Hutchinson letters affair
The Hutchinson letters affair was an incident that increased tensions between the colonists of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and the British government prior to the American Revolution.
The content of the letters was propagandistically claimed by Massachusetts radical politicians to call for the abridgement of colonial rights, and a duel was fought in England over the matter.
The response of the British government to the publication of the letters served to turn Benjamin Franklin, one of the principal figures in the affair, into a committed Patriot.
[6] Hutchinson was appointed governor of Massachusetts in 1770 after the critical publication by opposition politicians of letters that had been written by his predecessor, Francis Bernard.
[7] Over the next two years, Hutchinson engaged in an extended and rancorous written debate with the provincial assembly and the governor's council, both of which were dominated by radical leadership, which was hostile to parliamentary authority.
The debate centered on the arbitrariness of executive prerogative and the role of Parliament in colonial governance, and it greatly deepened divisions in the province.
[17] The letters were finally published in the Boston Gazette in mid-June 1773,[18] causing a political firestorm in Massachusetts and raising significant questions in England.
[21] According to Bailyn, Hutchinson's ruminations included the observation that it was impossible for colonists have the full rights they would have in the home country, essentially requiring an "abridgement of what are called English liberties".
[22] Hutchinson, unlike Oliver, made no specific proposals on how the colonial government should be reformed and wrote in a letter that was not among those published, "I can think of nothing but what will produce as great an evil as that which it may remove or will be of a very uncertain event.
Combined with Oliver's explicit recommendations for reform, they presented this as a clear indication that the provincial leaders were working against the interests of the people and not for them.
[17] In the Privy Council hearing concerning Hutchinson's fate, in which the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party was also discussed, Franklin stood silently while he was lambasted by Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn for his role in the affair.
[30] Hutchinson was recalled, and the Massachusetts governorship was given to the commander of British forces in North America, Lieutenant General Thomas Gage.
[33] Franklin, who had been politically neutral with respect to the colonial radicals prior to his appearance before the Board of Trade, returned to America in early 1775, committed to independence.
