What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Essex Gazette (October 18, 1774).
“In Consequence of the Boston Port-Bill … he has opened a Store in Salem.”
In October 1774, Nathan Frazier did what he could to continue selling “an Assortment of Goods, suitable for the Season,” when the Boston Port Act closed the harbor in retaliation for colonizers destroying shipments of tea the previous December. He opted to open a second location, renting a shop in Salem. In the October 18 edition of the Essex Gazette, published in that town, he informed readers that “in Consequence of the Boston Port-Bill, and with a View of accommodating those of his Customers to whom it may be most convenient to have their Supplies conveyed by Water,” he now did business in Salem as well as in Boston. The circumstances had not caused him to close his original store; he “still continues his Business at his Store in Boston as usual.” Accordingly, his customers “may be supplied at either of said Stores,” though Frazier, “for the present, give[s] his personal Attendance at his Salem Store.”
In addition to inserting this notice in the Essex Gazette, the merchant also placed it in the Boston Evening-Post and the Boston-Gazette on October 17, increasing the chances that readers in Boston, Salem, and other towns would see it. In the Boston Evening-Post, Frazier’s advertisement happened to appear immediately below William Blair Townsend’s notice that he sold goods “imported before the oppressive Acts on this Town and Province were laid” and, accordingly, could be bought and sold “without any Breach on the solemn League and Covenant” that called for ceasing trade with Britain until Parliament repealed the Coercive Acts. In the Essex Gazette, Samuel Flagg asserted that “he is determined not to import any more Goods at present,” alluding to current events without naming them as plainly as Frazier and Townsend. All three advertisements testified to the challenges that merchants and shopkeepers faced as well as their efforts to meet them. As much as Frazier wished to encourage consumers to visit either of his shops, it was not business “as usual” in Boston and other towns in Massachusetts. Advertisements, as well as news articles and editorials, made that clear.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Boston Evening-Post (October 17, 1774).
“May therefore be … sold … without any Breach on the solemn League and Covenant.”
Politics took center stage in William Blair Townsend’s advertisements for “Shop Goods … consisting chiefly of Woollens, well suited for the approaching Season” in the October 17, 1774, edition of the Boston Evening-Post. He looked to sell his entire inventory “by Wholesale and Retail” and close his shop, a casualty of the blockade of Boston that went into effect with the Boston Port Act that Parliament passed to punish the town for tossing tea into the harbor the previous December. To that end, he assured prospective customers that “they may depend [the goods] were imported before the oppressive Acts on this Town and Province were laid.” In addition to the Boston Port Act, Townsend invoked the Massachusetts Government Act and the other Coercive Acts.
Furthermore, he asserted that his wares “may therefore be safely transported, by Land, and sold in any Town of said Province, without any Breach on the solemn League and Covenant our worthy Friends in the Country have justly entered into, in Defence of themselves and their Posterity.” Townsend referred to a plan outlined in a letter that the Boston Committee of Correspondence circulated on June 8. After outlining the abuses perpetrated by Parliament, the letter encouraged resistance in the form of “affecting the trade and interest of Great Britain, so deeply as shall induce her to withdraw her oppressive hand.” The Committee of Correspondence sought to revive nonimportation agreements enacted twice in the past decade, first in response to the Stamp Act and, later, the Townshend duties. The letter proposed that colonizers “come into a solemn league, not to import goods from Great Britain, and not to buy any goods that shall hereafter be imported from thence, until our grievances shall be redressed.” Some merchants advocated waiting for more comprehensive measures that enlisted cooperation of other colonies, like the Continental Association that the First Continental Congress was in the process of drawing up in Philadelphia at the time Townsend published his advertisement, yet colonizers in towns throughout Massachusetts supported the Solemn League and Covenant.
Knowing that was the case, Townsend acknowledged the politics of the moment in his advertisement. He endorsed the pact while also making clear that neither he nor his prospective customers violated it. They could buy and sell with clear consciences … and without attracting the ire of the public. Beyond that, Townsend wished to clear out of Boston. In a nota bene, he encouraged “Those that incline to purchase … to apply speedily” since he “is determined to remove into a clear Air in the Country, very soon.” The situation had grown so bleak that that he did not intend to remain in Boston much longer.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?
Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter (October 6, 1774).
“ALMAN[A]CK … Ornamented with a large and elegant Engraving, representing the VIRTUOUS PATRIOT.”
When it came to buying almanacs, residents of Boston had many choices during the era of the American Revolution. That meant that printers often advertised what made the almanacs they published distinctive from others on the market. Such was the case for John Kneeland when he advertised Nathanael Low’s Astronomical Diary: Or, Almanack for the Year of Christian Aera, 1775 in the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter in the fall of 1774. The production of the almanac and its promotion resonated with current events as the imperial crisis intensified. The Boston Port Act closed the harbor, the Massachusetts Government Act revoked the colony’s charter, and the other Coercive Acts punished the port city for the Boston Tea Party.
Kneeland informed prospective customers that this almanac was “Ornamented with a large and elegant Engraving, representing the VIRTUOUS PATRIOT at the Hour of Death.” In addition to the usual contents, “every Thing necessary in an Almanack,” it also included a “long and sympathetic Address to the Inhabitants of Boston, with several other Pieces of Speculation, which tends to rend it not only useful, but entertaining.” The engraving dominated the cover of the almanac. It depicted a man, the “VIRTUOUS PATRIOT,” on his deathbed. A woman, presumably his wife, and three children kneeled in the foreground. On the other side of the bed, a minister prayed while another man, perhaps a relative and likely another patriot, joined the family in their vigil. Above the bed, an angel welcomed the “VIRTUOUS PATRIOT” into heaven. A caption below the image stated, “IF Prayers and Tear th’ PATRIOT’s Life could save, None but usurping Villains Death would have.”
According to an auction catalog prepared by PBA Galleries, the “long and sympathetic Address” filled the first four pages of the almanac. Echoing rhetoric that circulated in newspapers and pamphlets, the address “rails against the British,” assuring residents of Boston that “[Your countrymen] are sensible the heavy hand of power under which you are now groaning is designed only as a prelude to the utter abolishment of American freedom.” The Coercive Acts, the address warned, would enslave the colonies to Britain. (Two advertisements on the same page as the advertisement for the almanac in the October 6, 1774, edition of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston News-Letter concerned enslaved people, one presenting an enslaved woman for sale and the other offering a reward for the capture and return of an enslaved man who liberated himself by running away from his enslaver.) The address proclaimed, “My dear brethren, the destiny of America seems to be suspended on the present controversy; and it is on your fidelity, firmness, and good conduct, for which you have so remarkably signalized yourself on all occasions, that a happy issue of it in a great measure depends.” The advertisement for the almanac containing this address ran in the newspaper as the First Continental Congress continued its meetings in Philadelphia. A month earlier, the colonial militia in Worcester County to the west of Boston had closed the courts and removed British authority in what has become known as the Worcester Revolution of 1774. Six months after Kneeland advertised the almanac with the engraving and the address, a war for independence began with the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord.
Nathanael Low, An Astronomical Diary: Or, Almanack for the Year of Christian Aera, 1775 (Boston: John Kneeland, 1774). Courtesy PBA Galleries.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Essex Gazette (October 4, 1774).
“Forgive my Error [and] restore me to their Favour and Friendship.”
Samuel Flagg of Salem and Joseph Lee of Marblehead needed to do damage control and rehabilitate their reputations after signing “an Address to Governor Hutchinson, on his leaving this Province” in May 1774. Like Thomas Kidder had done in July, they took to the public prints to confess their error and beg for the forgiveness of their friends and neighbors who believed they did not support the American cause. The reaction they experienced became so overwhelming that they recanted a position that they claimed they never firmly held. Lee, for instance, stated that he signed the address because at the time he “thought [Hutchinson] a Friend to America,” yet he had since reconsidered. He expressed “great Concern” while confessing that “I am now convinced he is not that Friend to America nor the Constitution of this Government that I then thought he was.” To that end, Lee renounced the entire address and “sincerely ask[ed] the Favour of all the good People of this Government to forgive my Error therein, and to restore me to their Favour and Friendship.” His plea, dated October 3, first appeared in the October 4 edition of the Essex Gazette, with a notation that it would run for four weeks. Rather than submitting a letter to the printer that might get printed once, Lee paid to run an advertisement that would present his story and his apology to readers multiple times.
Lee’s notice was brief compared to the one that Flagg inserted on the same day. He had formerly been in good standing in the community, having the “good Will and Esteem” of his “Fellow Citizens and Countrymen,” but perceived “they behold me with a different aspect” after he signed an address in honor of the Governor Hutchinson upon his return to England. Flagg confessed that this “has given me great Uneasiness; not simply because I am injured in my Business, but because nothing can compensate for the Loss of the good Opinion of my worthy Countrymen.” Flagg acknowledged that his livelihood had suffered; apparently customers refused to shop at his store in Salem. Yet participating in the marketplace was not the only or even the primary reason that Flagg wished to correct the record. He desired the “Favour and Regard” that he had once enjoyed in relationships with other colonizers, plus he wanted to assure the public that he indeed supported the patriot cause. He admitted his error while disavowing the address as “the Source of much Mischief to the Colonies and to this Province in particular,” but did not end there. “I seriously declare,” he wrote, “that I have ever beheld with Pleasure the generous Exertions of my Countrymen in Defence of their Liberties.” Furthermore, Flagg claimed that “I have note myself at any Time been an idle Spectator, but heartily joined them in their all-important Cause.” In his advertisement for an “Assortment of ENGLISH and INDIA GOODS” on the next page, he indicated that he “is determined not to import any more Goods at Present,” signaling his support for nonimportation agreements as a means of protesting the Coercive Acts.
Beyond his confession and apology, Flagg incorporated an editorial into his advertisement seeking forgiveness from his “Fellow Citizens and Countrymen.” He asserted, “I do not differ in Sentiment from my Countrymen; I have ever thought, and still think, those Acts of Parliament, of which they complain, to be unjust and oppressive.” To demonstrate that point, he inserted quotations that made familiar arguments: “‘that they are intended to establish a Power of governing us by Influence and Corruption’” and “‘that it is the Duty of every wise Man, of every honest Man, and of every Englishman, by all lawful Means to oppose them.’” Flagg thus had a duty to fulfill, prompting him to “pledge myself to my Countrymen that this I will do to the utmost of my Power.” He reiterated that he regretted signing the “abovementioned Address,” insisting that it was “the first and only Act of mine that has the Appearance of Inconsistency with my former Conduct, and the Declarations now made.” He apologized once again, requesting the “Candour and Generosity” of others in overlooking the entire incident.
Signing the address to Governor Hutchinson had been a lapse in judgment; at least that was how some of those who signed it depicted their actions when they repeatedly encountered hostile reactions. Both Flagg and Lee sought to remedy the damage done to their reputations by placing advertisements in which they confessed their error. Flagg did even more: he spilled a lot of ink in support of the American cause, hoping that doing so would convince the public of his sincerity and return him to their good graces. News and editorials could not contain the politics of the period. Instead, advertisements became sites for participating in debates and controversies as the imperial crisis intensified in 1774.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Connecticut Gazette (September 9, 1774).
“CONSIDERATIONS on the Measures carrying on by GREAT BRITAIN, against the Colonies in North-America.”
As the number of American editions of Considerations on the Measures Carrying On with Respect to the British Colonies in North-America increased in 1774, so did the number of newspapers that carried advertisements for the political tract. John Holt, the printer of the New-York Journal, advertised his edition. Benjamin Edes and John Gill, the printers of the Boston-Gazette, did so as well for their edition. Ebenezer Watson, printer of the Connecticut Courant, ran his own advertisement when he published a Hartford edition. Yet it was not solely the printers of the various American editions who advertised or sold the popular pamphlet. Watson listed local agents in eight towns and two post riders who sold his edition. David Atwater advertised the New York edition for sale in New Haven in the Connecticut Journal.
Timothy Green, printer of the Connecticut Gazette, joined their ranks with an advertisement in the September 9, 1774, edition of his newspaper. That made the pamphlet available for purchase in New London in addition to other towns in New England and New York. Compared to the other advertisements, however, Green’s notice was quite brief, just three lines that completed the column following “THOMAS ALLEN’S Marine List,” a regular feature, on the third page. “TO BE SOLD by T. GREEN, CONSIDERATIONS on the Measures carrying on by GREAT BRITAIN, against the Colonies in North-America.” Green did not provide any of the elaborate description about how well the pamphlet had been received in London and how it had influenced residents there to support the American colonies against the abuses perpetrated by Parliament, nor did he encourage readers to review it for themselves so they could be better informed. Perhaps he expected that the news he printed throughout the rest of his newspaper and the conversations about current events taking place everywhere anyone went those days provided enough reason for colonizers to acquire the pamphlet. He also did not state which edition he sold, though the variant title in his advertisement suggests that he carried Watson’s Hartford edition. In stocking and promoting the pamphlet, Green joined printers, post riders, and others in disseminating a political tract intended to influence colonizers and help them in articulating their grievances against Parliament.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Connecticut Courant (September 6, 1774).
“This celebrated Performance … had a wonderful Operation on the Minds of that People.”
A popular political pamphlet originally printed in London and reprinted in four towns in the colonies made another appearance among the advertisements in the September 6, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Courant. In this instance, Ebenezer Watson, the printer of that newspaper, promoted his own edition of Considerations on the Measures Carrying On with Respect to the British Colonies in North-America produced at his printing office in Hartford. By that time, John Holt, printer of the New-York Journal, and Benjamin Edes and John Gill, printers of the Boston-Gazette, had already advertised their own editions of the tract. In New Haven, David Atwater advertised and sold Holt’s New York edition.
Those advertisers replicated the copy from one notice to another. For his part, however Watson devised his own copy, though he had likely seen at least some of the other advertisements as he scoured other newspapers for content to reprint in the Connecticut Courant. Watson even offered a variant title in his advertisement, “CONSIDERATIONS On the Measures carrying on by GREAT-BRITAIN, Against the Colonies in NORTH-AMERICA,” though the title on the title page of the pamphlet itself was consistent with the original London edition and the others reprinted in the colonies. Although Watson did not directly borrow copy from the other advertisements circulating at the time, he seems to have been inspired by them enough to paraphrase from them. “This celebrated performance” (rather than a “most masterly performance”), he proclaimed, “was first published in England, and had a wonderful Operation on the Minds of that People, in eradicating their Prejudices against the Inhabitants of America.” In comparison, the other advertisements declared that the tract “had a wonderful effect in removing the prejudices and convincing the people of England.” Other advertisers commented on the price of American editions compared to the London edition. Watson did so more elaborately, stating that a “Book so highly admired, and so wonderfully calculated to open blind Eyes, ought to be in the hands” of colonizers throughout America. That convinced him “to sell it as cheap as he can possibly afford it” without losing money on it.
To disseminate the pamphlet widely, Watson enlisted the aid of local agents in several towns, including Canaan, Farmington, Great Barrington, Litchfield, Middletown, Norfolk, Sheffield, Simsbury, and Torringford. In addition, readers could acquire copies from two post riders, Joseph Knight and Amos Alden. As printers in New England marketed a variety of books and pamphlets related to the imperial crisis in the mid 1770s, some of them integrated post riders into their distribution networks in new ways. They made a point of naming post riders as agents who sold these publications, entrusting them with responsibilities beyond delivering items that buyers ordered from a local dignitary or directly from the printer. This made post riders’ role in keeping colonizers informed about arguments critiquing Parliament even more visible as they became active proponents rather than mere messengers.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Providence Gazette (August 27, 1774).
“This Day is PUBLISHED … ENGLISH LIBERTIES.”
It took nearly two years, but John Carter finally published an American edition of English Liberties, or The Free-born Subject’s Inheritance in August 1774. The printer of the Providence Gazette previously circulated a subscription proposal addressed to “the Friends of Liberty and useful Knowledge.” Dated November 7, 1772, the proposal appeared in newspapers in several towns in New England. On occasion, Carter inserted updates on the progress of the project in his own newspaper, often giving them a privileged place. He did so once again on August 27, 1774, when he announced, “This Day is PUBLISHED … ENGLISH LIBERTIES.” Harkening back to his original subscription proposal, the printer called on “the FRIENDS of LIBERTY and USEFUL KNOWLEDGE” to purchase the book or, if they had already subscribed, “to call or send for their Books.”
As had been his practice with the various updates, Carter gave this announcement a privileged place as the first item in the first column on the first page the first time it appeared in the Providence Gazette. It filled nearly the entire column, followed by a short legal notice. News filled the remainder of the page, with the remainder of the advertisements running at the end of the issue. Carter deliberately chose where his notice appeared. Though subscribers had reserved copies in advance, the printer apparently produced surplus copies that he hoped to sell to those who had previously missed the opportunity to acquire the book.
To that end, his extensive advertisement included a lengthy list of the contents and an extract from the “short Preface … annexed to the fifth Edition, printed in the Year 1721.” Like modern blurbs from trusted authorities, it outlined why readers should purchase the book, invoking the “favourable Reception which all the former Impressions of this Treatise of the Liberties of the Subjects of England have met with from the Public.” In turn, the preface recommended that “by perusing this Treatise” readers could “deeply imprint in our own Minds the Laws and Rights that from Age to Age have been delivered down to us from our renown’d Forefathers.” At the time, few colonizers advocated for independence from Britain; instead, they wished for redress of their grievances with Parliament. That included enjoying the same rights in the colonies as English subjects possessed in England. Both the book and its advertisement reinforced that rhetoric.
In a nota bene, Carter also informed prospective customers that “A Number of excellent Forms for Justices of the Peace … are inserted in this Edition.” That provided a very practical reason for some colonizers to obtain copies. In addition, the printer supplemented what had been included in earlier editions with “some Extracts from several late celebrated Writers on the British Constitution, which serve to illustrate and enforce the very important Doctrines advanced by the ingenious Author.” Carter hoped that bonus content would help in marketing the book.
According to the subscription proposal, Carter originally sought five hundred subscribers. In one update, he asserted that “Very few will be printed that are not subscribed for,” yet he produced enough additional copies to merit an elaborate advertisement that deployed multiple marketing strategies rather than publishing a brief notice that called on subscribers to collect their books. He may have intended all along to print more than just a few copies “not subscribed for,” but wanted to create a sense of scarcity to encourage prospective subscribers to commit to the project. He then reinvigorated his marketing campaign following publication of the book.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Boston Evening-Post (August 8, 1774).
“THE PATRIOTIC WHISPER in the EARS of the KING.”
The imperial crisis intensified in the summer of 1774. In response to the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, and the other Coercive Acts that Parliament enacted following the Boston Tea Party, printers, booksellers, and others marketed an array of books and pamphlets that advocated for the rights and liberties of the American colonies. On August 8, Benjamin Edes and John Gill continued advertisingConsiderations on the Measures Carrying on with Respect to the British Colonies in North-America in the Boston-Gazette. That same day, a subscription proposal for “A Small TRACT: Entitled THE PATRIOTIC WHISPER in the EARS of the KING” appeared in the Boston Evening-Post.
The lengthy secondary title of the proposed tract deployed similar rhetoric: “the grand Request of the People of AMERICA made manifest. Intended as a CHARIOT of LIBERTY for the Sons of AMERICA, and a standing Memorial of the Rights of the American Colonies. Being a political LIBERTY ORATION upon the Branches of the American Charters, proving them to be as sacred as the British Constitution.” The subscription proposal delivered an impassioned plea to readers whether or not they happened to purchase copies to examine in more detail.
This “PATRIOTIC WHISPER” originated as a sermon that John Allen gave “on the last Annual Thanksgiving.” Many colonizers in Boston were familiar with his sermons and tracts. Allen had previously publishedThe American Alarm, or the Bostonian Plea, for the Rights and Liberties, of the People and An Oration, Upon the Beauties of Liberty, or the Essential Rights of the Americans, though he had adopted the pen name “A British Bostonian” for both. The extended title of the Oration, Upon the Beauties of Liberty identified it as a sermon “Delivered at the Second Baptist-Church in Boston. Upon the Last Annual Thanksgiving.” That made it possible for readers to deduce the identity of “A British Bostonian.” The subscription notice described Allen as a “humble Lover of Liberty, Dedicated to the Inhabitants of America,” and further explained that the tract was “calculated to support and strengthen the Common Cause of the Rights of the Colonies against the Power of Tyranny.” Again, the advertising copy made a powerful political statement.
That, however, does not seem to have been enough to garner the necessary number of subscribers to take the tract to press. Yet Allen’s views on the politics of the moment found their way into print in other pamphlets in 1774. In Salem, Ezekiel Russell printed The Watchman’s Alarm to Lord N—h; or, The British Parliamentary Boston Port-Bill Unwrap[p]ed. The title page attributed the work to “the British Bostonian.” In Hartford, Ebenezer Watson reprinted a “carefully corrected” fifth edition of Allen’s Oration on the Beauties of Liberty. The widespread dissemination of tracts by Allen promoted John M. Bumsted and Charles E. Clark to describe him as “New England’s Tom Paine” in the twentieth century.[1] Even though Allen’s “PATRIOTIC WHISPER” did not go to press in a crowded market, the subscription proposal that ran in the Boston Evening-Post contributed to the discourse condemning ongoing abuses by Parliament.
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[1] John M. Bumsted and Charles E. Clark, “New England’s Tom Paine: John Allen and the Spirit of Liberty,” William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd ser., 21, no. 4 (October 1964): 561-570.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Boston-Gazette (August 1, 1774).
“This pamphlet has had a wonderful effect in removing the prejudices and convincing the people of England.”
Benjamin Edes and John Gill, the printers of the Boston-Gazette, gave an advertisement for their American edition of Considerations on the Measures Carrying On with Respect to the British Colonies in North-America a prominent place in the August 1, 1774, edition of their newspaper. It appeared as the first item in the first column on the first page, making it difficult for readers to miss. The printers wished to call attention to the book, originally published in London, not only because they hoped to generate revenue from its sales but also as a means for colonizers to become even better informed about current events and the political challenges they faced as Parliament passed a series of laws, the Coercive Acts, following the Boston Tea Party. As the imperial crisis intensified, patriot printers like Edes and Gill published newspapers, broadsides, pamphlets, books, and other items that documented the ongoing contest with Parliament, the king, and royal officials in the colonies.
To convince prospective customers of the necessity of purchasing and perusing this pamphlet, Edes and Gill explained that it was the “most masterly performance, written since the framing of the several Acts against BOSTON and AMERICA,” including the Boston Port Act and the Massachusetts Government Act, and “the best calculated to convince the Ministry, the people of England, and all the world, of the absurdity and wickedness of the late acts.” Colonizers used newspapers and other publications in their efforts to shape opinion in the colonies, yet they were just as concerned with the information environment on the other side of the Atlantic. In their publications and letters, they hoped to sway both officials and the general public in London and throughout Great Britain. They also took note of the support they received for their plight. In their advertisement for Considerations, Edes and Gill reported that their “last accounts” indicated “this pamphlet had had a wonderful effect in removing the prejudices and convincing the people of England” that Parliament had not been just in its treatment of the colonies. Whether that was accurate or wishful thinking likely varied from person to person, but the printers wanted to believe that it was true.
Edes and Gill applauded how the pamphlet made a case about the “ruinous consequences, to England at least,” not just the colonies, “that would certainly attend” from the Coercive Acts “being carried into execution.” Printers in Hartford, New York, and Philadelphia shared those sentiments, producing other American editions in each of those towns. They hoped that the dissemination of the ideas expressed in Considerations would buttress the resolve of colonizers distressed by Parliament’s most recent legislation, especially upon learning how their allies in England made a case on their behalf.
What was advertised in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?
Boston-Gazette (July 18, 1774).
“I did suddenly and inadvertently sign an Address to the late Governor Hutchinson.”
When he published an advertisement in the July 18, 1774, edition of the Boston-Gazette, Thomas Kidder of Billerica attempted to extricate himself from a difficult situation. He explained that he had “suddenly and inadvertently sign[ed] an Address to the late Governor Hutchinson with some others, (Justices of the Peace) of Middlesex.” Thomas Hutchinson, the outgoing governor, had received several letters praising his administration of the colony, each of them signed by dozens of colonizers. Some of those letters found their way into print, revealing to the public which members of the community approved of the way the unpopular royal governor had participated in Parliament’s efforts to establish greater control over Boston, the rest of Massachusetts, and all the colonies.
That garnered the wrong kind of attention for Kidder and others, especially those who then professed that they did not actually harbor loyalist sympathies but had instead been “inadvertently” embroiled in the controversy. Kidder explained that he had signed the letter to Hutchinson “in great Haste, and not so well considering every Part thereof, nor the dangerous Consequences of said Address.” He did not enjoy the reception he received from colonizers who supported the patriot cause, prompting him to apologize. He confessed that he was “very sorry” for signing the letter and “as it hath offended my Christian Brethren and Neighbours, I do hereby desire their Forgiveness, and a Restoration of their Friendship.” Apparently, Kidder’s seeming endorsement of Hutchinson caused so many difficulties in his daily interactions with others that he found it necessary to take to the public prints to disavow an address that he claimed he had not fully considered or understood when he signed it. It was no mistake that he ran his advertisement in the Boston-Gazette, a newspaper noted for advocating the political views of patriots who opposed the policies enacted by Parliament and Hutchinson’s collaboration in executing them.
In “Entering the Lists: The Politics of Ephemera in Eastern Massachusetts, 1774,” William Huntting Howell documents which newspapers published addresses to Hutchinson and broadsides printed in response, some of them identifying the occupations and places of business of the signatories. That amounted to an eighteenth-century version of doxing people based on their political views. Howell argues that such a response was designed “to coerce and secure individual compliance.” He examines several “RECANTATIONS” that appeared in the newspapers as signatories of addresses to Hutchinson attempted to restore their standing among their fellow colonizers.[1] Over the next several months, the Adverts 250 Project will feature advertisements, like the one place by Kidder, placed for similar purposes, demonstrating the pressure that patriots managed to bring to bear against real and perceived loyalists as the imperial crisis intensified in 1774.
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[1] William Huntting Howell, “Entering the Lists: The Politics of Ephemera in Eastern Massachusetts, 1774,” Early American Studies 9, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 191, 208-215.
