John Barnes letters

1771-1774

Letter dated 1774 to Thomas Sim Lee discussing the aftermath of Boston Tea Party: "the Commons have voted a bill to be brought in to remove the custom house from the Town of Boston, and not suffer a ship to land or unload his Cargo at the Town, till the Bostonians pay for the Tea destroy'd. Tis reported with some degree of certainty that some of the principal people of Boston have wrote to their friends in London they will use their utmost endeavours at the meeting of their Assembly to vote a sum of money to reimburse the India Company provided the Colonies are reinstated in the same state and situation they were before the Stamp Act took place""If the colonies are unanimous they will be free, and it appears very evident Parliamentin general are more afraid of the Americans than the Americans are of their usurpt powerto tax them, or their threats to enforce taxes by compulsive measures, they have a weaponmuch more deadly than the sword to the Mother Country, which will keep them free and make them a happy people."The letter discusses other facts about the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party and the royal power of taxation over the Colonies.