Documents from Reading the American Past

Chapter 6

Introduction to the Documents

British policies toward the colonies had the effect of making legally constituted authority seem unjust and illegitimate to many colonists. In such circumstances, many colonists concluded that it was necessary to point out injustices and petition for their redress while others resolved to take justice into their own hands. When existing structures of authority began to crumble, colonists loyal to the British found themselves judged by crowds who did not share their notions of justice while British officials debated how to respond to the disorder. Native Americans maneuvered to take advantage of the colonial crisis as best they could. The following documents disclose the ideas that animated rebellious colonists and some of the ways they and some Native Americans acted on those ideas.