Hutchinson Letters Affair
Encyclopedia
The Hutchinson Letters Affair was an incident that increased tensions between the American colonies and the British government prior to the American Revolution
. In June 1773 letters written several years earlier by Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver
, governor and lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
at the time of their publication, were published in a Boston
newspaper. The highly inflammatory content of the letters called for, among other things, the abridgement of colonial rights.
The affair served to inflame tensions in Massachusetts, where implementation of the 1773 Tea Act
was met with resistance that culminated in the Boston Tea Party
in December 1773. The response of the British government to the publication of the letters served to turn Benjamin Franklin
, one of the principal figures in the affair, into a committed Patriot
.
, Stamp
, Quartering
, Declaratory
and Townshend
Acts. At that time, Benjamin Franklin
, who was living in England as a representative of several colonies including Massachusetts, received a packet of thirteen letters, authored by Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver
. At the time the letters were written, Hutchinson was the lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
, and Oliver was its secretary; when Franklin received the letters Hutchinson had been commissioned as governor and Oliver as lieutenant governor. Franklin never told who gave him the letters; Thomas Pownall
and John Temple
were among those suggested as possible sources.
, a leading member of the British government in the 1760s, Hutchinson and Oliver made some damning comments about colonial rights. Hutchinson recommended that popular government be taken away from the people "by degrees", and that there should be "abridgement of what are called English liberties
", and Oliver argued that all colonial government posts should be made independent of the provincial assemblies. The latter was notably not the case in Massachusetts, where the governor and lieutenant governor, although appointed by the crown, were dependent on the assembly for a salary and reimbursement of their costs of governance. Hutchinson, when he was commissioned governor in 1771, also received a salary grant of £1,500 from the Board of Trade. When this was publicized in 1772 it caused a great deal of negative comment from Hutchinson's opposition, notably Samuel Adams
.
, the speaker of the Massachusetts assembly, in Boston
, on the condition that they not be published or widely circulated. He specifically wrote that they should be seen only be a few people, and that he was not "at liberty to make the letters public." However, the letters were published in the Boston Gazette
in June 1773, causing a political firestorm in both Massachusetts and England.
was also discussed, Franklin stood silently while he was lambasted for his role in the affair. He was accused of thievery and dishonor, called the "prime mover" in England on behalf of Boston's Committee of Correspondence
. The Board of Trade dismissed Franklin from his post as colonial postmaster general, and dismissed the petition for Hutchinson's removal as "groundless" and "vexatious". Parliament then passed the so-called "Coercive Acts", a package of measures designed to punish Massachusetts for the tea party. Hutchinson was recalled, and the Massachusetts governorship was given to the commander of British forces in North America, General Thomas Gage
. Hutchinson left Massachusetts in May 1774, never to return. Andrew Oliver suffered a stroke and died in March 1774.
Gage's implementation of the Coercive Acts further raised tensions that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
in April 1775. Franklin returned to America in early 1775, where he went on to serve in the Second Continental Congress
and help lead the American Revolution.
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. In June 1773 letters written several years earlier by Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver
Andrew Oliver
Andrew Oliver was a merchant and public official in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Born in Boston, he was the son of Daniel Oliver, a merchant, and Elizabeth Belcher Oliver, daughter of Governor Jonathan Belcher. Andrew had two brothers: Daniel Oliver and Peter Oliver...
, governor and lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
at the time of their publication, were published in a Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
newspaper. The highly inflammatory content of the letters called for, among other things, the abridgement of colonial rights.
The affair served to inflame tensions in Massachusetts, where implementation of the 1773 Tea Act
Tea Act
The Tea Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Its principal overt objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses. A related objective was to undercut the price of tea smuggled into Britain's...
was met with resistance that culminated in the Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies...
in December 1773. The response of the British government to the publication of the letters served to turn Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, one of the principal figures in the affair, into a committed Patriot
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
.
Background
By December 1772, the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies was strained following the SugarSugar Act
The Sugar Act, also known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764. The preamble to the act stated: "it is expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for improving the...
, Stamp
Stamp Act
A stamp act is any legislation that requires a tax to be paid on the transfer of certain documents. Those that pay the tax receive an official stamp on their documents, making them legal documents. The taxes raised under a stamp act are called stamp duty. This system of taxation was first devised...
, Quartering
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act is the name of at least two 18th-century acts of the Parliament of Great Britain. These Quartering Acts ordered the local governments of the American colonies to provide housing and provisions for British soldiers. They were amendments to the Mutiny Act, which had to be renewed...
, Declaratory
Declaratory Act
The Declaratory Act was a declaration by the British Parliament in 1766 which accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act 1765. The government repealed the Stamp Act because boycotts were hurting British trade and used the declaration to justify the repeal and save face...
and Townshend
Townshend Acts
The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed beginning in 1767 by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America. The acts are named after Charles Townshend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who proposed the program...
Acts. At that time, Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, who was living in England as a representative of several colonies including Massachusetts, received a packet of thirteen letters, authored by Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver
Andrew Oliver
Andrew Oliver was a merchant and public official in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Born in Boston, he was the son of Daniel Oliver, a merchant, and Elizabeth Belcher Oliver, daughter of Governor Jonathan Belcher. Andrew had two brothers: Daniel Oliver and Peter Oliver...
. At the time the letters were written, Hutchinson was the lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
, and Oliver was its secretary; when Franklin received the letters Hutchinson had been commissioned as governor and Oliver as lieutenant governor. Franklin never told who gave him the letters; Thomas Pownall
Thomas Pownall
Thomas Pownall was a British politician and colonial official. He was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1758 to 1760, and afterward served in the British Parliament. He traveled widely in the North American colonies prior to the American Revolutionary War, and opposed...
and John Temple
John Temple (diplomat)
John Temple , sometimes known as Sir John Temple, 8th Baronet, was the first British consul-general to the United States....
were among those suggested as possible sources.
Content of the letters
In these private letters, written between 1767 and 1769 to Thomas WhatelyThomas Whately
Thomas Whately , an English politician and writer, was a Member of Parliament , who served as Commissioner on the Board of Trade, as Secretary to the Treasury under Lord Grenville, and as Under- secretary of State under Lord North . As an M.P...
, a leading member of the British government in the 1760s, Hutchinson and Oliver made some damning comments about colonial rights. Hutchinson recommended that popular government be taken away from the people "by degrees", and that there should be "abridgement of what are called English liberties
Rights of Englishmen
The rights of Englishmen are the perceived traditional rights of British subjects. The notion refers to various constitutional documents that were created throughout various stages of English history, such as Magna Carta, the Declaration of Right , and others...
", and Oliver argued that all colonial government posts should be made independent of the provincial assemblies. The latter was notably not the case in Massachusetts, where the governor and lieutenant governor, although appointed by the crown, were dependent on the assembly for a salary and reimbursement of their costs of governance. Hutchinson, when he was commissioned governor in 1771, also received a salary grant of £1,500 from the Board of Trade. When this was publicized in 1772 it caused a great deal of negative comment from Hutchinson's opposition, notably Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American...
.
Publication
Franklin sent the letters to Thomas CushingThomas Cushing
Thomas Cushing III was an American lawyer and statesman from Boston, Massachusetts. He was a loyalist for Massachusetts in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776, and the first Lt. Commander of the state from 1780 to 1788...
, the speaker of the Massachusetts assembly, in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, on the condition that they not be published or widely circulated. He specifically wrote that they should be seen only be a few people, and that he was not "at liberty to make the letters public." However, the letters were published in the Boston Gazette
Boston Gazette
The Boston Gazette was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts, in the British North American colonies. It began publication December 21, 1719 and appeared weekly.-Brief history:...
in June 1773, causing a political firestorm in both Massachusetts and England.
Consequences
In England, speculation ran rampant over the source of the leak. Thomas Whately's brother William fought a duel with Temple after accusing him of leaking the documents. Whately was wounded in the duel, but neither participant was satisfied, and a second duel was planned. In order to prevent it, Franklin admitted that he sent the letters to Cushing. Bostonians were outraged, and the Governor's Council petitioned the Board of Trade for Hutchinson's removal. In the hearing concerning Hutchinson's fate, in which the aftermath of the Boston Tea PartyBoston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies...
was also discussed, Franklin stood silently while he was lambasted for his role in the affair. He was accused of thievery and dishonor, called the "prime mover" in England on behalf of Boston's Committee of Correspondence
Committee of correspondence
The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of American Revolution. They coordinated responses to Britain and shared their plans; by 1773 they had emerged as shadow governments, superseding the colonial legislature...
. The Board of Trade dismissed Franklin from his post as colonial postmaster general, and dismissed the petition for Hutchinson's removal as "groundless" and "vexatious". Parliament then passed the so-called "Coercive Acts", a package of measures designed to punish Massachusetts for the tea party. Hutchinson was recalled, and the Massachusetts governorship was given to the commander of British forces in North America, General Thomas Gage
Thomas Gage
Thomas Gage was a British general, best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American War of Independence....
. Hutchinson left Massachusetts in May 1774, never to return. Andrew Oliver suffered a stroke and died in March 1774.
Gage's implementation of the Coercive Acts further raised tensions that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
in April 1775. Franklin returned to America in early 1775, where he went on to serve in the Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the First Continental Congress, which met briefly during 1774,...
and help lead the American Revolution.