Defining “the enemy” in revolutionary America: From the rhetoric of protest to the rhetoric of war

During the Stamp Act crisis, colonial protest leaders relied upon a tradition of legitimate, extralegal coercion to justify mob actions against stamp distributors. As the conflict between Britain and its colonies escalated, however, whig leaders broadened their definition of “the enemy” to include a variety of fellow colonists, making it more difficult to justify coercion and violence on traditional grounds. Following the outbreak of war, radical whigs justified the suppression of all remaining dissent with appeals, not to tradition, but to a revolutionary theory of popular sovereignty. This change marked a key rhetorical “moment” in the coming of the Revolution, but its legacy also threatened the political stability of the new American Republic.