The Ordeal Of Thomas Hutchinson Summary
Analysis: The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson On the night of August, 26, 1765, a violent mob broke into Thomas Hutchinson’s house and sacked the entire place, stealing around 900lbs in cash, and breaking/stealing a total of around 2200lbs sterling. The wide spread feeling in America was that Thomas Hutchinson had betrayed his beloved country for selfish reasons. It was hard to imagine a man like Hutchinson to betray his country with a background like his own. His family generally helped to found New England, and they prospered with its growth. Thomas Hutchinson was born in Boston in 1711. His father was Colonel Thomas Hutchinson, and he served on the provincial Council for over twenty years.
The future governor, Thomas Hutchinson, entered
Harvard University at the age of twelve. Throughout his college days he formed a fund which with the addition of several accumulations, turned out to become a fortune. At the age of twenty-six, Thomas had begun to enter into a life of politics. He was a representative of Boston to the Massachusetts House from 1737-1749 (with the exception of a single year), and a councilor for the succeeding seventeen years. In 1740 Hutchinson had gravitated to Governor Belcher’s successor, the ambitious and well-connected English lawyer William Shirley. For almost two decades after, Hutchinson had remained a leader of Shirley’s political coalition. In 1757, Hutchinson was elevated to the lieutenant governorship. When Stephan Sewall, holder of the chief justiceships, had died, “the best men in the government” proposed Hutchinson for the vacancy. Thomas Hutchinson was surprised he got the job, yet he felt he was not ready or capable of overtaking Sewall’s position.
In 1765 the Stamp Act was issued. Thomas Hutchinson had strongly disapproved of the Stamp Act and he said this due to his four forceful arguments against this un-ruling taxes. When the Massachusetts legislature created a draft to send to Parliament protesting the act, Thomas Hutchinson rejected the draft. This was looked at as a way to try and keep the act in place and not revolt against this awful tax on the colonists of the 13 Colonies. By the summer of 1765, when the Stamp Act was passed and already after the date of its legal inception, Thomas Hutchinson’s long career was being suspiciously viewed as an anti-American.
On August 14, crowds surrounded Hutchinson’s mansion demanding answers. Hutchinson was not obligated to answer any of these questions, and during the outrage, a townsman convinced the crowd that Thomas was very unlikely to have deliberately hurt any of them or his country. Twelve days after this, the most barbarous outrage that was ever committed in America to date occurred to Hutchinson, his family, and his property!
The future governor, Thomas Hutchinson, entered
Harvard University at the age of twelve. Throughout his college days he formed a fund which with the addition of several accumulations, turned out to become a fortune. At the age of twenty-six, Thomas had begun to enter into a life of politics. He was a representative of Boston to the Massachusetts House from 1737-1749 (with the exception of a single year), and a councilor for the succeeding seventeen years. In 1740 Hutchinson had gravitated to Governor Belcher’s successor, the ambitious and well-connected English lawyer William Shirley. For almost two decades after, Hutchinson had remained a leader of Shirley’s political coalition. In 1757, Hutchinson was elevated to the lieutenant governorship. When Stephan Sewall, holder of the chief justiceships, had died, “the best men in the government” proposed Hutchinson for the vacancy. Thomas Hutchinson was surprised he got the job, yet he felt he was not ready or capable of overtaking Sewall’s position.
In 1765 the Stamp Act was issued. Thomas Hutchinson had strongly disapproved of the Stamp Act and he said this due to his four forceful arguments against this un-ruling taxes. When the Massachusetts legislature created a draft to send to Parliament protesting the act, Thomas Hutchinson rejected the draft. This was looked at as a way to try and keep the act in place and not revolt against this awful tax on the colonists of the 13 Colonies. By the summer of 1765, when the Stamp Act was passed and already after the date of its legal inception, Thomas Hutchinson’s long career was being suspiciously viewed as an anti-American.
On August 14, crowds surrounded Hutchinson’s mansion demanding answers. Hutchinson was not obligated to answer any of these questions, and during the outrage, a townsman convinced the crowd that Thomas was very unlikely to have deliberately hurt any of them or his country. Twelve days after this, the most barbarous outrage that was ever committed in America to date occurred to Hutchinson, his family, and his property!