Mary Norton retells the story of American independence by focusing on the year that made it all happen.
Paul Revere’s ride, Bunker Hill, the Declaration of Independence, George Washington, Valley Forge, and all the rest never would have happened if it were not for the sparks created during the year 1774. At least that’s the contention made by Mary Norton’s monumental work, 1774.
The year was a primer for the events to come. The British, seeking to pay for the Seven Years War (French and Indian War), decided taxing the colonies was an easy way to raise the funds. That did not sit well. Debates over tea lead to the Boston Tea party and seizure of other tea shipments. The British retaliated, the colonist imposed an embargo, and so the escalation continued and is now part of our shared heritage.
More Than Tea
As the Boston Tea Party unfolds, which was a much more significant and divisive event than the short version of American history tells, Norton takes us to the debates over tea. The Boston Tea Party was more than a gang of misfits destroying British property, it was a wide conversation over how far the colonies should go to disrupt their economic prospects. The colonist enjoyed tea, but they knew a reaction would come if they all boycotted it. Were the plantation owners willing to risk a reaction by the British who could boycott them back? This was the reason Charleston held the tea and didn’t destroy it at first. They wanted to make a controlled point, not strike a blow. Before the debates concluded, the boys in the Boston harbor were intoxicated by rebellion and they acted.
Norton’s account of the pre-revolutionary year is rich in historical context and details. She quotes transcripts and newspaper articles demonstrating how divided the colonies were over how to handle the British. Some of the wisest among the colonist, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington for instance, thought the Boston Tea Party and other acts of aggression towards the crown were unnecessary. Others viewed tea as a representation of British tyranny over the colonist. There was great division. “Americans today tend to look back on the politics of those days and see unity in support of revolution. That vision is false. The population was divided politically then, as now.”
Finding the Tipping Point
It was the British response to the Boston Tea Party that began to consolidate anti-British opinions. The King and Parliament blocked the Boston Harbor with the Port Act, preventing items from coming and going. Local organizations across the colonies held meetings to discuss how to respond. Eventually the First Continental Congress met to determine an appropriate, unified response. They concluded that ceasing trade with Britain was the only course, so they did. It enraged the mother country. Those who supported the embargo were patriots and became increasingly hostile towards British loyalist.
The detailed explanation presented by Norton of the pre-revolution goes a long way to show how the hearts and minds of the colonist hardened against the British. Likewise, she also demonstrates how the progressively harsh treatment by Britain instigated a total revolt. The colonist were determined to gain autonomy either by negotiation with the British or against their foreign masters – something the King and Parliament never understood.
Fresh Perspectives
One of the fascinating arguments presented by Norton was how divided the King and Parliament were on the colonies. According to her, the King was an ally at the beginning of the taxation issues. British leaders, Norton demonstrates, didn’t start with malintent. Arguing her case, she shows a combination of misunderstandings, poor decisions, and that failing to understand the shifting tide of history all led British leaders – the King and Parliament – into taking punitive actions. King George III eventually moved to a hardened position. The King’s speech opening Parliament in 1775 shows a massive shift away from reconciling to defeating the insurrections in the colonies. As the ranks of American patriots swelled, the point of no return faded in the rearview. Norton walks through the shifting feelings on both sides.
By telling the story of 1774 in great detail, Norton helps place readers into the action so we Americans can better understand what inspired the events of 1776. Understanding the divisions and the characters and the moments that helped coalesce the colonist, helps explain the magnificent shifts taking place in the colonies and the greater world.
The Ending is the Beginning
Like a prequel, Norton sets the stage for the exciting history we all know. Because of the story she tells – because of 1774 – Paul Revere made his famous ride, the minute-men stood up to the redcoats, and the shot heard around the world cracked. After Lexington and Concord, the world was never the same. She writes, “By April 19, 1775, Americans had yet to formally adopted a Declaration of Independence, but their leaders had long since practiced independence in thought and deed. The extralegal committees and congresses, unconstitutional in traditional British understandings, had assumed the mantle of governance. And throughout the colonies their authority rested solely on election by local qualified voters.” That, and what came later, is our remarkable history.
What Norton shows us is that micro-movements can lead to massive splits. According to her account, the movements for independence was never inevitable. Instead, a series of minor missteps by Parliament and then the King lead to a snowballing of “disloyal” sentiments.
Before the United States of America could change the world, it needed a year like 1774.
