1768 - Political Events

Political Events

Former British member of Parliament John Wilkes returns early in the year from Paris, where he has piled up huge debts (see 1764); buoyed by rising sentiment against the government, he is elected to Parliament for Middlesex, gives himself up to the authorities at the end of April, and uses a technicality to have his outlawry reversed in June, but he waives his privilege as a member of Parliament and submits to sentences that total 2 years' imprisonment and £1,000 in fines for the two charges on which he was convicted 4 years ago. He then publishes incendiary items against the ministry for using troops to quell rioters and tries to have his convictions overturned by a petition to the Commons (see 1769).

Gloucestershire-born politician Wills Hill, 49, earl of Hillsborough, is appointed secretary of state for the colonies, having served as president of the board of trade and plantations under George Grenville. Hillsborough opposes all concessions to the colonies.

France purchases Corsica from Genoa May 15, but patriot leader Pasquale de Paoli, now 42, will hold out against the French until his forces are overpowered next year (see 1755). Louis XV has lost most of his colonial empire, has taxed the people heavily to maintain his luxurious life style, and is widely hated; he has recently become enamored of a Paris seamstress's illegitimate daughter, the beautiful Jeanne Bécu, 22, who worked as a prostitute for the roué Guillaume du Barry before meeting the king and is known as the comtesse du Barry (see 1769).

Former British prime minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st duke of Newcastle, dies without issue at London November 17 at age 75. His dukedom devolves on his nephew Henry Finnes Clinton.

Austria renounces all claims to Silesia.

The Ottoman sultan Mustapha III declares war on Russia in October, charging that Moscow's occupation of Poland violates the 1711 Treaty of Pruth (see 1769).

Nepal in the Himalayas is unified under King Prithwi Naryan Shah.

A colonial sheriff in North Carolina's Orange County announces in the spring that he will be collecting taxes in certain given tax stations and if colonists do not pay at those places they will be subject to penalties (see Tryon, 1765). Backwoods radical groups calling themselves Regulators rally support, saying they will not pay taxes unless satisfied that the levies are lawful and will be used for stated purposes. Officials at Hillsborough (named for the new British secretary of state for the colonies) seize a Regulator's horse, saddle, and bridle to be sold for taxes; other Regulators rescue the horse, fire some shots into a house, and precipitate violence that escalates throughout much of the colony (see 1770).

British customs officials at Boston seize the sloop Liberty June 10. Owner of the sloop is John Hancock, now 31, whose late uncle has left him a fortune gained by profiteering in food supplied to the British troops (young Hancock has enhanced that fortune by smuggling wine into Boston, and the customs officials seized his ship to confiscate its cargo of wine for use as evidence against Hancock, who will soon switch to smuggling tea; see "Boston Tea Party," 1773). The seizure of the Liberty precipitates riots organized by firebrand Samuel Adams. About 1,000 Sons of Liberty destroy royal property, and Adams calls in his lawyer cousin John Adams, 33, to defend Hancock, who is acquitted of all charges. Boston merchants adopt a nonimportation agreement August 1 (see 1764).

Delegates from 26 Massachusetts towns meet at Faneuil Hall September 22 in response to a call by Boston selectmen following the anti-British riots. They draw up a statement of grievances, but the Royal Navy lands two infantry regiments October 1, and two more regiments are ordered sent from Halifax (see Boston "Massacre," 1770).

The Treaty of Hard Labor signed in the South Carolina colony October 14 confirms cessions of Cherokee lands in the Virginia and Carolina colonies to the British crown.

The Treaty of Fort Stanwix signed November 5 at the 10-year-old British stronghold on the upper Mohawk River confirms the cession of Iroquois territories between the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers to the British crown. Virginia House of Burgesses member Thomas Walker, now 53, represents his colony at the signing ceremony.