Updated October 4, 2024
After the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the British army was confined within town by a large force of Massachusetts voluntary militia besieging it. The people of town were essentially held as hostages under the guns of the British fleet. An agreement was reached between the selectmen of Boston, approved by vote of the people and General Gage, to allow anyone outside Boston wishing to enter with their relatives and all their belongings, and all those wishing to leave to do likewise with all of their property, except arms. All private arms of Boston's population were to be deposited for safekeeping in Fanueil Hall with the town's selectmen. Arms would be marked by the selectmen with the names of the owners so they could be returned to them at a suitable time in the future. Once all arms had been turned in, departing town would be allowed with a pass from a particular British officer.
It became evident once removals started that virtually everyone in town was going to leave with all of their relatives, take all of their possessions, including all the private stocks of stores in town with them. Gage was informed by loyalists that, if all the patriots departed, who made up the vast majority of the population, there would be no reason for them not to burn down their own town to drive the British out. Gage first reneged on the agreement by preventing merchandise from being removed. Then, he prevented provisions and medicine from being removed. Then, the officer necessary to approve a pass became very difficult to locate. Finally, Gage fully reneged on his agreement, claiming that large numbers of arms had been hidden away. No one else was allowed to leave, and relatively few had been able to so. Then Gage placed a military guard on Fanueil Hall preventing anyone from access to their own arms. At least two individuals were later imprisoned for 75 days for simply concealing arms in their homes.
On July 6, 1775, the Continental Congress passed a Declaration Of The Causes And Necessity Of Taking Up Arms. One of the many reasons given for this Declaration was the disarming of Boston's population of all their private arms. Note that it was passed almost one year prior to the Declaration of Independence.
The selectmen of Boston recorded the following list of types and number of arms deposited by their owners at Fanueil Hall:
Firearms: 1,778
Pistols: 634
Bayonets: 973
Blunderbusses: 38
Comments on specific types of arms, starting at the bottom of the list:
Blunderbusses were short barrel shotguns with bell shaped barrel ends usually used for personal defense, or defense of coaches or vessels.
Bayonets were long, thin metal spear like detachable instruments that were used on military style musket barrel ends used for stabbing enemy soldiers.
Pistols were short firearms held in one hand, often found in pairs, and normally used for personal protection, with larger types normally used as military arms carried in pairs on horseback.
"Firearms" in this list is a term clearly encompassing more than one type of small arms that were longer in size than pistols or blunderbusses. It would have included military style muskets. Presumably, based on the number of bayonets turned in, there would have been at least 973 military style muskets among the 1,778 firearms listed, although there could have been many more muskets than bayonets listed. Most of the other "firearms" were likely fowling pieces along with some rifles.
General comments on this list and the types of arms listed - These arms were the property of private individuals. Without doubt they were not all of the arms that the people of Boston possessed, as some individuals were imprisoned for simply having arms in their home. Also, Gage may well have been correct that large numbers of arms had been hidden away. Patriots in Boston trusted General Gage no further than a man could throw the British Admiral's flagship.
Given that Boston's population was around 16,000 at that time, the number of males would have been about half of that number, or 8,000, and the number of males 16 and older around 4,000. Under Massachusetts' militia law that dated back to the late 1600's, which was still in effect, but not being enforced by the Royal governor at this period, there should be a musket and bayonet present in Boston owned by individuals for every male 16 through 59, and every house holder as well. That would have been a considerably larger number than the 973 bayonets turned in.
The 4,000 male townspeople 16 and older possessed at least 2,450 what would be described today as firearms, as well as nearly 1,000 bayonets that were obviously military arms associated with military muskets. If that was the maximum number of private firearms in Boston in April of 1775, it is still well over one firearm for half of all males above 16 years old. Either the people of Boston were relative arms lovers, or firearms ownership in colonial America was rather widespread.
Considering that over ninety per cent of the American population were involved in farming, the percentage of arms ownership of the free male population was undoubtedly even greater than Bostons. As the total count of firearms for Boston was probably higher than the number of arms seized, and all Massachusetts farmers out in the countryside had to deal with numerous daily threats to their crops and livestock that the people in town would rarely have a problem with, arms possession in Massachusetts was widespread indeed. Plus, the people had been arming up since 1768. Recall Gage, prior to hostilities, stating that "arms are carried out openly by every man that goes out of Boston without molestation" as quoted in Part 6 of this series.
In Part 11, John Adams' statement that the American Revolution was over before the War for Independence began will be used as a retrospective on Parts 1 through 10 of this series and an introduction to American constitutional development.
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