In my last post I presented the probability that members from St. Andrew’s Masonic Lodge participated in the destruction of the tea on Dec. 16, 1773. Both Joseph Warren and Paul Revere were prominent members of this lodge. Warren had also been appointed the Most Worshipful Grand Master of North America, offering him prominence in Freemasonry throughout the colonies and amongst British Officers who were Masons. Though he and Revere were identified as taking part in the tea’s destruction, they were never questioned by British authorities.
How did the King and Parliament’s react to the tea’s destruction?
-The ports of Boston were closed to shipping – a city which was dependent on the shipping industry – throwing Boston into mass unemployment.
– British General Thomas Gage was appointed military governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. With Gage came 4,000 British soldiers to police the streets of Boston (keep in mind Boston had only 16,000 inhabitants – this was a ratio of 1 soldier to every 4 citizens!)
-The Massachusetts colonial charter was made invalid. The upper house of the colony’s legislature would now be appointed, where before it was an elected body. Judges would no longer be elected but appointed. The judges chose those to be seated on a jury.
– The military governor could move trials of royal officials accused of committing capital offenses, to another colony or to Great Britain. (Massachusetts colonists referred to this as the “murder act”)
Warren and Samuel Adam’s response was to write the Solemn League and Covenant – imploring those in Massachusetts (and throughout the colonies) to boycott British goods. This proved very destructive to Great Britain’s economy – so destructive that General Governor Gage DENOUNCED THE SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT; DECLARED THAT THOSE WHO CIRCULATED OR SIGNED IT WERE TO BE ARRESTED; and ORDERED THE COLLECTION OF EVIDENCE FOR THE PROSECUTION OF TEA PARTY LEADERS!
Samuel Adams, Josiah Quincy Jr., John Hancock, and other Patriot leaders remained in public view at the Old South Meeting House when the tea was being thrown into the bay. Two not in public view were Warren and Revere. Again, “evidence” already existed connecting them to the tea’s destruction. “WARREN’S NAME WAS BECOMING WELL KNOWN IN ENGLAND…HIS ACTIVITIES DURING THE TEA CRISIS MADE HIM THE MINISTRY’S BEST CANDIDATE FOR HANGING AT THE END OF A TRAITOR’S ROPE. (Biographer John Cary, Joseph Warren: Physician, Politician, Patriot (1961) page 145.) Though Gage intended to prosecute the leaders of the Tea Party – he did not touch Warren or Revere. Why?
It was decided by the inner circle of Patriot leaders that it would be greatly advantageous for one among them to go to Great Britain to gather and pass on firsthand, accurate information to influential friends of the colonies. All were concerned that they would be arrested for sedition upon arrival and put to death – all but Josiah Quincy, Jr. and Joseph Warren. Quincy’s security against arrest/execution rested in his defense of the British soldiers in the Massacre trials, the fact that his brother was the Royally appointed Solicitor General of Massachusetts, and that he was already under a death sentence from tuberculosis.
What was Warren’s security against arrest and possible execution? He had none, other than his position as Most Worshipful Grand Master of North America! It was determined that Warren would go. (Next: Warren continues to take on risks no other could.)
