Tarring and Feathering and Other Patriotic Acts

Tarring and feathering is an ancient punishment that consists of stripping a malefactor, pouring hot pitch over him, and then rolling him in feathers.  Instituted by Richard the Lionheart for thieves and felons, it was resurrected by angry American colonists and used against the vilest reprobates: tax collectors and friends of tyranny.  In 1766, Captain William Smith, an informant of the British Customs service, was tarred and feathered in Norfolk, Virginia.  Soon, Customs employees met the same fate and the practice soon spread to become a popular retribution employed by Patriots against enemies of liberty.

Patriots understood that officials and supporters of tyrannical government were enemies and they recognized that the Stamp Act had been stymied because tax collectors had been intimidated by an angry populace.  Not only did they tar and feather them, they made them ride the rail, threw them in stocks, hoisted them up liberty poles, whipped them, and disrupted their treasonous activities. Instigated by the Intolerable Acts, a punitive response to the Boston Tea Party, Patriots took decisive action against friends of tyranny in  Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775.  According to Peter Oliver (Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion, 1781):

1. The Justices of the Court of Pleas in Berkshire were driven from the bench.  
2. Thomas Oliver, the Lieutenant Governor, was attacked at his home and forced to resign from office. 
3. Attorney General Jonathan Sewall was compelled to flee to Boston and his home was attacked.  
4. Guns were taken from the home of Brigadier General Timothy Ruggles and one of his horses was poisoned.  Ruggles, a former member of the General Assembly, had been previously attacked and painted in lieu of being tarred and feathered.
5. Peter Oliver, a Justice of the Peace, was forced to promise not to execute his office under the Coercive Acts. 
6. Military officers in Plymouth were forced to resign their commissions. 
7. Sir William Pepperell was precluded from conducting business and collecting debts.  
8. The Court of Common Pleas in Springfield was disrupted.

Such early action against supporters of the British government, who became known as Tories or Royalists,  was prompted by the Sons of Liberty and carried out by private individuals.  As the American Revolution progressed, more official action was sanctioned by the Continental Congress and various colonial assemblies. Tories were exiled, imprisoned, and fined; their property confiscated and many, approximately 70,000,  fled the country, preferring safer environments for their repugnant views.   This successfully undermined domestic support for oppressive government and ensured the success of American freedom and independence.