Causes Of The Second Riot

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The second riot, August 26, 1765, unlike the first one, can easily be described as an actual riot escalated by a drunken mob mentality. This riot was sparked by the apprehension of suspected smugglers (Hutchinson, P. 18). The colonist, or more accurately the rioters, used the apprehension of these merchants to openly attack the lieutenant governor, Thomas Hutchinson. These attacks came after a mob had started a bonfire, while heavily drinking (Hutchinson, P. 19). The second riot cannot be attributed to British taxation without representation, in a description given by Governor Francis Bernard to the Lords of Trade he explains that the riots were "becoming a war of plunder… [attempting to] take away the distinction between poor and rich" (Bernard,