Sir Francis Bernard (1712-1779), royal governor of colonial
Massachusetts from 1760 to 1769, witnessed the rapid dissipation of
happy sentiment stemming from Anglo-American victory in the French
and Indian War and the first stirrings of colonial radicalism. The
writs of assistance case, the Stamp Act riots, and the ensuing
boycotts of British manufactures all happened on his watch. Bernard
himself proved to be a controversial figure. His most vociferous
opponents accused him of aggressively pursuing customs violations
to augment his own income. Others believed that he had deliberately
misrepresented political conditions in Boston in order to persuade
authorities in England to dispatch troops to support his troubled
administration. At the end of his governorship, the Massachusetts
House of Representatives petitioned for his recall, even as the
king awarded him a baronetcy for his loyal service. Once home in
England, Bernard slipped easily into the role of an expert on
colonial affairs and helped devise imperial policies that would
exacerbate the growing crisis.
Bernard's letters and other incidental papers provide abundant
insight into the personalities and bitter controversies agitating
Boston in the pre-Revolutionary period. Often consulted by scholars
in transcripts and on microfilm, they constitute one of the most
important sources on the period, yet this edition is the first
comprehensive selection of his letters to be published. The
explanation for this neglect can only be that, as far as American
readers are concerned, he was on the wrong side of the conflict.
Read side-by-side with the papers of John and Samuel Adams,
Bernard's letters allow us to understand fully events in
Massachusetts leading up to the Revolution.
This is the first of three volumes of selected letters, to be
followed upon completion by a calendar of documents covering his
life and career.
Distributed for the Colonial Society of Massachusetts
General
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