The Sons of Liberty and the Prelude to Revolution

It can very well be said that the birthplace of liberty in the United States was the port city of Boston, Massachusetts. It was here that the call for independence was loudest, that the British struggled most strongly against and where the first battles of the American Revolution were fought.

The Origin of the Sons of Liberty

One of the most important of the early patriot organizations in what would become the United States of America were the Sons of Liberty. Formed in 1765 to fight against the Stamp Act, they named themselves after a comment by British member of Parliament Isaac Barre, who supported the American cause. In response to words against the American colonists fighting the Stamp Act, Barre referred to them as "these Sons of Liberty."

The first major act of the Sons of Liberty began with the hanging of an effigy of Andrew Oliver on August 14^th, 1765, the soon to be Distributor of Stamps for Massachusetts. Sheriffs in Boston refused to move the effigy as ordered, for a huge crowd had gathered around the effigy. Ultimately Oliver's property on Kilby St. would be burned, the effigy's head cut off and burned, his house stoned and ransacked by midnight. British forces had no power to stop it.

These actions would display the power of the Sons of Liberty as well as their complete willingness to use violent force to further their goals. By the end of 1765, Sons of Liberty organizations would exist in all of the 13 colonies, although the heart of the Sons of Liberty would always remain in Boston.

The Sons of Liberty were a grassroots organization. The majority of their members came from the middle class, tradesmen and shopkeepers. One of its most famous members was brewer Samuel Adams, cousin of John Adams who would be one of the drafters of the Declaration of Independence and first Vice President of the United States. Silversmith Paul Revere was also a prominent member.

After the repeal of the Stamp Act its popularity would wain, although members would rise again after the passing of the Townshend Acts, and would play a prominent role in the development of the First Continental Congress and the start of the American Revolution.

To combat these violent acts committed by the Sons of Liberty in Boston fighting the Stamp and Townshend Acts, British troops were stationed permanently in Boston. This stationing of British forces led to the Boston Massacre of 1770. An angry group of Bostonians protesting in the street brought out a group of British soldiers. The protesters began throwing rocks and chunks of ice at the soldiers. One soldier was hit in the head with a club, and the soldiers began firing on the protesters killing five. This "massacre" as Samuel Adams termed it led to the strengthening of the Patriot cause.

The Boston Tea Party and Prelude to Revolution

The most famous of the Sons of Liberty's actions came in December of 1773. On December 16^th, 1773, the night before a shipment of tea in the harbor was to be brought to land, several members of the Sons of Liberty organized by Adams would dress up as Indians, sneak aboard the ship and throw the tea overboard into the harbor.

The Boston Party would be the straw that broke the camel's back. The British would close the port in Boston, passed what would be known as "the Intolerable Acts" and enforced martial law in the city. The Sons of Liberty had forced a showdown with the British.

With these harsh steps taken by the British, delegates from the 13 colonies convened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the First Continental Congress in 1774, an idea strongly supported by the Sons of Liberty. This was the first official step by the colonies in created a united body, and would lead to the Second Continental Congress of 1775 that would lead the colonies until the end of the Revolutionary War in 1781.

The Sons of Liberty also participated in the development of the Massachusetts militia, the Minute Men. In April of 1775, when British forces would make a move to disarm the militia, Son of Liberty Paul Revere would make his famous ride to warn the Minute Men of the soldiers' coming. The militas would fight against British troops in both Lexington and Concord: the first battles of the American Revolution.

From the first acts of rebellion against British rule to the founding of the First Continental Congress and the beginning of the American Revolution, the Sons of Liberty were there. They were one of the most important organizations of their day. The British government would always consider them to be revolutionary terrorists, but to the supporters of American independence they were the first true Patriots, fighting for the cause of liberty.