Thomas Hutchinson (9 September 1711 – 3 June 1780) was an American merchant, politician, historian, and colonial administrator who repeatedly served as governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the years leading up to the American Revolution. He has been described as "the most important figure on the loyalist side in pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts".Wroth & Zobel (eds.) 1968, John Adams Papers, v. i, p. cii Hutchinson was a successful merchant and politician who was active at high levels of the Massachusetts colonial government for many years, serving as lieutenant governor and then governor from 1758 to 1774. He was a politically polarizing figure who came to be identified by John Adams and Samuel Adams as a supporter of unpopular British taxes, despite his initial opposition to Parliamentary tax laws directed at the colonies. Hutchinson was blamed by British Prime Minister Lord North for being a significant contributor to the tensions that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.Bailyn, 1974, p. 5
Hutchinson's Boston mansion was ransacked in 1765 during protests against the Stamp Act, damaging his collection of materials on the history of Massachusetts. As acting governor in 1770, he personally visited the aftermath of the Boston Massacre, an event after which he ordered the removal of British occupational troops from Boston to Castle William. Letters of his calling for the abridgment of colonial rights were published in 1773, further intensifying opposition towards him in the colony. Hutchinson was replaced as governor in May 1774 by General Thomas Gage and went into exile in England, where he advised the British government on its dealings with the colonists.
He had a deep interest in the colonial history of the United States, collecting many historical documents. Hutchinson wrote a three-volume History of the Province of Massachusetts Bay whose last volume, published posthumously, covered his own period in office. Historian Bernard Bailyn wrote of Hutchinson, "If there was one person in America whose actions might have altered the outcome [of the protests and disputes preceding the American Revolutionary War], it was he."Duffy, p. 2 Scholars use Hutchinson's career to represent the tragic fate of the many Loyalists marginalized by their attachment to the British imperial system at a time when the American nation-state was emerging. He exemplified the difficulties experienced by Loyalists, paralyzed by his ideology and his dual loyalties to America and Britain. Hutchinson sacrificed his love for Massachusetts for his loyalty to Great Britain, where he spent his last years in an unhappy exile.Cheng, Eileen, "On the Margins," Early American Studies (2013) 11#1 pp. 98–116
Early life
Thomas Hutchinson was born on 9 September 1711 in the North End of Boston, the fourth of twelve children of Thomas and Sarah Foster Hutchinson.Hosmer, 1896, p. 1 He was descended from early New England settlers, including Anne Hutchinson and her son Edward Hutchinson, and his parents were both from well-to-do merchant families. His father was involved in the family mercantile trade but was also active in political, military, and charitable circles and served on the provincial council.Bailyn, 1974, pp. 9–10 His younger brother was Foster Hutchinson.
Young Thomas entered Harvard College at twelve, graduating in 1727.Hosmer, 1896, p. 2 His father introduced him to the business world early, and he displayed remarkable business acumen. According to the autobiographical sketch of his childhood, Hutchinson turned a modest gift from his father of "five quintals of fish" into between £400 and £500 by the time he was 21.Bailyn, 1974, p. 12 In 1732, he received some exposure to politics when he accompanied Governor Jonathan Belcher on a voyage to Casco Bay for negotiations with the Abenaki of Maine, then part of Massachusetts. The voyage was made in a vessel of which Hutchinson was part owner.Hosmer, 1896, p. 3
In 1734, he married Margaret Sanford, a granddaughter of Rhode Island Governor Peleg Sanford. The Sanford and Hutchinson families had a long history of business and personal connections; Margaret, in fact, was his third cousin.Bailyn, 1974, pp. 12, 30Mrs. Hutchinson was also descended from Rhode Island governor William Coddington.
The marriage secured a political alliance between Hutchinson and Andrew and Peter Oliver which lasted long after Margaret's death. Margaret Sanford's sister Mary (1713–1773) was the second wife of Andrew Oliver. Likewise, a daughter of Thomas Hutchinson married a son of Peter Oliver. The Oliver brothers were also related to Massachusetts governor Jonathan Belcher and to New Hampshire lieutenant governors William Partridge and George Vaughan (Harvard Class of 1696). The couple had twelve children, only five of whom survived to adulthood before Margaret died in 1754 from complications of childbirth.Bailyn, 1974, p. 29
Legislator and councillor In 1737 Hutchinson entered politics, being elected as a Boston selectman, and later in the year, to a seat in the General Court (the provincial assembly).Hosmer, 1896, p. 4
He spoke out against the province's practice of issuing bills of credit (as a form of paper currency), whose inflationary drop in value wrought havoc in the economy. This position was unpopular with the populist party in the province, and Hutchinson was voted out in the 1739 election.Hosmer, 1896, pp. 21–22
He was sent to England as an agent to plead on behalf of property owners affected by King George II's decision concerning the boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire which significantly favored New Hampshire. Hutchinson's embassy was unsuccessful, although he returned with a bequest to Harvard for the construction of a new chapel; Holden Chapel, built with these funds, still stands today.Bailyn, 1974, p. 14
In 1742, Hutchinson was again elected to the General Court, where he served until 1749, being the body's speaker from 1746 to 1749.Hosmer, 1896, pp. 25–26
His continued advocacy of currency reforms so annoyed the populist faction that the need to guard his properties in Boston and Milton from possible mob action was discussed.Hosmer, 1896, p. 26
When the British government was convinced to refund the province's expense for mounting the 1745 Louisbourg expedition, Hutchinson seized upon the idea of using the massive payment (about £180,000 in gold and silver) to retire the province's paper currency. Despite significant opposition, Hutchinson successfully navigated a bill implementing the idea through the assembly's general court in 1749; it received the agreement of the Governor's Council, and also the signature of Governor William Shirley. Many of the bill's opponents were pleasantly surprised when the exchange of paper for specie did not cause any financial shocks, and Hutchinson's popularity soared.Hosmer, 1896, pp. 27–30
Despite the success, Hutchinson was voted out of the assembly in 1749. He was, however, immediately appointed to the Governor's Council.Hosmer, 1896, p. 36
In 1749 he headed a commission to arrange a treaty with the Indians in the District of Maine,Walmsley, p. 27 which was then part of Massachusetts, and he served on boundary commissions to settle disputes with Connecticut and Rhode Island. In 1752 he was appointed judge of probate and a justice of the Common Pleas. Following the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754, he was a delegate to the Albany Convention. In that meeting he took a leading part in the discussions, working with Benjamin Franklin to draft a plan for colonial union. Hutchinson agreed with Franklin that the present disunity endangered the British colonies and that decisive action must be taken to knit the too-often-competing colonies into a coherent whole. Most important, the report drafted by Hutchinson concluded that the colonies must be encouraged to establish "a Union of His Majesty's several governments on the continent, that so their councils, treasure, and strength may be employed in due proportion against their common enemy".Brands, p. 237
Hutchinson's wife died quite suddenly in 1754; Hutchinson thereafter threw himself into his work.Walmsley, p. 28 His work was not entirely of a political nature: in a humanitarian streak he supported Acadian refugees who had been expelled from their Nova Scotia homelands, even though this support of Roman Catholics did not gain him friends in Protestant Massachusetts. He was also sensitive to the needs of the military men involved in the war, often giving aid to needy families of veterans.Walmsley, p. 29
Lieutenant governor of Massachusetts
When Governor Shirley's political opponents engineered his recall in 1756, Hutchinson sought and received the endorsement of the British military leader Lord Loudoun to succeed Shirley as governor. During this time Hutchinson was the leading politician in the province due to the age and infirmity of Lieutenant Governor Spencer Phips.Walmsley, p. 30 Hutchinson's application was unsuccessful, but he did receive an appointment as lieutenant governor in 1758, serving under Thomas Pownall. Hutchinson's relationship with Pownall was awkward, for Pownall was at the center of political activities that dislodged Governor Shirley, under whose patronage Hutchinson had risen in power and influence. Pownall cultivated relations with the populist factions in the state and sought to remove the influence of Shirley supporters, sometimes asking Hutchinson to turn against people he (Hutchinson) had earlier supported. This Hutchinson refused to do since he saw these actions as harming the province's stability and taking place at "the caprice of the governor".Bailyn, 1974, pp. 41–42
Pownall, whose mistrust of Hutchinson was reciprocated, requested to leave to return to England in late 1759. The political opposition of Shirley supporters and the death of some of his leading populist supporters may have contributed to this decision.Waters and Schutz, p. 557 He departed the province on 3 June 1760, leaving Hutchinson as acting governor. Several months later Pownall's replacement, Francis Bernard, arrived to take the reins of power.Bailyn, 1974, pp. 44-45
Writs of assistance One of Bernard's early acts as governor was the appointment of Hutchinson instead of James Otis Sr., as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature. This action by itself turned the province's populists, whose vocal leaders included Otis and his son James Jr., against both Hutchinson and Bernard, with long term consequences to Hutchinson's reputation. Hutchinson, with no legal training, had not sought the post, and some emerging legal thinkers, notably a rising young lawyer named John Adams, were also outraged.Bailyn, 1974, pp. 47–51
In 1761 Hutchinson brought upon himself a storm of protest and criticism by issuing writs of assistance, documents that authorized essentially arbitrary searches by customs officials. Although some had been issued (ironically over Hutchinson's objections) in earlier years, the writs he authorized were in some cases renewals of existing writs necessitated by the accession of King George III to the throne. Adams and the Otises seized on the issue to rail against Hutchinson's monopolization of power (since he was also a lieutenant governor and sat on the council) and lack of legal qualifications for the post of chief justice.Bailyn, 1974, p. 54
Taxes and the Stamp Act