The Influence of the Sons of Liberty on Colonial Events

Out of the many occurrences throughout American history, we tend to overlook one of the most influential individuals that have made us the country we are today, known as the Sons of Liberty. The sons of liberty derived from a group of colonial patriots in a Secret organization that enforced boycotts threatened tax officials, and held demonstrations. They were not the most agreeable people, but they had a motive behind each of their actions.

During the period (1765), there began controversy amongst the colonists over the acts of the British Parliament. An example of a controversial act made by parliament would be the implementation of the Stamp Act they proposed across the colony. The Stamp Act imposed a tax on all printed papers used by the American colonists. The Colonists felt that the stamp act restricted their freedom. For instance, 'The colonists resented the Stamp Act and felt that being taxed without their consent was a violation of their rights as British citizens' (Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, 'The Sons of Liberty: Who Were They and What Did They Do?', 2018). Many colonists agreed that the British were being unruly against them, so they voiced their opinion to the British, but nothing they did or said changed the outcome of their freedom. Colonists felt hopeless until the notorious sons of liberty sprang into action.

The sons of liberty began spreading their message to the British Parliament by sending a letter to Andrew Oliver, the newly appointed official collector of stamps. The group made it very clear in what they wanted to achieve by sending the letter to Oliver. In the letter, the group set out obligations for Oliver to abide by: 'The group informed Oliver that he was to show up the next day at noon at the Liberty Tree in the city's South End to publicly resign, 'Provided that you comply with the above, you shall be treated with the greatest Politeness and Humanity' (Patrick J. Kiger, 'Who Were the Sons of Liberty?', 2019). Oliver, without hesitation, appeared as requested and quit his job. The success they had over Andrew Oliver would influence their trail of grievances in the future.

After some time, the word got out that the stamp act would not be renounced. The sons of liberty were, of course, not amused by that at all. The cause of the stamp act not being renounced came down to the decision of Thomas Hutchinson, brother-in-law of Andrew Oliver. Thomas had the authority to do so because he was the Lieutenant Governor and chief justice of Massachusetts at the time. The sons of liberty retaliated by expressing their opinion to Thomas Hutchison through their rebellious nature after he refused to denounce the stamp act. The following text is a letter from Thomas Hutchinson describing the vandalism they committed to his home: 'Not contented with tearing off all the wainscot and hangings and splitting the doors to pieces they beat down the Partition walls,' (New England Historical Society, 'In 1765, Rebels Sacked the Boston Mansion of Thomas Hutchinson', 2019).

From then on, the sons of liberty spread throughout the colonies protesting against the stamp act. Eventually, they achieved victory in 1766 when the parliament repealed the Stamp act. Once the stamp act was repealed, the sons of liberty dismembered, but then parliament passed a new act in 1767, known as the Townshend Act, causing the group to reassemble. The Townshend Act taxed imports, such as paper, lead, glass, paint, and tea. At this point, the sons of liberty had enough of the unjustified ruling and took drastic measures to protest against parliament. They protested against parliament in three ways assemblies, vandalism, and violence. Their assemblies would be held in public to inform everyone in the colony to stand against the Townshend act. The reason they held public meetings was to get their message out to everyone, not just a majority of the people; for instance, there would be people that could not read if they were to only protest through the paper. Vandalism would occur from individuals in the group looting and destroying the property of the people who did not agree with them. The most feared act of the groups protesting is tarring and feathering. They would even go as far as kidnapping someone who did not comply with their movement.

The political battle between the sons of liberty and parliament would last for two years before the Townshend Act would be repealed in 1770. The sons of liberty were finally pleased until they realized what parliament did in the process of repealing the Townshend act. Parliament abandoned all of the taxes on imported goods except tea. Three years later, in 1773, Parliament feels the need to pass another act, known as the Tea act. The tea act allowed duties on tea purchased in the colonies. Many were enraged. They saw through the lies of parliament. In reality, the tea act was really to provide the British East India company with a monopoly. Parliament felt the need for this because the British East India Company was a significant source of income for the British economy.

The sons of liberty have had it with the parliament. Their following actions would leave a footprint in American history forever known today as the Boston Tea party. The group conducted a plan on how to deal with parliament in which they have no choice but to side with them. They gather some group members to raid the ships at the ports and dump all the tea onboard into the harbor. According to (Klein, '10 Things You May Not Know About the Boston Tea Party', 2012), 'It's estimated that the protestors tossed more than 92,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor. That's enough to fill 18.5 million teabags. The present-day value of the destroyed tea has been estimated at around $1 million.' After the Boston Tea party, The Sons of Liberty would impact the thirteen colonies by influencing the revolutionary war. The group's goal for independence from parliament would not be achieved until after the war. In conclusion, the sons of liberty contributed to history by providing the foundation for us to build on to what we have today.