increase mather petitioned the king of england to recognize the rights of colonists.
increase mather petitioned the king of england to recognize the rights of colonists.
who petitioned the king of england to recognize the rights of colonists?
increase mather
the issue of parliament's authority in the colonies became a crisis after parliament passed the coercive acts (known as the intolerable acts in the colonies) in 1774 to punish the colonists for the gaspee affair of 1772 and the boston tea party of 1773. many colonists saw the coercive acts as a violation of the british constitution and thus a threat to the liberties of all of british america, so the first continental congress convened in philadelphia in september 1774 to coordinate a response. congress organized a boycott of british goods and petitioned the king for repeal of the acts. these measures were unsuccessful because king george and the ministry of prime minister lord north were determined to enforce parliamentary supremacy in america. as the king wrote to north in november 1774, "blows must decide whether they are to be subject to this country or independent".
united states declaration of independence
to prevent hunger for both colonies, plymouth and wessagusset colonists organized a joint trading mission to the indians with goods brought by the wessagusset colonists. that trading mission was somewhat successful and the two colonies split the proceeds. in november, greene died and john sanders was made governor of the colony. by january, the colonists continued to trade with the indians for food, but at a severe disadvantage. this drove up the barter-price of corn and they were forced to trade their clothes and other needed supplies. some colonists entered a form of servitude, building canoes and performing other labors for the indians in exchange for food, and ten colonists died. the indians caught one wessagusset man stealing, so the other wessagusset colonists hanged him in their view as a show of good faith. however, sources disagree whether the man hanged was the culprit or an older, possibly dying man. the legend that the wessagusset colonists hanged an innocent man was later popularized by a satirical depiction of this event in samuel butler's 1660s poem "hudibras". in february, sanders petitioned plymouth for a joint attack on the indians, but governor bradford refused. much of the story of the first wessagusset colony is detailed in a 1662 account by company member phineas pratt.
wessagusset colony