Paul Revere Quotes
The Regulars are coming out!
Paul Revere, 1735-1818, Patriot & Silversmith, Shout at midnight April 18, 1775 referring to the ‘Redcoats’, Quoted by Adam Zamoyski in “Holy Madness: Romantics, Patriots, and Revolutionaries, 1776-1781”
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Mackenzie was a British officer with whom Washington had become friends in the French & Indian War and in this letter, Washington was trying to explain the seriousness of the Boston rebellion for Britain.
This letter drafted by Adams was sent by the Congress complaining about the Closing of Boston Harbor. The letter was right about the consequences except for the last; the rift between American and the mother country was not only healed but there is no European nation that has been closer to the United States over the years.
The document was signed in his name by his ministers.
Americans were by no means united in wanting to take up arms against Britain. Relatively few of the loyalist quotations have come down to us, but here is one. It also illustrates why some Americans wanted complete independence: So that they could escape their debts to English merchants. Most however had more noble and unselfish motives. As a matter of fact, the American Revolution is unusual in the sense that there were so many men of substance who sacrificed much of their material wealth for the American ideal. There were also the rogues and opportunists as Galloway describes.
He was acting as French Foreign Secretary at the time.
Amazingly, a critical mass of Middle Atlantic citizens, joined in a vision of independence and persuaded their colonies to make common cause with the other colonies to gain independence from England and an end to monarchy. In a way, they had the most to lose and the least to gain from the revolution. Led by Livingston, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin and others, these states had the greatest intellectual commitment to the Revolution as they would not financially benefit and would likely lose economically.
The Continental Congress told each colony should establish its own republican government quickly so that the people did not have to depend on England for anything, and that the English Monarchy be opposed and supplanted anywhere where they wanted to exercise authority.
The crackdown on Boston which was intended to set an example and intimidate all of the other colonies backfired, and the British were told about it by their own officials in America. But they were so rigid and ideological about monarchy, that the stimulated rebellion rather than suppress them.
Of the 13 colonies, the 3 Middle Atlantic States, were the least enthusiastic about an armed revolution against England. Jersey—Now New Jersey—was the most recalcitrant then with Benjamin Franklin’s son as Governor. See {634108} for an explanation of why that was.
See {636935}for the policy decision that triggered this order.
Several years before the Battle of Bunker Hill, revolutionary activity had already broken out in the American colonies—See {634132} for an example. This law gave the British authorities much more “clout” in dealing with the “seditious” American activities. It protected English law enforcement officials from being tried in local Colonial courts for murder or assault in putting down insurrections. George Washington and other Patriots were outraged over this law. See {634131}.
This quotation shows that the dissent leading to the American Revolution did not emerge suddenly in 1776 after the Battle of Bunker Hill. Dissent, sedition and even violence was documented here in 1774. Salem at the time was the second largest port in the colony and the customs tax collectors—Loyalist Americans—were run out of Salem.
during and after the American Revolution
Wilkes was a strong advocate for the American cause—so much so that some in Parliament tried to deny him his seat in Parliament for his disloyal point of view.
He was wrong. The protesters were general including merchants, lawyers, politicians, shopkeepers, sailors and other occupations. The Privateer Captains were no more or less involved as other occupations.
This was written more than a year before the “blows” began. It took time to ship the men and supplies to America and the British did not handle that task with much efficiency.
While the official battles of the American Revolution did not begin until 1776, parts of the American colonies were in a de facto state of rebellion and the British could not enforce their laws. See {636925} for another of the King’s statements.
Fox was one of the opposition leaders who were opposed to the heavy handed policies that the British King and Government had used.
2nd Earl of Guilford. Britain had a double standard of how they would fight wars and battles. If the contention was a rebellion, more mild military means would be used. But if a foreign war, they would use all means. For example, the use of mercenaries would not be used in most rebellions. With this letter, Lord North was escalating the American Revolution into a “foreign war”. As a result, not only would mercenaries be used, but so would Indian allies whose mode of war was not as restrained as the British troops. It also allowed for emancipating slaves and inviting them to take up arms. With this quotation, the American Revolution was raised to a new and more serious military level. See {634115} for the instructions to implement this policy.
Paul Revere .
