John Rowe (1715–1787) was a property developer and merchant in 18th century Boston,Massachusetts. As a merchant,John Rowe's most famous cargo was the tea that played a starring role in the Boston Tea Party. As a developer,his name is remembered to this day in the name of Rowes Wharf,a modern development in downtown Boston on the site of his original wharf. [1]
Rowe was born in Exeter,in the English county of Devon,but immigrated to Boston with his brothers at an early age. He married Hannah Speakman in 1743 and lived in Boston for the rest of his life. His diaries are kept by the Massachusetts Historical Society and include many valuable observations about people,events,and daily life in Boston. [3] He held various posts in Boston,including serving on the Boston Board of Selectmen.
Rowe was evidently a very active smuggler,avoiding British trade regulations by trading with forbidden ports. [4] He was also an active slave dealer,shown by his advertisement in the 28 July 1746 edition of the Boston Evening Post. In the ad,Rowe listed goods for auction at his wharf,such as cocoa and rum. After the list of goods,he offered to purchase,"Some Negroes that can work at the Carpenter's Trade",and promised to "give a handsom[e] Price if he likes them." [5] He joined protests against tightening restrictions of colonial trade,and helped incite the anti-Stamp Act riot in 1765 that destroyed Chief Justice Thomas Hutchinson's home. [4]
Carl Becker mostly ignored John Rowe in The Eve of Revolution (1918),but he did include a letter written by Thomas Hutchinson. In the letter,Hutchinson claimed that Rowe,Otis and Molineux and Davies provoked the protesters who destroyed Hutchinson's house on 26 August 1765:"When there is occasion to burn or hang effigies or pull down houses,these [rabble] are employed;but since government has been brought to a system,they are somewhat controlled by a superior set consisting of the mastermasons,and carpenters,&c.,of the town of Boston. When anything of more importance is to be determined,as opening the custom-house on any matter of trade,these are under the direction of a committee of the merchants,Mr. Rowe at their head,then Molyneaux,Solomon Davies,et&,…this is proper for a general meeting of the inhabitants of Boston,where Otis,with his mob-high of eloquence,prevails in every motion…and it would be a very extraordinary resolve indeed that is not carried into execution". [5] During the era of the American Revolution,Rowe avoided commitment to either side,and instead looked out after his business interests. [4]
Rowe was the owner of one of the tea ships,the Eleanor,involved in the Boston Tea Party. According to some accounts,at the Old South Meeting House before the Tea Party,he uttered the famous words,"perhaps salt water and tea will mix tonight," but according to his own journal,he was unwell and was not present during the meeting or the Tea Party. [4] Because several sources placed Rowe at the meeting,it's possible to theorise that the journal entry may have been an attempt to conceal his participation in the events leading to the Tea Party. [6]
Rowe had a brother by the name of Jacob Rowe who was also a Merchant by trade.
John Hancock was an American Founding Father,merchant,statesman,and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving president of the Continental Congress,having served as the second president of the Second Continental Congress and the seventh president of the Congress of the Confederation. He was the first and third governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence,so much so that in the United States,John Hancock or Hancock has become a colloquialism for a person's signature. He also signed the Articles of Confederation,and used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.
Thomas Hutchinson was an American merchant,politician,historian,and colonial administrator who repeatedly served as governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the years leading up to the American Revolution. He has been described as "the most important figure on the loyalist side in pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts". Hutchinson was a successful merchant and politician who was active at high levels of the Massachusetts colonial government for many years,serving as lieutenant governor and then governor from 1758 to 1774. He was a politically polarizing figure who came to be identified by John Adams and Samuel Adams as a supporter of unpopular British taxes,despite his initial opposition to Parliamentary tax laws directed at the colonies. Hutchinson was blamed by British Prime Minister Lord North for being a significant contributor to the tensions that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
Francis Cabot Lowell was an American businessman for whom the city of Lowell,Massachusetts,is named. He was instrumental in bringing the Industrial Revolution to the United States.
William Molineux was a hardware merchant in colonial Boston of Irish descent best known for his role in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and earlier political protests.
A writ of assistance is a written order issued by a court instructing a law enforcement official,such as a sheriff or a tax collector,to perform a certain task. Historically,several types of writs have been called "writs of assistance". Most often,a writ of assistance is "used to enforce an order for the possession of lands". When used to evict someone from real property,such a writ is also called a writ of restitution or a writ of possession. In the area of customs,writs of assistance date from Colonial times. They were issued by the Court of Exchequer to help customs officials search for smuggled goods. These writs were called "writs of assistance" because they called upon sheriffs,other officials,and loyal subjects to "assist" the customs official in carrying out his duties.
Sir Francis Bernard,1st Baronet was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of the provinces of New Jersey and Massachusetts Bay. His uncompromising policies and harsh tactics in Massachusetts angered the colonists and were instrumental in the building of broad-based opposition within the province to the rule of Parliament in the events leading to the American Revolution.
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7,1691,by William III and Mary II,the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England,Scotland,and Ireland,and was based in the merging of several earlier British colonies in New England. The charter took effect on May 14,1692,and included the Massachusetts Bay Colony,the Plymouth Colony,the Province of Maine,Martha's Vineyard,Nantucket,Nova Scotia,and New Brunswick;the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the direct successor. Maine has been a separate state since 1820,and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are now Canadian provinces,having been part of the colony only until 1697.
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 and throughout the entire period of the American Revolution. Historian David C. Rapoport called the activities of the Sons of Liberty "mob terror."
The Townshend Acts or Townshend Duties were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to enable administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the Chancellor of the Exchequer who proposed the program. Historians vary slightly as to which acts they include under the heading "Townshend Acts",but five are often listed:
The Tea Act 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive. A related objective was to undercut the price of illegal tea,smuggled into Britain's North American colonies. This was supposed to convince the colonists to purchase Company tea on which the Townshend duties were paid,thus implicitly agreeing to accept Parliament's right of taxation. Smuggled tea was a large issue for Britain and the East India Company,since approximately 86% of all the tea in America at the time was smuggled Dutch tea.
Isaac Sears was an American merchant,sailor,Freemason,and political figure who played an important role in the American Revolution.
The Boston Tea Party was an American political and mercantile protest on December 16,1773,by the Sons of Liberty in Boston in colonial Massachusetts. The target was the Tea Act of May 10,1773,which allowed the East India Company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts. The Sons of Liberty strongly opposed the taxes in the Townshend Act as a violation of their rights. In response,the Sons of Liberty,some disguised as Native Americans,destroyed an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company.
The current incarnation of Rowes Wharf is a modern development in downtown Boston,Massachusetts. It is best known for the Boston Harbor Hotel's multi-story arch over the wide public plaza between Atlantic Avenue and the Boston Harbor waterfront. Along the waterfront can be found a marina,restaurants,a water transportation terminal,and a floating stage offering free concerts and movies during the summer.
Samuel Adams was an American statesman,political philosopher,and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts,a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution,a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and other founding documents,and one of the architects of the principles of American republicanism that shaped the political culture of the United States. He was a second cousin to his fellow Founding Father,President John Adams.
The Philadelphia Tea Party was an incident in late December 1773,shortly after the more famous Boston Tea Party,in which a British tea ship was intercepted by American colonists and forced to return its cargo to Great Britain.
James Otis Jr. was an American Lawyer,political activist,colonial legislator,and early supporter of patriotic causes in Massachusetts Bay Colony at the beginning of the Revolutionary Era. Otis was a fervent opponent of the writs of assistance imposed by Great Britain on the American colonies in the early 1700s which allowed law enforcement officials to search private property without cause. He later expanded his criticism of British authority to include tax measures that were being enacted by Parliament. As a result,Otis is often credited with coining the slogan "taxation without representation is tyranny".
Mungo Mackay was a Scottish seafarer from the Orkney Islands who made a fortune in the Boston shipping trades in Massachusetts. Mungo was a highly regarded ship master,successful privateer owner and bonder,and operated a store on Long Wharf in Boston. He was also active in the politics of the town of Boston and the Masonic Order in Boston. His legacy includes the Alpheus Babcock and Jonas Chickering piano manufacturing establishments.
The Loyal Nine were nine American patriots from Boston who met in secret to plan protests against the Stamp Act of 1765. Mostly middle-class businessmen,the Loyal Nine enlisted Ebenezer Mackintosh to rally large crowds of commoners to their cause and provided the protesters with food,drink,and supplies. A precursor to the Sons of Liberty,the group is credited with establishing the Liberty Tree as a central gathering place for Boston patriots.
The Boston Non-importation agreement was an 18th century boycott that restricted importation of goods to the city of Boston. This agreement was signed on August 1,1768 by more than 60 merchants and traders. After two weeks,there were only 16 traders who did not join the effort. In the upcoming months and years,this non-importation initiative was adopted by other cities:New York joined the same year,Philadelphia followed a year later. Boston stayed the leader in forming an opposition to the mother country and its taxing policy. The boycott lasted until the 1770 when the British Parliament repealed the acts against which the Boston Non-importation agreement was meant.
Ezekiel Goldthwait was an American merchant and landowner. Born in Boston,the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay,he rose to become on the city's leading citizens in the years leading to the American Revolution.
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