Equality Before the Law Boston Son's of Liberty Motto

 Liberty today, Liberty forever.

Christian H F Riley, July 4, 1998, SonsOfLiberty.com

(in association with Rights.com...since 1994)

Who were the Sons of Liberty?

The simple answer is that the group was an association of Patriots prior to the American Revolution dedicated to promoting liberty and limited government interference. 

During the summer of 1765, "The Loyal Nine" - a group of artisans and shopkeepers began to prepare protests against the Stamp Act. The group grew and became known as the Sons of Liberty. Benjamin Edes and John Gill, a printer and writer for the Boston Gazette were two prominent initial members.  Other leaders and influential members included Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, John Lamb, Alexander McDougall, and James Otis.   The group quickly grew to include over two thousand men in Massachusetts with groups in every colony by the end of 1765.

The first commonly known act was the hanging of Andrew Oliver (to-be Distributor of Stamps for Massachusetts) in effigy on Newbury Street. This tree became known as the "Liberty Tree." The Sons participated in calling the Continental Congress of 1774 and coordinated via "Committees of correspondence".

Charles Townshend, speaking in support of the Stamp Act during the Parlimentary debates in 1765, contemptuously called the American colonists "children planted by our care, nourished up by our indulgence...and protected by our arms." A member of Parliament and friend of the American colonists, Isaac Barre, responded by describing the Americans as "these Sons of Liberty." The name stuck.

The Stamp Act's rates were significantly less than the lowest tax rates in place in the United States since the 1930s.