Civil Disorder.

Law and order deteriorated in Boston in the late 1760s as resistance to British rule developed into mob rule. In 1765, as part of the protest against the Stamp tax, a mob attacked the newly appointed tax collector, Andrew Oliver, brother of superior court justice Peter Oliver, and invaded and ransacked his house. He resigned his office the next day. Merchants' groups in several colonies agreed that boycotting British goods might be an effective form of protest, and they resolved not to import or sell British goods. In Boston, mob action enforced these promises of nonimportation and also thwarted efforts by the customs authorities to enforce the customs laws. Gov. Francis Bernard petitioned for British troops to help maintain a civil order. His pleas were answered in September 1768 when six hundred British troops landed in Boston.

Wintery Night.

The presence of...