bought slaves in Africa and traded them in the West Indies for sugar and molasses (treacle), of which they made rum. The rum brought cash profits to Rhode Island.

The colonial trade had not been checked for years. The colonists had their own laws and they avoided detection and punishment. The English wanted the Americans to pay their fair share, as British soldiers in America provided protection for the colonists against the French and the Indians. They put a tax on molasses, but the colonists followed their usual smuggling practices to avoid paying it. A lot of other taxes followed and the British began checking the ships.

Rhode Island depended upon illegal trade and they did not give up this without a struggle. The colonies and the mother country both tried to settle their differences peacefully. The merchants tried to avoid the taxes with their old tricks as much as possible, pay the taxes when it was absolutely necessary, and go back to practising business as usual. As the colonies did not have their own elected representatives in parliament to vote for or against the taxes, the Parliament could put unlimited taxes on American trade. The Parliament ordered patrols to control the smuggling. The British vessels often stopped local ships and searched them without any evidence or information to justify their suspicions.

The Gaspee had been on duty in colonial waters with orders to assist the Revenue Officers of the colony in stamping out smuggling and illicit trade since 1764 under Captain Thomas Allen. In 1768 Lieutenant William Dudingston replaced Captain Allen in command. Dudingston was an arrogant, enthusiastic young officer and he soon had a reputation throughout the colonies for insulting, humiliating and even beating Americans. Since Rhode Island was notorious for its smuggling activities, Dudingston was permanently stationed there by early March, 1772 and the Gaspee took up position at the entrance of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.

Dudingston had a lot of enemies in Rhode Island as he even chased small innocent boats involved in local commerce. He even took supplies for the Gaspee from local farmers without their permission and without paying them. He made clear that he would send confiscated vessels to Boston instead of allowing merchants to petition for return of their goods in local courts.

Rhode Islands Governor Joseph Wanton, a wealthy merchant of Newport and a good friend of the Browns of Providence, wanted to meet Dudingston to make the Lieutenant's authority and its limits clear, but Dudingston refused. One of the reasons for this was that he had to fear to be attacked or arrested as soon as he left the Gaspee.

This was the situation when about noon on June 9 ^th , the sloop Hannah under the command of Captain Benjamin Lindsey, arrived at Newport from New York. When she left Newport sailing up Narragansett Bay toward Providence, the Gaspee hoisted sails and pursued her. Lieutenant Dudingston signalled the Hannah to stop to let him come on board, but Lindsey was not in the mood to obey. He let the Gaspee pursue them and refused to stop even after warning shots were fired from the Gaspee. It took all of Captain Lindsey's skills a seaman to keep the Hannah out of cannon range of her pursuer. Since he knew the waters better then Dudingston and his crew, he made the Gaspee run aground on a long shallow sandbar, Namquit Point, now called Gaspee Point.

Captain Lindsey immediately went ashore and informed Providence merchant and ardent patriot John Brown (later to found the Brown University) that the Gaspee had grounded and would stay at Namquit Point until flood tide - about three o'clock Here was an opportunity to destroy the hated Gaspee. Brown wasted no time. He instructed one of his shipmasters to collect eight of the largest longboats in the harbour.

The town crier was told to cry out the situation of the Gaspee and to invite anyone who had a mind to destroy the ship, to assemble in Sabin's tavern.

By nine o'clock, the tavern was filled with exited but resolute men, some of them with weapons, but the majority without arms. John Brown was one of the leaders of the raid.

At about ten o'clock that night, under the cover of darkness, about 65 leading citizens, a sea captain who acted as steersman on each boat, left for the long row to Namquit point (Gaspee point) seven miles away, where the crew of the Gaspee was waiting for the rising tide to free their ship. The night was dark and moonless what helped the boats hiding from the Gaspee until they were with in 60 to 100 yards of the ship. By getting so close undetected they were safe from the Gaspee's eight large guns. When Dudingston took notice of the boats, the Gaspee was already surrounded The raiders entered the Gaspee and a bullet fired by Joseph Bucklin hit Dudingston during the fight. He had been shot in the groin, a painful but not necessarily fatal wound.

A member of the expedition, Dr. John Mawney, tended to his wounds, saving his life. The Rhode Islanders outnumbered the British by almost four to one. The crew was tied up and put into the boats. After going through the ships papers and removing most of them, the Rhode Islanders took the entire crew ashore. Then they rowed back and set the Gaspee afire.

The Rhode Islanders had struck a blow against despotism but the affair would not end there. Morning brought to the ringleaders the sobering realization that they had been guilty of an act

of piracy. They had in anger arrayed themselves against the might of a great nation and they could only expect the leaders of that nation to make every effort to punish them. The Gaspee was still smouldering, when the leaders of the colony took swift steps to protect the guilty. Next day, everybody in Providence, Newport, Bristol and other towns knew what had happened. They had seen the smoke and many were aware of the fire and explosions during the night, but from this day until the investigation of the Gaspee incident was closed, nobody provided evidence against the raiders, even though a rich reward was offered by the subsequent King's Proclamation that promised the gallows to all the raiders. It also offered pardon to any participant of the incident who identifies the leaders or person who wounded Lieutenant Dudingston.

Whatever the reason, instead of the drastic actions feared by the Rhode Islanders, King George III and his ministers appointed a commission to investigate and arrest any suspected inhabitants of the colony who might have been involved in the destruction of the Gaspee. The commissioners assured the Rhode Island officials that they would not themselves arrest anyone of deliver anyone to Admiral Montagu, but would leave that task to the regular judicial officials in the colony. The Rhode Island officials in turn promised to submit written statements containing everything they knew about the burning.

Admiral Montagu received a letter from the wounded Dudingston expressing fear that he would be in mortal danger if he divulged the identity of any of the raiders who stormed his ship. Dudingston was removed from Pawtuxet and carried in a litter to Boston while the Admiral expressed anger over the delay of the King's commissioners in "meeting to investigate the piratical act".

After many delays the commission finally met for the first time in Newport on January 5 ^th , 1773, almost seven months after the Gaspee was burned. Five or six members appointed by the King were present. Montagu, perhaps nervous over the reception he might expect to receive in a Rhode Island town, sent a Captain Keeler to represent him. Governor Wanton refused to accept the Captain as a substitute commissioner and insisted that the admiral attend the meeting in Newport. This caused another delay. Montagu finally arrive in Newport, complaining about the inconveniences.

The commissioners examined ten people, of whom ten were Rhode Island officials. The officials testimony emphasised Dudingston's behaviour, saying that his outrageous actions drove desperate, unknown Rhode Islanders to seek revenge.

Many of the accused officials travelled to Newport, expressing their horror at the lawless acts of the "unknown" while declaring their utmost devotion to the "good King George" and the laws of England. However, they all found good and sufficient excuses to be unable to appear in person before the commissioners.

On January 19 ^th , Montagu informed his fellow members of the commission that he must leave at once for Boston and asked them to recess until spring.

When they met again, the beautiful spring weather was not conducive to an energetic investigation. The destruction of the Gaspee was now history, and furthermore, other events were now claiming the attention of the English Ministers.

On the 23 ^rd of June 1773, the commission close its investigation. Their final report answered all the questions given from the King, except the crucial one of "who did it?". They came to the conclusion that the attack was a spontaneous one and not a plot carefully laid in advance. So ended the Gaspee incident. The "Gaspee affair" interested all the colonies. An act of the smallest colony was a lesson and an inspiration for all.

The major result of the Gaspee incident among the colonists was the formation of the Committees of Correspondence in each of the colonies to expedite the flow of information between them concerning events of mutual interest. The colonies came together with a common cause for the first time, the initial, formative step of a new nation. Susanne Tenhaeff, Doreen Heow

Sources:

http://member.home.net/gaspee/revolut2.htm (August, 2000) Revolutionary Fire: The Gaspee Incident by Nathalie Robinson http://members.home.net/gaspee/Archives5.html (August, 2000) Gaspee: Prelude to Revolution by Alex Gabbard Story of the Gaspee by Lewis A. Taft