How much do you know about the first steps towards colonial union that led to the American Revolution? You might have heard that King George III was a tyrant or that the colonists just really hated taxes, but there is so much more to the story. There WAS a problematic George who put England on a speed run to ruin, but it wasn’t the king (It was also the king, but he wasn’t the main character causing problems- yet). It was his right hand man, Grenville.

On this episode of Founded you’ll find out about the secret plotting, lying and endless amount of mail that planted the seeds for rebellion.

Key Players:

George Grenville- Prime Minister under King George III, came up with the plans to make money from the colonies with his tax schemes

Thomas Whately- Secretary of the Treasury under George Grenville, made it his mission to figure out how to best execute Grenville’s plans

Thomas Hutchinson- Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Bay, member of the MA assembly. Wrote a history book about the colony that I use as a source

Francis Bernard- Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay, loved writing letters, tried to keep the peace by writing letters and shutting down the government

Jasper Mauduit- London agent for Massachusetts Bay, took several measures to stop the Stamp Act from coming

Samuel Adams- Patriot, Harvard grad who was bad at business but great at politics, spent a lot of time writing for his cause of liberty

James Otis Jr- Patriot, enemy of Thomas Hutchinson, prominent lawyer, in cahoots with Samuel Adams

Sources

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