During the 1760s John's father, Solomon, moved to Barrington, Nova Scotia. John stayed in Massachusetts, in Cape Cod and Boston, where an atmosphere of defiance and dissent was quickly growing during the early years of the American Revolution. There was widespread opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of the late 1760s. John may have been involved in the boycotts of British goods, riots over British impressment of American sailors, and other rebellious acts such as unrest around the Boston Custom House which led to the 1770 Boston Massacre.