THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL
Letter: Marc W. Kohler: Gaspee lit the fuse of the American Revolution June 27, 2018
Dear Editor:
It was fascinating to read Thomas E. Linzee Jr.’s June 21 letter, which said Rhode Island has no claim for the importance of the Gaspee attack because no one “accepted claim for this treasonous act.”
That is ridiculous. No leader of the attack was caught, arrested or tried. The reason for that is profound and is extremely important in the evolution of the American Revolution.
King George III, after the Gaspee attack, demanded that when any of the perpetrators were apprehended, they be shipped to England for trial. That demand outraged all of the colonies. King George had promised the colonies that people would be judged solely by juries of their peers. So sending anyone who had been caught to England might have caused a violent reaction. Some historians believe the crown’s advisers recommended that none of the leaders of the attack should ever show up in court.
So the fact that no one “claimed” responsibility made the attack even more important, for every colonist knew exactly who had led it. The crown’s demand fortified the forces working toward freedom.
Mr. Linzee is correct about the impact of John Allen’s sermon. The simple point is that without the Gaspee attack, there would have been no sermon. Less than a year after the attack, the Standing Committee of Correspondence was formed, bringing all the colonies together in a great correspondence of freedom. So, have no doubt about it — the Gaspee attack was the match that lit the fuse to the explosion of the American Revolution!
Marc W. Kohler
Rumford