In last month’s post, we looked at the seething political cauldron in the colonies in the mid-1760s—and specifically, how the repressive tax acts affected Savannah, Georgia. The city waited to see if Governor Wright would appoint a stamp master and enforce the Stamp Act. He had prevented delegates from being sent to the Stamp Act Congress held in New York in October, 1765. However, the Commons House had sent a recorder who brought documents to present on October 24. The very next day, a small explosion became the first in a chain of events that fall and winter that led to a major confrontation.
October 25 – A group of Savannah citizens disapprove of the flag and gun ceremony at Fort Halifax on the fifth anniversary of the king’s ascension to the throne, also a militia muster day. That evening, the effigy of a stamp officer is carried through the streets, hanged, and burned.
October 31 – Documents from the Stamp Act Congress are published in the Georgia Gazette, along with a sensational article revealing that four local citizens received letters signed by “the Townsman,” accusing them of being the stamp master or having stamped papers in their possession. The men are instructed to publicly advertise their innocence or risk grievous results. Three comply, one returns to England, and James Habersham offers a reward of fifty pounds to anyone who turns in the sender of the letters.
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| Joel Chandler Harris, "The Liberty Boys" |
November 4 – Sons of Liberty meet at Machenry’s Tavern to plot opposition to the Stamp Act. Having learned George Angus, not from Georgia, would be the stamp master, they agree to confront him upon his arrival and demand his resignation.
November 5 – A group of sailors enact the stamp master being placed on a scaffold and carried about town, amusing crowds.
November 12 – Governor Wright orders rangers from frontier forts to Savannah.
December 5 – Speedwell arrives with stamps in the Savannah River. Stamps are transferred secretly to Fort Halifax, east of town, and locked in the King’s Store.
January 2 – About two hundred citizens threaten to assault Fort Halifax. Meanwhile, a smaller group with drums and flags parades to Wright’s residence. There he chides them for their ill manners with musket in hand. He gathers a crowd of rangers, sailors, and merchants to confront the crowd at Fort Halifax. The rangers move the stamps to the guardhouse. Forty men remain on duty overnight and for the next two weeks.
January 3 – Rangers meet the boat of Stamp Agent George Angus on the river and escort him to Wright’s house to take his oath of office. He is then spirited away to hide in the countryside for two weeks. Wright clears sixty ships waiting to enter Savannah’s port but chooses not to issue any further stamped papers until the king answers the petition sent by the Stamp Act Congress.
February 2 – Stamped papers are returned to the Speedwell. Seven hundred backwoodsmen arrive in town, threatening to raze the city and shoot the governor if the stamps are not destroyed. Wright musters supporters to face the mob.
February 4 – Almost 250 Stamp Act opponents march to Savannah commons with plans to demand the governor hand over the stamps. Wrights calls seventy rangers and twenty crew of the Speedwell plus his loyal friends to face down the mob for three hours. After trading insults, the crowd disperses.
March 4 – Pressured by English merchants who feel the pinch of colonial non-importation agreements, English Parliament repeals the Stamp Act but quickly follows with the Declaratory Act, which states parliament has the right to legislate for the colonies in all matters. A hint that the reprieve will not last…
Denise Weimer writes historical and contemporary romance from her home in North Georgia and also serves as a freelance editor and the Acquisitions & Editorial Liaison for Wild Heart Books. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.
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Thank you for continuing the story of the Stamp Act.
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