1765: Andrew Oliver lynched in effigy to the Liberty Tree

ExecutedToday.com ^ | August 14, 2018 | Headsman

[CheshireTheCat]

On this date in 1765, Boston patriots lynched the merchant designated as the imperial taxman. They only did so in effigy, but the “execution” scared him permanently off the job while also making a gallows-tree into one of the earliest symbols of American independence.

One of the key pre-revolution irritants for the future United States, the 1765 Stamp Act imposed taxes in the form of stamp duties on a variety of printed products, for the purpose of funding the British army deployed to North America. It was a levy long familiar to London lawmakers but it sent the colonies right around the bend, and since the colonies sat no Member of Parliament who could flip an official wig it also popularized the classic revolutionary slogan about “taxation without representation.”*

Enacted in the spring of 1765 and due to take effect in November, the Stamp Act drew immediate outrage in the colonies and especially in that hotbed of subversion, Boston.

There, Andrew Oliver, scion of a shipping magnate clan, was tapped to collect the levy. It figured to be just the latest in a series of lucrative state appointments. How was he to know in advance that this particular legislation would unleash the crazies? Perhaps he should have given more heed to the publication of ominous warnings over the roster of tax collector names.

On the morning of Wednesday, August 14, a crowd of irate Bostonians mobbed the corner of Essex Street and Orange Street (present-day Washington Street) and upon a large elm tree strung up an effigy of Oliver alongside a boot — the footwear comprising a second, punny, effigy of the Stamp Act’s sponsor the Earl of Bute.

“What greater Joy can NEW-ENGLAND see,” ran the menacing note pinned to the mannequin, “Than STAMPMEN hanging on a Tree!” ....

[sauropod]

There’s a great book which I read called Revolutionary Dissent by Steven Solomon.

I think this incident is in it.

Well worth the read.

[NonValueAdded]

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Recessional of the Sons of the American Revolution:

“Until we meet again, let us remember our obligations to our
forefathers who gave us our Constitution, the Bill of Rights,
an independent Supreme Court and a nation of free men.”

Dr. Benjamin Franklin, when asked if we had a republic or a monarchy, replied "A Republic, if you can keep it."
Were we ever as close to losing it as we are now?

[NonValueAdded]

SanFranNan would have strung him up for real.

[Gay State Conservative]

Never heard of the “Liberty Tree”. Is it/was it in Boston...or near Boston? I suppose that it's unlikely that it's still standing.

[NTHockey]

History repeats itself because people don’t (or won’t) learn it’s lessons.

Once again, we have taxation without representation.

[ConservativeMind]

Good post!

[17th Miss Regt]

I’m struggling to find the racism and homophobia in this story. Perhaps there is some oppression of children of color? Hmmm, just a bunch of old white men. Move along....

[texas booster]

After this triumphant debut, the elm in question became a common rallying-point for the hotheaded set, a frequent stage for speechifying, rabble-rousing, and fresh instances of popular justice all further to the patriot cause until, as Nathaniel Hawthorne put it, “after a while, it seemed as if the liberty of the country was connected with Liberty Tree.” Of course, it's all a question of whose liberty; a Tory gloss on this deciduous republican made it “an Idol for the Mob to Worship; it was properly the Tree ordeal, where those, whom the Rioters pitched upon as State delinquents, were carried to for Trial, or brought to as the Test of political Orthodoxy.” When besieged in Boston in 1775-1776, British Tories cut the damned thing down, so for subsequent generations it was only the Liberty Stump.

Liberty Tree Site

One block east of Boylston Station (Green Line) and Boston Common, at Washington and Essex Streets, is the site of the famous Liberty Tree. Embedded in the wall of the building located at 630 Washington Street is a tablet marking the spot of the historic landmark, bearing the inscription "Sons of Liberty, 1766."

So at least its' memory still exists, although I no longer think of Boston when I think of liberty.

[mass55th]

I’m in the process of reading “The Minutemen and Their World” by Robert A. Gross. Found it on a paperback swap site I belong to. It focuses on the town of Concord, and it’s people, and is very well sourced.

[Gay State Conservative]

There's so much history within 20 miles of where I've lived 95% of my life it's not funny. I only visited Old Ironsides for the first time 3 or 4 years ago. The only time I've ever seen the Bunker Hill Monument was when I got lost once about 40 years ago.

I must admit that I'm a bit ashamed by that fact.

[Gay State Conservative]

So at least its memory still exists, although I no longer think of Boston when I think of liberty.

Neither do I. Our license plates have the words "The Spirit Of America" at the bottom. This state might,at one time,have deserved that title but those days ended at least 60 years ago. I put tape over those words so as to make it clear that I vigorously disagree with that claim.