US-RNR-ms591 Guide to the Account of the destruction of the British armed sloop Liberty at Newport, Rhode Island1769 and undated Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Delmage, 2015-07-25.

Redwood Library and Athenaeum
50 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI, 02840 (401) 847-0292 redwood@redwoodlibrary.org
2015-07-25 This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2015-07-25 English Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) Account of the destruction of the British armed sloop Liberty at Newport, Rhode Island RLC.Ms.591 Redwood Library and Athenaeum
50 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 02840 Tel: (401) 847-0292 Fax: (401) 841-5680 email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org
English 0.2 linear feet 1769 and undated Anonymous letter written to Edes and Gill, printers of the Boston Gazette, describing the destruction of the Sloop Liberty by townspeople and makes plain the high tensions that preceded the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). English. Account of the destruction of the British armed sloop Liberty at Newport, Rhode Island, 1769 and undated Historical note

On July 19, 1769, the crew of the H.M.S. Liberty, a customs parcel ship under Captain William Reid, accosted Joseph Packwood, a New London brigantine captain, and seized and towed his and another New London sloop into Newport Harbor, Rhode Island. In retribution, Packwood and a mob of Newport citizens confronted Reid, then boarded, dismantled, and burned the ship on the north end of Goat Island in Newport Harbor. This was one of the first acts of open defiance against the British crown leading up to the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).

 Collection information

This collection includes an anonymous letter, dated July 21, 1769, written to Benjamin Edes (1732-1803) and John Gill (1732-1825), printers of the Boston Gazette. This letter describes the destruction of the Sloop Liberty by the townspeople and makes plain the high tensions that preceded the American Revolution. At the head of the letter: "Please to insert the following in your next Gazette and you'll oblige." This letter was not published in the Boston Gazette and was most likely returned to its writer. Also included in this collection are a typewritten transcription of the letter and commentary regarding the historic event described within the letter.

According to an article published in Newport history in Spring 1976, it was suggested that this letter was actually written by William Ellery (1727-1820), signer of the Declaration of Independence for Rhode Island.

This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.

Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.

Account of the destruction of the British armed sloop Liberty at Newport, Rhode Island, RLC.Ms.591, Redwood Library and Athenaeum.

This collection is arranged in chronological order.

 Administrative information

Gift of Roderick Terry, Jr., 1937 Jul 8.

Prior to processing in 2014, this collection was classified as mRQUY/L61A. At an unknown time, this letter was bound together with the transcription in a pamphlet binder.

A transcription of this letter is printed in: Newport history 45, no. 146 (Spring 1972): 36-40.

 Additional information Author unknown. "The first overt act of the Revolution." Newport history 45, no. 146 (Spring 1972): 36-40. Names Edes and Gill. Liberty (Sloop). Packwood, Joseph Reid, William Subjects Customs administration--Rhode Island Great Britain--Colonies--Administration Marine protests--Rhode Island--Newport Mobs--Rhode Island--Newport Newport (R.I.)--History Riots--Rhode Island--Newport United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Causes Types of Materials Letters (correspondence) RIAMCO Browsing Term Rhode Island/Local Interest Letter to Mister Edes and Gill (includes typewritten transcription) 1 1769 Jul 21 and undated