DISCUSSION GUIDE – FIRST AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Community Read for Worcester County
By Ray Raphael
April 2013
INTRODUCTION
On December 16, 1773, American patriots dressed as Indians dumped 342
chests of tea into Boston Harbor. On the night of April 18, 1775, sixteen months
and two days later, British troops marched from Boston toward Lexington and
Concord. Blood was shed, lots of it, and a war was on. What, exactly, happened
during that intervening sixteen months and two days? How did an act of political
vandalism lead to outright warfare?
Here is one response, repeated for generations in our textbooks and in
almost all accounts of the American Revolution.
To punish Boston for what we now call the Boston Tea Party, Parliament
passed four bills it called “Coercive Acts” and we now dub “Intolerable Acts.”
Most often noted is the Boston Port Act, which closed the Boston harbor. Instead
of isolating Boston, as Parliament had hoped, the act triggered sympathy and an
outpouring of aid from other colonists.
Leaders in twelve colonies gathered in the First Continental Congress to
present a united opposition to Britain’s harsh moves. Congress petitioned
Parliament and King George III to change their course, but the Crown and
Parliament remained firm. Six months later, the King’s Regulars marched on
Lexington and Concord.
Most of this account is correct – as far as it goes. Colonists did help Boston
and form a Continental Congress. But how, exactly, did such moves lead Britain
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to undertake a military offensive? Do acts of charity or written protests, in the
absence of stronger forms of resistance, generally lead to war?
Something is missing here, and that “something” is the fact that all of
Massachusetts outside of Boston had cast off all British authority, both political
and military, more than half a year before Lexington and Concord. Revolutionary
historian Ray Raphael tells this little-known but critical story in The First
American Revolution. It fills the mysterious gap in our national narrative, and
Worcester County lies right at the heart of the tale. Our Revolutionary heritage is
even more important than most of us have imagined.
[Prefatory note: No group will have time to address all of these questions, but
any selection should provide ample opportunity for thought and discussion.]
OVERVIEW
1. For citizens of Massachusetts living outside of Boston, which of the Coercive
Acts caused the most alarm? What did it dictate, and why were citizens so upset
by it?
2. How did resistance to this act intersect with pre-existing political and economic
tensions in places like Worcester?
3. In what ways did citizens defy the various components of this act? Be sure to
mention town meetings, courts, juries, and “mandamus counselors.”
4. What organizations plotted and coordinated such activities? When were these
created, and how did they function?
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5. How orderly or disorderly were the crowds that prevented the act from taking
effect? Can they be characterized as “mobs”? Were some more mob-like than
others?
6. What happened on September 6, 1774, in the town of Worcester, the
“shiretown” of Worcester County? What other towns within that county were
involved? Why was this particular event a pivotal moment in the province-wide
rebellion?
7. After September 6, with British authority gone, people were reduced to “a state
of nature.” What did that expression mean? Temporarily, until a new government
could be created, what organizations filled the power vacuum at the county level?
At the provincial level? Which town was the first to call for the creation of a
permanent new government?
8. Trick question: What famous leaders led this rebellion?
9. Massachusetts citizens had a long history of deciding matters in town
meetings. Discuss how this political culture affected decision-making during the
dramatic events of 1774.
10. Compare the nature of “democracy” in (a) late colonial times (b) 1774 (c)
during the war itself (d) today. Within this, discuss the role of “instructions” (or
lack thereof) to representatives.
11. From October 1774 to April 1775, with the British Army in control of Boston
but patriots in control everywhere else, what steps did each side take in
anticipation of a military confrontation?
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12. Why did British spies advise General Gage to attack Concord instead of
Worcester?
13. Why do you think the Massachusetts Revolution of 1774 has not often been
included in traditional textbook narratives? [Note: that is beginning to change!]
CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER
Introduction:
1. Discuss the definition of “revolution” offered on page 3. Do you agree with it?
Would you like to refine it or offer an alternative? Keep in mind the definition(s) of
“revolution” as you read the book. Does a revolution require military conflict?
Was there a revolution in Massachusetts in 1774? If you choose not to
characterize these events as a revolution, how would you characterize them?
Chapter 1: People and Place
1. Discuss the various venues for community engagement in late colonial times:
church, tavern, town meeting, militia days, court days.
2. How inclusive or exclusive was the franchise in late colonial Massachusetts?
3. What were the three components of the provincial government, or “General
Court”? How were they selected, and what were their roles?
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4. Scholars debate whether late colonial society was “democratic” or
“deferential.” What do you think? Are these mutually exclusive? What was the
role of elites like the “River Gods” and the Chandlers? (See pages 18-19.)
Chapter 2: Division
1. What were the economic consequences of “worn land”? How severe were
these? Do you think that late colonial society can be characterized as “middle
class” despite increasing disparities at either end? Within this discussion, discuss
debt and the fear of debt.
2. What was the response to the Stamp Act across the countryside, outside of
Boston?
3. Discuss the origins and importance of the Committees of Correspondence.
Continue this discussion as you read through later chapters.
4. What was the American Political Society, and how did it function?
5. What were the stipulations of the Massachusetts Government Act, and how
did news of the act affect the balance of political power in the towns?
Chapter 3: Intimidation
1. Why did activists focus on getting the “mandamus counsellors” to resign? (For
fun, look up “mandamus” and figure out why that word was used.)
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2. Discuss the various techniques of intimidation from the standpoint of those
doing the intimidating. Why did they deem such actions necessary?
3. Discuss the various techniques of intimidation from the standpoint of those
being targeted. How were their “civil liberties,” as we call them today, being
violated?
4. In these discussions, compare the communal character of New England
society at that time with our more individualistic inclinations today.
Chapter 4: Confrontation
1. Why was the town meeting incident in Salem such a big deal?
2. The most extensive description of a court closing comes from Joseph Clarke,
reprinted on pages 98-101. Based on this source alone, how might you
characterize the tone or mood of the Springfield event? Now compare Clarke’s
account with the much briefer one by Jonathan Judd, Jr., on page 103. Finally,
based on these two sources, how would you characterize the event 240 years
later? What sense can you make of the different perspectives?
3. When a contingent of “leaders” from Boston arrived in Cambridge on
September 2 (pages 117-118), how were these men received by the crowd?
What does this tell us about the role of Boston’s leadership in the dramatic mass
actions outside of Boston? Or did they play much of a role?
4. How did the mood of the Cambridge crowd change through the day on
September 2?
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5. We have two contemporaneous descriptions of the mass mobilization known
today as the “Powder Alarm,” from Reverend Williams of Longmeadow and from
Mr. McNeil of Litchfield, as reported by Ezra Stiles. Discuss that mobilization
based on these two accounts.
6. How did the Powder Alarm affect the much-anticipated showdown in
Worcester four days later?
7. Open question: How does the September 6 Worcester event compare in tone,
numbers, and impact with other popular uprisings in United States history? Were
any others this successful in achieving their goals?
Chapter 5: Consolidation
1. After September 6, with official authority no longer operative in Worcester,
what organization filled the void in Worcester County? Under what authority (if
any) did it do so? How did it reconstruct some semblance of a government?
What steps did this organization take to prepare for a possible military
confrontation in the future?
2. Patriots complained bitterly when General Gage fortified the Boston Neck. Do
you think he had reason to do so?
3. On September 12, ten days after the powder alarm and six days after the
event in Worcester, Gage gave Lord Dartmouth a sweeping assessment of the
situation on-the-ground. Based on what you’ve read so far in this book, does this
assessment seem understated, overstated, or accurate?
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4. Which county in contiguous, mainland Massachusetts (not including Maine or
the islands) did not overthrow British rule in the late summer or early fall of 1774?
Why didn’t it? How did that county contribute to the revolution-in-the-works?
5. Explain the significance of the “ashes of the Phenix” instructions from the
Worcester Town Meeting of October 4.
6. What actions did the Provincial Congress take to prepare for a possible
military confrontation?
Chapter 6: Battle Lines
1. Explain the difference between the original charter (this was actually in 1629,
not 1621 as per the typo in the book) and the 1691 charter, which the
Massachusetts Government Act had effectively nullified. In terms of where to go
next, who wanted to resume the 1691 Charter (but without a royal governor), and
who wanted to go back to the original one, by which the colony was virtually selfgoverning?
2. In particular, where did Samuel Adams come down on this? Why was he
worried about the more radical approach? How does Adams’s preference here
compare with his traditional image as a rabble-rouser bent on destroying
government?
3. According to John Andrews (page 176), Gage felt he could handle the Boston
leaders “but the damn’d country committees plague his soul out, as they are very
obstinate and hard to be satisfied.” Discuss the differences between country
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radicals and the Boston leadership in the fall of 1774. (This quote, undated in the
book, is from early October.) Which faction prevailed in the Provincial Congress,
and why?
4. What happened at Fort William and Mary in December? What was the
significance of this?
5. What happened at Salem in February? How did British officials miscalculate?
6. Discuss the differences within patriot circles early in 1775. How did news from
London, which arrived in early April, affect these political debates?
7. Where did Gage’s spies advise him to attack? Why not Worcester? (NOTE:
Because John Howe’s account [195-6] did not appear until the nineteenth
century, its authenticity has been questioned. Contemporaneous spy reports
cited in the endnotes, however, also reveal the aversion to an attack on
Worcester. See in particular the extensive report cited in note 66.)
Chapter 7: The End of Revolution
1. The British move on Lexington and Concord is usually called the “beginning of
the American Revolution,” but on page 197 it is characterized as a “counterrevolutionary attack.” What is the logic behind this?
2. How did the “unanimity and enthusiasm falter” (page 198) during the wartime
years, and how did this challenge “the democratic ideals and processes” that had
propelled the Massachusetts Revolution of 1774?
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3. How and when was the Provincial Congress, a quasi-government, dissolved
and replaced by an official government? Who in Massachusetts was not satisfied
with that transformation, and what did they do about it? When was this finally
resolved?
4. After the war, what happened to Timothy Bigelow and Timothy Paine? How do
their two stories reflect sweeping social and economic issues of the 1780s?
5. In terms of size and outcome, compare the Massachusetts Revolution of 1774
with the so-called “Shays’ Rebellion” of 1786-7. Why did one succeed while the
other did not? Do you think there was any connection between them?
6. In note 66, page 255, why does the author take issue with the term “Shays’
Rebellion”?
7. Why do you think the later event is included in every textbook, while the earlier
one is so neglected? This lead into the key question addressed in the next
chapter.
Epilogue: Why the Story Has Not Been Told
1. The author offers several reasons for the story’s neglect, even by professional
historians (in addition to the main text, see endnote 3 on pages 257-258).
Evaluate these and offer your own. Do some of these reasons feed on each
other? What does the story’s neglect teach us about the sorts of mistakes people
make in the telling of history?
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NOTE: The earliest historians of the Revolution, the ones who lived at that time,
did include this story. For this, see Ray Raphael, Founding Myths, chapter 4.
(Revised tenth-anniversary edition is being released on July 4.)
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