tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post7361958287926384537..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: When Gen. Gage Proclaimed Martial LawUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-42758907780865509592016-08-01T14:41:15.356-05:002016-08-01T14:41:15.356-05:00I'm not sure what we can read from the welcome...I'm not sure what we can read from the welcome for Gen. Thomas Gage in May 1774. A civic ceremony of some sort was expected for the king's representative, and lots of people might have been relieved that Thomas Hutchinson was being replaced. People didn't yet know the of Parliament's Coercive Acts and Gage's commitment to enforcing them. Plus, the political elite who managed Faneuil Hall included a higher proportion of Crown adherents than the population as a whole. <br /><br />By the time the farewell address to Hutchinson and the welcome address to Gage were being circulated, the new Crown policy was apparent and signing those became political litmus tests. Even now historians use "Addressers to Hutchinson" and "Addressers to Gage" as a way to measure a prominent man's Loyalism. <br /><br />It's also possible to read the first comment as saying that if people come out to show support for a military man they can't be suffering under martial law. But military dictatorships often demand such celebrations. I don't think that's what that comment was meant to say, but it's not entirely clear. J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-4614277621592397212016-08-01T10:23:13.854-05:002016-08-01T10:23:13.854-05:00The citizens of Boston did so in order to show the...The citizens of Boston did so in order to show their loyalty to the king; the idea of independence was not widely accepted at that point.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16904719730434782890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-11926596325139887522016-07-30T22:04:47.936-05:002016-07-30T22:04:47.936-05:00The locals gave quite a welcoming party for Gage a...The locals gave quite a welcoming party for Gage at Faneuil Hall when he first arrived, so that doesn't sound like people in the grips of martial law. John L Smith Jrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04209064146960498237noreply@blogger.com