During the 1765 debate in Parliament over the proposed Stamp Act,

During the 1765 debate in Parliament over the proposed Stamp Act, Charles Townsend referred to the American colonists as children, “nourished by our indulgence.” Irish member Isaac Barré responded passionately: “They nourished by your indulgence? They grew by your neglect of them. As soon as you began to care about them, that care was exercised in sending persons to rule over them, in one department and another, who were perhaps the deputies of deputies to some member of this house, sent to spy out their liberty, to misrepresent their actions and to prey upon them; men whose behaviour on many occasions has caused the blood of those sons of liberty to recoil within them.” 






When news of the debate made it to the colonies, Barré’s speech was a sensation. Soon a clandestine group emerged in Boston, dedicated to resisting the Stamp Act and other perceived British injustices, and taking their name from Barré. The Sons of Liberty had been born.

Nebulous and secretive, the group spread and grew. On November 6, 1765 (two hundred fifty-eight years ago today) the Sons of Liberty crossed an important threshold on the road to revolution when they organized a committee in New York for the purpose of opening lines of communication with other colonies. 

Over the next decade the Sons of Liberty would agitate for American liberty, leading and organizing protests, spreading rebellious literature, and enforcing a boycott of British goods. Informally led by Samuel Adams, members included John Hancock, Paul Revere, James Otis, Benjamin Rush, Patrick Henry, and future traitor Benedict Arnold. The tactics of the Sons of Liberty ranged from erecting “Liberty Poles” and printing patriotic pamphlets, to tar-and-feathering and rioting. The “Boston Tea Party” was their most famous demonstration and, together with the British response it provoked, was a major step toward revolution and independence.

During the Stamp Act Crisis, the Sons of Liberty organized meetings/protest rallies at “Liberty Trees,” most famously a large elm tree in Boston. To give the signal that a gathering was to occur, they created the “Sons of Liberty Flag” (or “Liberty Tree Flag”), nine vertical red and white stripes, representing the nine colonies that attended the first Stamp Act Congress. The British dubbed the flag “the Rebellious Stripes” and promptly outlawed it. 

After the British cut down the Liberty Tree in Boston, the Sons of Liberty began erecting “Liberty Poles,” from which the Sons of Liberty Flag was flown during protests. In time the stripes on the flag became horizontal, increased to thirteen, and were incorporated into the flag of the independent United States of America.

The images is an engraving titled “Raising the Liberty Pole,” by John McRae.

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