74 



BOYCOTT. 



although she was a decent woman and they all 

 liked her, they couldn't stand that ' baste of a 

 husband of hers any longer,' and they really 

 couldn't sell her any more bread. Boycott was 

 isolated. . . . Three days after the decree of 

 social excommunication was issued against Boy- 

 cott I was dining with Rev. John O'Malley, and 

 he asked me why I was not eating. I said 1 am 

 bothered about a word.' 'What is it?' asked 

 Father John. ' Well,' said I, * when the people 

 ostracize a land-grabber we call it social excom- 

 munication, but we ought to have an entirely 

 different word to signify ostracism applied to a 

 landlord or land-agent like Boycott. Ostracism 

 won't do, the peasantry would not know the 

 meaning of the word, and I can't think of any- 

 thing.' 'No?' said Father John; 'how would 

 it do to call it " to boycott him." ' Then I was 

 delighted, and I said : ' Tell your people to call it 

 boycotting, so that when the reporters come 

 down from London and Dublin they will hear 

 the word ; use it yourself . . . and I will ask the 

 young orators of the Land League to give it 

 that name : and I will use it myself in my corre- 

 spondence." 



The boycott was one of the methods adopted 

 by the patriots of the American Revolution as a 

 defense against the tyranny of Great Britain. 

 When King George and his ministers attempted 

 to tax the colonies unjustly, agreements were 

 drawn up by the Sons of Liberty and presented 

 for signature to all the principal citizens of the 

 colonies. By these agreements the signers 

 bound themselves not to " import, purchase, nor 

 make use of certain articles produced or manu- 

 factured out of North America, such as teas, 

 wines, and liquors." " Homespun parties " 

 were given where nothing of foreign importa- 

 tion appeared in the dresses or on the table. 

 Even wedding festivities were conducted upon 

 patriotic principles. It is related that at the 

 marriage of Miss Dora Flint, at Windham. 

 Conn., in December, 1767, the ladies were all 

 arrayed in garments of domestic manufacture. 

 The refreshments were all of domestic produce. 

 In many of the principal towns of the colonies 

 " committees of correspondence " were appointed 

 who were to write to other towns and impress 

 upon the people there the importance of this 

 boycott, or, as it was then called, this " non-im- 

 portation agreement." The Boston committee 

 was most active. It was composed of Samuel 

 Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, John 

 Adams, William Phillips, Joseph Warren, and 

 Josiah Quincy. The circular which they sent 

 out, known as the Boston circular, was sent 

 throughout all the colonies. On Jan. 29, 1770, 

 the inhabitants of Norwich. Conn., met in pub- 

 lic mass meeting and resolved : " We give our 

 hearty and unanimous approbation to the agree- 

 ment the merchants have entered into to stop 

 the importation of British goods ; we will frown 

 upon all who endeavor to frustrate these good 

 designs, and avoid all correspondence and deal- 

 ings with those merchants who shall dare to vio- 

 late these obligations." By May, 1770, three 

 hundred and sixty individuals, mostly heads of 

 families had put their names to the non-importa- 

 tion agreements. All over the country commit- 

 tees, variously called "committees of inspec- 

 tion" or "committees of observation," were 



appointed to make critical examination into the 

 conduct of all buyers and sellers of goods, and 

 to publish the names of those who failed to re- 

 spect the boycott, " to the intent that such per- 

 sons might be exposed to the odium and resent- 

 ment of the people." Any person found to 

 have violated the boycott had h'is name posted 

 in handbills and in the newspapers, " a proceed- 

 ing," says a writer of that day. " which was 

 usually followed by insults at least from the 

 boys and populace." Eberiezer Punderson, the 

 schoolmaster at Norwich, drank tea in spite of 

 the boycott until the committee of inspection 

 posted him and ordered "that no trade, com- 

 merce, dealings, or intercourse whatever be car- 

 ried on with him," when he found it advisable 

 to refrain from tea-drinking. The committee of 

 observation of Cumberland County, N. J., re- 

 ported that Silas Newcomb drank tea " and was 

 determined to persist in that practice," and rec- 

 ommended that the people "break off all deal- 

 ings with him, and in this manner publish the 

 truth of the case, that he might be distinguished 

 from the friends of American liberty." This 

 was so effective that on May 11, 1775, Silas 

 Newcomb formally, publicly, and in writing, 

 recanted. In Boston, two or three brothers 

 named McMasters sold the boycotted goods. 

 On June 19, 1770, one of them was taken and 

 carted in the heat of the day, with a bag of 

 feathers and some tar in a barrel by his side, to 

 King Street, where it was intended to expose 

 him to public view besmeared with the one and 

 coated with the other. But as he drew near 

 the spot, his color forsook his lips, his eyes sank, 

 and he was about to fail lifeless in the cart, 

 when some gentlemen begged permission to take 

 him into a house. Cordials were administered 

 and McMasters was revived, and upon his sol- 

 emn promise to go away and never return he 

 was excused from this newly invented punish- 

 ment, and carted, sitting in his chair, to the Rox- 

 bury line, where he was dismissed. 



A printer in New York city published a Tory 

 newspaper, and was boycotted very generally by 

 the people of New Jersey. One of these boycotts 

 reads as follows : " We esteem him as an incendi- 

 ary employed by a wicked ministry to disunite 

 and divide us ; and, therefore, we will not for 

 ourselves have any connection or dealing with 

 him. and do recommend the same conduct to- 

 ward him to every person in this township ; and 

 we will discountenance any post-rider, stage 

 driver, or carrier who shall bring his pamphlets 

 or papers into this country." The inhabitants of 

 Staten Island found it hard to relinquish their 

 tea or their newspaper; and the committees of 

 observation of the adjoining counties reported 

 that the people of New Jersey "are bound to break 

 off all trade, commerce, dealings, and intercourse 

 whatever with the inhabitants of said island; 

 and do resolve that all trade, commerce dealings, 

 and intercourse whatever be suspended accord- 

 ingly, which suspension is hereby notified and 

 recommended to the inhabitants of their dis- 

 trict, to be by them universally observed and 

 adopted." 



The attempt of the British to break the boy- 

 cott by sending to America ships freighted with 

 tea which was to be sold by specially appointed 

 agents and at a reduced price was well known. 



