Communication

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Just before the Revolutionary War, communication between the thirteen colonies and England could be described as problematic at best. A chief cause of miscommunication between England and the Colonies was slow and unreliable postal service. In the approximately six weeks it took for mail to arrive on either continent, problems that needed immediate attention festered and became uncontrollable quickly. Errors in meaning, reliability, and accuracy became burdens to the British but were easily turned into assets by those colonists yearning for independence. Master orator Samuel Adams was instrumental in provoking the British and forming the Sons of Liberty, a secret society devoted to overthrowing British rule in the colonies.  

Miscommunication was a primary cause of the Revolution. At the end of the French and Indian war in 1763, the British soldiers that were sent to rid the colonies of French rule stayed to enforce the new taxes that the British were about to impose. The first internal tax to be levied was the Stamp Act. It declared that the colonists must buy more expensive stamped paper to help the British get out of debt (from the French and Indian War). In 1766 the British repealed it. The colonists believed that Parliament repealed the act because of pressure the Sons of Liberty put on the Stamp Act agents. They saw this as a minor victory. In reality, however, Parliament only repealed the act because it was pushed to exasperation by the general harassment from the Sons of Liberty. This misinterpretation gave the colonists a sense of hope that was dashed by Parliament when it passed the Declaratory Act. Prime Minister William Pitt followed by Prime Minister Charles Watson-Wentworth, (2nd Marquis of Rockingham) deceived the colonists when they wrote in the act that Parliament could “bind the colonists by any means.” This language was purposely vague to calm everybody down. However, the colonists were suspicious that it was just a smokescreen to allow Parliament to do whatever they want. The Townsend Acts were passed shortly after which confirmed their suspicions. Communication between the colonials and the British was so flawed that the misunderstandings fueled the colonists’ rage towards the British.

During this time of miscommunication, colonist Samuel Adams was the chief agitator, rallying the colonists through fiery speeches and well-argued pamphlets that exploited and targeted British weaknesses. After Christopher Seider was killed by a Loyalist, Adams made him a martyr before the 2,000 angry Bostonians who were prepared to oppose British rule.  After the Boston Massacre one month later, Sam Adams did the same. His communications did much to antagonize the British and rally the Bostonians. His organization, the Sons of Liberty, was the first Patriot group to plot against British rule. The Boston Tea Party resulted from the plans of the Sons of Liberty. As time progressed and tempers flared, communication within the colonies that both agitated the British and rallied the colonists eventually evolved into the American Revolution.

Somewhere in between these communication extremes the colonists were able to organize a rebellion that foiled the British’s master plan to use the colonies as everlasting monetary support. Each instance of communication seemed to benefit the common cause of the Patriots. Because a select few had devised a master plan of self-government, the colonists were able to achieve independence from England. Without some special situations and benefits from both extremes of communication, the colonists may have never been capable of creating the Revolution.