The Founders' Second Amendment

by Stephen P. Halbrook

  The “training arms” were military muskets with bayonets used for militia exercises. These arms were quite large and would have been harder to hide than smaller shoulder arms and especially pistols.

  All manner of alarm, rumor, and exaggeration abounded throughout the colonies. The following was printed in a Pennsylvania newspaper, datelined New York, quoting letters from Connecticut, about events in Boston:

  We hear there are letters in this town, from Connecticut, which say that the number of men lately assembled at Boston, including those from Connecticut and Rhode-Island amounted to 600,000; that they are mostly returned to their respective homes, leaving an army of 15,00 [sic] to watch General Gage who we are told, has given the inhabitants of Boston permission to leave the town on condition they left their arms behind them. . . .

  A letter from Boston, dated last Monday night, and received since writing the above paragraph says: “The communications between this town and country is entirely stopped up, and not a soul permitted to go in or out without a pass. This day, the Governor has disarmed all the inhabitants, after giving his word and honour that solders should not molest or plunder them . . .71

  Had 600,000 men really assembled in Boston, they would have constituted perhaps nearly half of the entire adult male citizen population of all the colonies!

  The agreement that citizens could leave Boston after surrendering their firearms may have affected unrelated plans of the Provincial Congress to facilitate the exchange of British for American prisoners. Referring to previous communications on the prisoner exchange, the Congress wrote to Stephen Hopkins on April 27:

  The above is a copy of an order and letter which passed this Congress yesterday, since which we have received from Boston copies of sundry votes of that town to general Gage, upon the subject of a licence [for the inhabitants] to remove, with their effects, into the country; and by his answers it appears that he has consented to suffer such inhabitants as have inclination therefor, to leave the place, with all their effects, excepting fire arms, which are to be delivered at Faneuil hall to the selectmen of the town, and the names of the owners to be placed on them; and the general expects, on the other hand, a proclamation from Congress, giving liberty to all inhabitants of the colony, having inclination therefore, to remove, with their effects, into Boston. Some of the inhabitants have already left the town, by permission of the general; and under these circumstances, should we issue the order which has passed in Congress, it may put a stop to this unexpected favorable event, and prevent the emancipation of many thousands of friends to America. We, nevertheless, purpose to detain the prisoners of war; and if the general should not forfeit his plighted faith, to use all expedition in getting out families and the effects of our friends from Boston, that we may be at liberty to use our prisoners, and every other means in our power, for the release of Mr. Brown, as was intended.

  P.S.—We have just heard the passages from Boston are again stopped, but the occasion of this extraordinary manévre we cannot yet learn.72

  On April 30, the Provincial Congress adopted a resolution proposed by the Committee of Safety that implemented the above plan to allow inhabitants of Boston—Whigs and their sympathizers—to leave the city while also allowing unarmed Tories to pass unmolested into Boston:

  Whereas, an agreement has been made between general Gage and the inhabitants of the city of Boston, for [the] removal of the persons and effects of such of the inhabitants of the town of Boston as may be so disposed, excepting their fire arms and ammunition, into the country:

  Resolved, That any of the inhabitants of this colony, who may incline to go into the town of Boston with their effects, fire arms and ammunition excepted, have toleration for that purpose; and that they be protected from any injury and insult whatsoever in their removal to Boston, and that this resolve be immediately published.

  P.S.-Officers are appointed for giving permits for the above purposes; one, at the sign of the Sun, at Charlestown; and another, at the house of Mr. John Greaton, Jun., at Roxbury.73

  On that same date, the committee of Selectmen who had continued to meet with Gage reported to the town: “The committee waited on his Excellency General Gage with the papers containing the account of the arms delivered to the selectmen, and the return made to them by the constables of the town relative to the delivery of the arms in their respective wards.”74 Gage now had both lists of the firearms and their owners, as well as possession of the firearms.

  Meanwhile, some Tories were fleeing to Boston and leaving their property behind. To accommodate them, the Provincial Congress on May 2 passed the following to allow the Loyalists to send out servants to retrieve their property outside of Boston:

  Resolved, That such inhabitants of this colony, as have repaired to the town of Boston, there to take up their residence, and have effects in the other towns of this government, be permined, each of them, to send out a servant, or other person, without arms, to put up and transport, into the said town of Boston, any such goods or effects, excepting arms and ammunition; and that the officers appointed for granting permits, at Roxbury and Charlestown, be, and hereby are, directed to provide a suitable attendant to each person so sent our, whose business it shall be to continue with him till he returns, and that permits . . . be granted.75

  The Provincial Congress apparently hoped that by facilitating the removal of Tories to Boston, Gage would do the same for Bostonians wishing to depart. Gage probably saw little advantage to such a respite, as few Tories may have wished to move to a possible war zone with few provisions for civilians, while Bostonians who departed might join the patriotic cause.

  Indeed, passes to leave issued by Gage quickly dried up. John Andrews wrote on May 6 that he and two others chartered a vessel to convey them to Halifax, “but the absolute refusal of the Governor to suffer any merchandize to be carried out of the town, has determin’d me to stay and take care of my effects . . . .” He continued: “Near half the inhabitants have left the town already, and another quarter, at least, have been waiting for a week past, with earnest expectation of getting papers, which have been dealt out very sparingly of late, not above two or three procur’d of a day, and those with the greatest difficulty.” Even that statement was outdated before the ink was dry, as Andrews added the postscript that “no person who leaves the town is allow’d to return again, and this morning an order from the Governor has put a stop to any more papers at any rate, not even to admit those to go who have procur’d ’em already.”76

  The Provincial Congress sent the following angry but polite protest to Gage on May 10, complaining that the agreement between Gage and the selectmen that the inhabitants could leave Boston was not being followed:

  We think it our duty to remonstrate to your excellency, that, from the papers communicated to us by the said selectmen, it appeared, that the inhabitants were promised, upon surrendering their arms, that they should be permined to leave the town, and carry with them their effects. The condition was immediately complied with, on the pan of the people; since which, though a number of days have elapsed, bur a very small proportion of the inhabitants have been allowed to take the benefit of your covenant.

  We would not affront your excellency by the most distant insinuation, that you intended to deceive and disarm the people, by a cruel act of perfidy. A regard to your own character, as well as the fatal consequences which will necessarily result from the violation of your solemn treaties, must [suggest] sufficient reasons, to deter a gentleman of your rank and station from so injurious a design. But your excellency must be sensible, that a delay of justice is a denial of it, and extremely oppressive to the people now held in duress.77

  Gage saw the world quite differently. After all, he was governor of Massachusetts and commander of the British forces, which were besieged in Boston by armed rebels. He explained to Dartmouth in a May 13 letter:

  Ever since the Skirmish of the 19th Ultimo the Avenues to this Town have been possessed by large Bodys of Men from all Places i
n this Province, Connecticut, New Hampshire &ca and they have collected Artillery and Military Stores that had been deposited in various parts of the Country. All Supplys from the Country have been stopped, and the Inhabitants of the Town desired to remove out with their Effects, which was consented to, but it was demanded that they should immediately deliver up their Arms; This was approved at first by all, for there would be fewer Mouths left to be fed, and the Danger from Enemies within removed. It has Since occasioned great Clamour amongst some People who say chat none but the ill inclined will go out, and when they are Safe with their Effects, the Town will be set on Fire, and there is a Demurr about the Meaning of the Word Effects, Whether Mechandize is therein included.78

  While even Gage discounted the paranoid Tory rumor that the rebels would be arsonists, the rebels did discuss decisive action. Since the men, women, and children of Boston were being held hostage, some patriots contemplated taking British officials hostage and then offering an exchange. Dr. Joseph Warren suggested decisive action by the Provincial Congress in a letter to Samuel Adams on May 14:

  General Gage, I fear, has trepanned the inhabitants of Boston. He has persuaded them to lay down their arms, promising to let them remove with their effects; bur he suffers them to come our bur very slowly, contriving every day new excuses for delay. It appears to me, that a spirited remonstrance from your congress, and a recommendation forthwith to seize all crown officers on the continent, would be the most effectual method of liberating our friends in Boston.79

  While no such scheme materialized, after several months food shortages at last forced the British to allow Bostonians to leave. Mercy Otis Warren, a literary figure who was the wife of Provincial Congress President James Warren (cousin of Joseph Warren), explained in her history of the Revolution:

  The insulted people of Boston, after performing the hard conditions of the contract, were not permitted to depart, until after several months of anxiety had elapsed, when the scarcity and badness of provisions had brought on a pestilential disorder, both among the inhabitants and the soldiers. Thus, from a reluctance to dip their feebler connexions were exposed, this unfortunate town, which contained near twenty thousand inhabitants, was betrayed into a disgraceful resignation of their arms, which the natural love of liberty should have inspired them to have held for their own defence, while subjected to the caprice of an arbitrary master. After their arms were delivered up and secured, general Gage denied the contract, and forbade their retreat; afterwards obliged to a partial compliance, by the difficulty of obtaining food for the subsistence of his own army. On certain stipulated gratuities to some of his officers, a permit was granted them, to leave their elegant houses, their furniture, and goods, and to depart naked from the capital, to seek an asylum and support from the hospitality of their friends in the country.80

  A Bostonian lamented that numerous town meetings and conferences with Gage had resulted in the agreement that “the inhabitants should deliver up all their arms to the Selectmen” in exchange for being able to leave. The arms surrender “was generally done, though it took up some days.” However, “the arms being delivered,” Gage ordered that persons in compliance must “give in their names to the Selectmen, to be by them returned to the Military Town Major, who was then to write a pass for the person or family applying, to go through the lines, or over the ferry . . . .” At first only merchandise was forbidden, which was soon extended to all provisions and medicine. “Guards are appointed to examine all trunks, boxes, beds, and every thing else to be carried out; these have proceeded to such extremities, as to take from the poor people a single loaf of bread, and half pound of chocolate . . . .”81

  Needless to say, Gage saw things differently. To the General, the Crown’s lawful forces were surrounded by an armed, traitorous populace. In response to an enquiry from Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Gage replied: “You ask why is the town of Boston now shut up? I can only refer you, for an answer, to those bodies of armed men, who now surround the town, and prevent all access to it. . . . I am surrounded by an armed country . . . .”82

  None other than Benjamin Franklin verified Gage’s description as the general condition of the colonies. Arriving at Philadelphia from London, Franklin “was highly pleased to find the Americans arming and preparing for the worst events, against which he thinks our spirited exertions will be the only means under God to secure us.”83

  Indeed, Pennsylvania patriots were typically admonished to “put your Militia into good order. . . . Arm yourselves and be ready at all times, for while I know, that it will prevent bloodshed;—but if you sit tamely and silent, you will not only be cut off, but despised by all good men.”84

  The Massachusetts Provincial Congress warned her sister colonies to do just that. On its behalf Josiah Warren wrote on May 26, 1775, to the Provincial Congress of New York, describing “the breach of a most solemn treaty with respect to the inhabitants of Boston when they had surrendered their arms and put themselves wholly in the power of a military commander,” who then “suffered only to scatter from their prison a few in a day . . . .” Warren advised to avail “yourselves of every article which our enemies can improve with the least advantage to themselves for effecting the like desolation, horrors and insults on the inhabitants of your city and Colony, or which might enable you to make the most effectual defence.” The alternatives were either to grab the weapons for yourselves, or allow your enemies to use them against you: “If you should delay securing them until they should be out of your power, and within a few days you should behold these very materials improved in murdering you, and yourselves perishing for the want of them, will not the chagrin and regret be intolerable.”85

  During this period, the colonists sought allies from any quarter, reaching out to friendly Native Americans. The address of Massachusetts to the Mohawk and other eastern tribes drafted by Samuel Adams and dated May 15, 1775, used simplified language in perhaps one of the most concise and forceful renditions of the American cause:

  brothers: the great, wickedness of such as should be our friends, bur are our enemies, we mean the ministry of Great Britain, has laid deep plots to take away our liberty and your liberty, they want to get all our money; make us pay it to them, when they never earned it; to make you and us their servants; and let us have nothing to eat, drink, or wear, but what they say we shall; and prevent us from having guns and powder to use, and kill our deer, and wolves, and other game, or to send to you, for you to kill your game with, and to get skins and fur to trade with us for what you want: but we hope soon to be able to supply you with both guns and powder, of our own making.86

  The ministry’s aim to “prevent us from having guns,” whether through such actions as the import ban or direct seizure, had the purpose of allowing the British to deprive the colonists of their liberty and property. But it had a further pernicious effect, which the Mohawk would have understood better than the urban white man—depriving the people of guns interfered with subsistence hunting. As General Gage had noted years before, Native Americans “are disused to the Bow, and can neither hunt nor make war, without Fire­Arms, Powder and Lead.”87 For many rural whites, too, firearms were used to put food on the table. Adams’ above message made clear that the colonists saw hunting as a significant purpose of the right to keep and bear arms.

  In times of repression, when anyone who possesses arms is suspect, those in power use the arms scare to suppress their political enemies. While Gage had imposed no prior restraints on the press, Admiral Samuel Graves of the Royal navy sent sailors to arrest John Gill and Peter Edes of the Boston Gazette, the leading patriot newspaper, on bogus charges of having firearms. Edes escaped and published the Gazette in Watertown.88

  Gage received a letter from Dartmouth on May 25 from the hands of General Howe, who with Generals Clinton and Burgoyne had just arrived in Boston with fresh troops from England, “to prevent the Abettors of Rebellion in their dangerous designs of leading forth the People, in the four New England Governm
ents, to oppose in Arms the Restoration of the Public Tranquility & Constitutional Authority of Government.” In addition to securing all forts that the rebels might attack, Dartmouth ordered:

  That all Cannon, Small Arms, and other military Stores of every kind that may be either in any public Magazine, or secretly collected together for the purpose of aiding Rebellions, should also be seized and secured, and that the persons of all such as, according to the Opinions of His Majesty’s Attorney and Solicitor General, have committed themselves in Acts of Treason & Rebellion, should be arrested & imprisoned.89

  This was an order to seize both public and private arms to prevent use thereof by the rebels, who must also be apprehended. Gage knew this to be easier said than done. On June 12, he wrote to Dartmouth: “The Skirmish that happened on the 19th of April, has shewn the general Disposition of the Provinces in a Manner not to be mistaken. All have armed, and tho’ there are people no doubt in all, who disapprove of Violent Measures, and some who would join Government had they Opportunitys, they are now borne down by Force and Numbers.”90

  Based on that candid assessment, Gage could not have been too optimistic about compliance with his proclamation that same day of martial law and his offer of a pardon to all who would lay down their arms except Samuel Adams and John Hancock.91 The decree, suggested in Dartmouth’s above directive, was drafted by General Burgoyne.92 The proclamation described the events at Lexington and Concord as an ambush in which thousands “of armed persons, . . . from behind walls and lurking holes, attacked a detachment of the king’s troops, who . . . made use of their arms only in their own defence.”93 It continued: