The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 2: 1764-1765

Citation

Nicolson C (ed.) (2012) The Papers of Francis Bernard, Governor of Colonial Massachusetts, 1760-69. Vol. 2: 1764-1765 [The Bernard Papers]. Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 81. Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts/Univ. of Virginia Press. http://bernardpapers.com/3801.html

Abstract
Volume 2 (1764-65) in the Bernard Papers series reveals in considerable detail how far British imperial administration and colonial government Massachusetts were shaped by the onset of American opposition to British taxation, which climaxed in violent resistance to the Stamp Act during 1765. The Stamp Act controversy was the beginning of a ten-year contest which radicalized the American colonists, leading them to question and then to challenge imperial authority. This is the process that we may label the Imperial Crisis, for at its zenith in 1775, it brought forth a revolutionary movement. An essential ingredient in that transformation, which has often been ignored, was the role of British imperial officials like Francis Bernard in alienating the colonists. Most other governors crumbled in the face of overwhelming resistance to the Stamp Act, but Bernard did not retreat gracefully, and fought and berated the colonial radicals most every step of the way.

Keywords
Bernard Colonial; Francis Bernard; governor; Massachusetts; papers American Revolution; colonial governors; Britain and the American Revolution; American revolutionaries; imperial crisis; Britain and the American Revolution; Boston; Massachusetts