"At a Town-Meeting held in Marshfield ..."
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[ This description is from the project: Coming of the American Revolution ]
This article from the Massachusetts Gazette; and the Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser describes a town meeting held in Marshfield in response to the Boston Tea Party. The town denounces those involved in the destruction of the tea and reaffirms its allegiance to Britain. A note after the article, presumably inserted by an editor of the newspaper, cites a 1764 study stating that the town of Marshfield is comprised of predominantly wealthy residents.
Good and Loyal Subjects Speak Up
Throughout Massachusetts, towns convene meetings to record and communicate their citizens' sentiments about the destruction of the tea. Under the guidance of patriots like Samuel Adams, town committees of correspondence circulate news and opinions to their peers in other towns. Official town meetings are also called into session to instruct representatives how to voice the concerns of their fellow townsmen to the General Assembly, the lower house of the General Court.
To examine all four pages of this newspaper, please see the online display of The Massachusetts Gazette; and the Boston Post-Boy and Advertiser , 7 February 1774.
Questions to Consider
1. Explain the process by which Marshfield's residents make their views known.
2. Marshfield's representative is instructed to resist one possible action by the Massachusetts legislature and to urge another. Explain those two instructions.
3. Describe what happened at Plymouth. What view of events is held by those voting in Marshfield's town meeting?