Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a secret organization formed in 1765 in the American colonies in response to growing discontent with British rule, particularly following the imposition of the Stamp Act. Comprised initially of local craftsmen and laborers in Boston, the group expanded across the thirteen colonies, promoting resistance against British taxation and control. They famously protested the Stamp Act through violent demonstrations and orchestrated notable events like the Boston Tea Party in 1773, where they dumped British tea into the harbor to oppose what they viewed as oppressive taxation without representation. The organization employed guerilla tactics, instilling fear among British officials and mobilizing public support for their cause. Throughout its existence, the group’s rallying cry was "no taxation without representation," reflecting their demand for civil liberties and self-governance. The Sons of Liberty played a significant role in the lead-up to the American Revolutionary War and remained active until the conclusion of the conflict in 1783. Their actions were pivotal in shaping colonial resistance and fostering a sense of American identity against British authority.
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Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a secret colonial American organization formed in 1765 to protest and subvert British control of the thirteen American colonies. American displeasure with British rule had been growing for several years by 1765, but Great Britain's passing of the Stamp Act that year finally spurred small groups of colonists into action. Angered that Britain was now forcing Americans to pay for stamps for many paper products, the Sons of Liberty first organized around the same time in Boston and New York.
The organization remained active over the next nearly twenty years. Its members did not engage British authorities openly, but rather they used guerilla tactics to damage British finances, spread fear among British officials, and encourage Americans to protest British rule. The Sons of Liberty notably organized the violent protests against the Stamp Act in Boston in 1765 and carried out the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Throughout its existence, the Sons of Liberty's chief slogan was "no taxation without representation," referring to the fact that Britain taxed the American colonies but did not allow them representation in the British Parliament. The Sons of Liberty disbanded after the American Revolutionary War ended in 1783.
Background
The British taxes that ultimately led to the creation of the Sons of Liberty had resulted from the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), the conflict fought between Great Britain and France mostly for control of territory in North America. Britain's victory in 1763 pushed France almost entirely out of the continent and assured British control of the colonies there.
British success came at a substantial financial cost, however, and the British government found itself heavily in debt by the end of the war. British leaders believed the thirteen American colonies should pay some of these debts through taxes, since Americans themselves benefited from the end of British-French hostilities in their territories.
By 1763, the American people had long been paying British import and export taxes, but the tax laws were not uniformly enforced. The British government passed the Sugar Act in 1764 as one of its new taxes on the colonies. This act taxed sugar and various other products and almost immediately began hurting the colonial economies. Americans resented the act but nonetheless paid the tax.
The British government continued its new taxation policies in 1765 with the passing of the Stamp Act. This law differed from the Sugar Act and other import/export taxes in that it was a direct tax rather than a tax on goods. The Stamp Act mandated that a range of printed items in the colonies—including newspapers, deeds, wills, and playing cards—bear official stamps that colonists were to acquire from government officials for a fee. Individuals who violated the Stamp Act could be tried in courts without juries.
The Stamp Act was the first British tax that truly angered Americans. To this point, the colonists mostly agreed that Britain retained the right to regulate colonial trade. The Stamp Act was a direct tax, however, and most Americans felt that only the colonies' legislatures, composed of individuals chosen to represent the people, could impose direct taxes on the colonists. Outraged colonists claimed the Stamp Act was a form of British taxation without American representation in the British Parliament, and that the law was only the first in a series of actions that would ultimately rob Americans of their liberty.
Overview
The Sons of Liberty originated in Boston, Massachusetts, soon after the passing of the Stamp Act in 1765. The initial group was composed of local craftsmen and laborers who called themselves the Loyal Nine. They were an underground society devoted to undermining British control over the colonies in any way they could. The original Loyal Nine grew throughout the year and eventually renamed themselves as the Sons of Liberty. A branch of the organization formed in New York City around the same time; chapters later formed in each of the thirteen colonies.
The Sons of Liberty in Boston first made its existence known in August of 1765, when members organized mass protests against the Stamp Act, which was to take effect that fall. The Sons of Liberty incited the people of Boston to riot against the law and particularly against Andrew Oliver, an American official tasked with enforcing the stamp tax throughout Massachusetts. The Sons of Liberty and its mob created an effigy of Oliver and hung it from a tree in the city. The mob carried the effigy through the streets and later beheaded and burned it. The Sons of Liberty then led the mob to Oliver's home, which they looted and destroyed. They forced Oliver himself to resign from his post as the stamp tax enforcer.
The Sons of Liberty branches in the various colonies became more interconnected over the next several years. Members traveled to other colonies to create networks by which all the Sons of Liberty groups could coordinate resistance to the British. The organization published and disseminated anti-British pamphlets and read them aloud to supporters.
The Boston Tea Party became perhaps the Sons of Liberty's most famous anti-British act. Britain's Tea Act of 1773 forced American colonists to buy tea from Britain's East India Company, which sold its tea at low prices and created a monopoly on American colonial tea. In December of 1773, in response to this coercion, the Sons of Liberty in Boston quietly boarded British tea ships in the harbor and dumped hundreds of tea crates overboard. This protest against what the Sons of Liberty viewed as continued British tyranny in the colonies infuriated British leaders, who expanded their control of Massachusetts as punishment.
The Sons of Liberty continued its guerilla tactics against British authorities over the next few years. The group collected weapons for other rebels, tarred and feathered British officials, and helped Americans in different cities resist British law. Throughout its existence, the Sons of Liberty's slogan remained "no taxation without representation." This was a sign of the organization's belief in civil liberties and the right of the colonies to govern themselves.
The Sons of Liberty remained active throughout the American Revolution and dissolved toward the end of the war in 1783.
Bibliography
"The Boston Tea Party." American Battlefield Trust, www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/boston-tea-party. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.
Carp, Benjamin L. "Terms of Estrangement: Who Were the Sons of Liberty?" Colonial Williamsburg, 2012, www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter12/liberty.cfm. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
"The Sons of Liberty." USHistory.org, www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/sons.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
"Sons of Liberty: The Masterminds of the Boston Tea Party." Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, www.bostonteapartyship.com/sons-of-liberty. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
"The Stamp Act, 1765." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/spotlight-primary-source/stamp-act-1765. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.
"The Sugar Act." USHistory.org, www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/sugaract.html. Accessed 15 Jan. 2018.
"The Tea Act." Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, www.bostonteapartyship.com/the-tea-act. Accessed 4 Mar. 2024.