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Sons of Liberty
| Sons of Liberty | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leaders | See below |
| Dates of operation | 1765–1776 |
| Motives | Before 1766: Opposition to the Stamp Act After 1766: Independence of the United Colonies from Great Britain |
| Active regions | Massachusetts Bay Rhode Island New Hampshire New Jersey New York Maryland Virginia |
| Ideology | Initial phase: Rights of Englishmen "No taxation without representation" Later phase: Liberalism Republicanism |
| Major actions | Public demonstrations, direct action, destruction of Crown goods and property, boycotts, tar and feathering, pamphleteering |
| Notable attacks | Gaspee Affair, Boston Tea Party, attack on John Malcolm |
| Allies |  Patriot revolutionaries |
| Opponents |  Parliament of Great Britain Royal Colonial Governments Tories and other Crown Loyalists |
The Sons of Liberty was founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It played a major role in most colonies in battling the Stamp Act in 1765[1] and throughout the entire period of the American Revolution. Historian David C. Rapoport called the activities of the Sons of Liberty "mob terror."[2]
In popular thought, the Sons of Liberty was a formal underground organization with recognized members and leaders. More likely, the name was an underground term for any men resisting new Crown taxes and laws.[3] The well-known label allowed organizers to make or create anonymous summons to a Liberty Tree, "Liberty Pole", or other public meeting-place. Furthermore, a unifying name helped to promote inter-Colonial efforts against Parliament and the Crown's actions. Their motto became "No taxation without representation."[4]
- ^ John Phillips Resch, ed., culture, and the homefront (MacMillan Reference Library, 2005) 1: 174–75
- ^ Rapoport, David C. (2008). "Before the Bombs There Were the Mobs: American Experiences with Terror". Terrorism and Political Violence. 20 (2): 168. doi:10.1080/09546550701856045.
- ^ Gregory Fremont-Barnes, Encyclopedia of the Age of Political Revolutions and New Ideologies (2007) 1:688
- ^ Frank Lambert (2005). James Habersham: loyalty, politics, and commerce in colonial Georgia. U. of Georgia Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-8203-2539-2.
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