change in the English ministry had determined parliament to suppress all the duties except that on tea; but this apparent return to a system of moderation in no way appeased the resentment of the citizens of Massachusetts, who saw nothing but caprice in the measure, or a new method employed by parliament to establish its right of interference in colonial affairs; and they determined not to abandon the contested point.
A circumstance soon after occurred in Boston, which might have been followed by the most serious consequences. The English soldiers accustomed to regard the citizens as rebels, treated them with severity; and the citizens irritated by their incessant ill treatment, cherished a violent hatred against the troops, allowing no opportunity of expressing their dislike to escape. On the 5th of March, 1770, a detachment under command of Captain Preston was insulted by some boys, who, it is said, pelted them with snow balls, and abused them. Blinded by resentment, the soldiers charged and fired upon the crowd, wounding five dangerously, others slightly, and killing three outright. The citizens immediately flew to arms, and but for the intervention of the governor and magistrates, Preston and his men would have been exterminated. The troop were arrested and tried, but such was the feeling of justice that animated the inhabitants of Boston, that the jurors, convinced that the soldiers had been provoked, entirely acquitted them.
This event convinced the popular party that an open struggle with the mother country was unavoidable, and that they must prepare for it. In consequence, secret committees of correspondence were organized, in order to regulate the measures that would soon have to be adopted. The utility of this organization, then called the league and covenant, soon became apparent.
From the time the tax on tea was established, the Bostonians resolved to relinquish its use, rather than receive it from the English, and thenceforward the East India company received no more orders. The company, however sorry for the loss of their market, determined to send several cargoes of tea to their agents in Boston who would pay the duties and thus avoid the difficulty. But scarcely was the arrival of these cargoes known, before the public agitation became great. The next morning the following hand bill was widely circulated through the city.
“Friends, brethren, fellow citizens!
“The accursed tea sent to this port by the East India company has arrived. The hour of destruction, or of vigorous resistance to the machinations of tyranny has struck. All those who love their country, who are jealous of their own happiness and who wish to deserve well of posterity, are invited to assemble at Faneuil Hall, to day at 9 o’clock (the bells will then ring) to concert a determined resistance to this destructive and infamous measure of the administration.
Boston 29th. Nov. 1773.”
The citizens eagerly responded to this patriotic call. The concourse was so great that the Hall could not contain the people, and they were obliged to adjourn to a more ample space; the discussions which were commenced and continued at this meeting prevented any resolution from being adopted on that day. The meeting adjourned until next day, and 500 persons under command of Capt. Proctor were appointed to watch that the tea should not be landed during the night. The meeting of the 30th. was still more numerous, and the ardor of the citizens was farther augmented by the governor’s proclamation, which commanded them to renounce their projected resistance to the law, and to disperse on peril of their lives. The governor’s orders were treated with universal contempt, and the meeting calmly proceeded to draft several propositions which were accepted, and it was decided, that those who had used the tea without reflection since the tax was laid, should be censured, and that those who received it for the future should be declared enemies to their country. The members of the assembly pledged themselves by oath, to support the different resolutions with their lives and fortunes; after which they voted thanks to their neighbours of the vicinity of Boston for the promptness with which they had joined them, and also to Jonah Williams for the manner in which he had acted as moderator. After appointing a committee to hasten the departure of the tea ships, the meeting adjourned. Many days were spent in negotiation between the committee and the authorities without producing the departure of the vessels.
On the 15th of December, a more numerous meeting of citizens than had yet been collected, occurred; more than two thousand persons from the country were present. Samuel Philips Savage, of Weston, was chosen moderator, and Mr. Rotch, owner of one of the vessels, was cited before the meeting to account for her remaining in port, and declared that the collector of the customs had refused to clear her. He was directed to have her ready to sail that day, at his own risk and peril, to protest immediately against the custom house, and to address the governor directly for a clearance. The meeting was about to adjourn until the next day, but Josiah Quincy, Jr. an influential member of the popular party, endowed with great energy of character, detained his fellow citizens and reminded them of their pledge in the city to sustain all their resolutions at peril of their lives and fortunes. At a quarter past six Mr. Rotch returned. The governor’s answer was, that for the honour of the laws, and the respect due to the king, he would not allow the ships to depart, until all formalities should be freely and fully concluded by the custom house. This answer produced much commotion in the meeting. Immediately a man who was in the gallery dressed in the costume of a Mohawk Indian, uttered a war whoop, which was re-echoed by about thirty persons at the door, dressed in the same manner, when the meeting was dissolved as if by enchantment. The crowd hastened towards the harbor. The men disguised as Indians, rushed on board the tea ships, and in less than two hours, all the tea chests were broken open and thrown into the sea; every thing else on board was left untouched; and after this expedition, the multitude withdrew silently and in order. This scene occurred in presence of several vessels of war, and as it were under the eyes and guns of the garrison of the fort, without the government attempting to make the least resistance, so grand and so imposing is the anger of a people who throw off the shackles of tyranny.
The names of the citizens disguised as Indians were never made known; several of them are said to be still living, and enjoy with modesty the happiness of having struck the first blow which shook the royal power on the American continent.