Stamp+Act+Project

October 26, 2010

Jennifer Tran U.S. History I Period 5 Sons of Liberty Mob Tactic

After learning about the Stamp Act in detail, I feel that the Sons of Liberty were not justified in using the mob a political tactic because in order for them to get what they wanted, they destroyed what others had. The Sons of Liberty used mob violence to get their point across, they humiliated people in front of their friends and family and the colonists were venting years of anger into the Stamp Act. I feel that the approach that the colonists took to get the Stamp Act repealed was unreasonable and there are other alternatives to resolve this problem.

The Sons of Liberty chose to use violence to get their point across to the British. They destroyed others property to get attention, which they did gain awareness from the public. The colonists were doing illegal acts. They were trespassing homes and property. People worked hard to make money and the Sons of Liberty just destroys it because they don’t agree with the minor tax. They should have thought it through more carefully and use different strategies to get the Stamp Act repealed. Using mobs as a political tactic is not right, the Sons of Liberty are doings acts that a criminal would most likely do. They should just pay the tax or write a letter to go against the tax instead of going around the town and cause trouble. They did not think before they acted.

Using mob violence, the Sons of Liberty beheaded the Andrew Oliver effigy in front of his house and then burned it. This is just cruel. They are invading one’s privacy and they possibly could have humiliated Andrew Oliver in front of his friends and family. What if Andrew Oliver had children and they saw that happening? The Sons of Liberty are not setting a good example. They were given the ability to think and use their minds but they don’t. The Sons of Liberty are acting like a gang, power in numbers. They could’ve knocked on the door and have a well thought out discussion with Andrew Oliver about the Stamp Act but instead they were uncivilized and destroyed the homes of others. This is just causing more trouble instead of resolving it.

The colonists were angry and now there was an opportunity for them to vent their anger, so they did. “But it is clear that the crowd was giving vent to years of resentment at the accumulation of wealth and power by the haughty prerogative faction led by Hutchinson.”(Quote from Wikipedia.com) With the power in numbers, they destroyed Hutchinson’s home. “The mob evicted the family, destroyed the furniture, tore down the interior walls, and emptied the wine cellar.” Hutchinson who worked in the public office for 30 years lost approximately $250,000. This is a large amount of money for a person to lose because of a group of unhappy people. There are better approaches to this problem and I feel that the Sons of Liberty could’ve been more mature about it.

In the end the Stamp Act did get repealed. There were other approaches to get the same outcome but the colonists did not take those alternatives into consideration. They used violence, humiliated and destroyed others hard work and they also vented their anger. Using mob violence as a political tactic was not the best choice. They caused others to lose a large amount of money, did illegal acts and they acted like a gang and criminals. This was not the best decision the colonists had made. Other choices could’ve lead to less destruction and trouble in the colonial towns.



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