Isaac Sears (1 July 1730 – 28 October 1786) was an American

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, and political figure who played an important role in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. He was born July 1, 1730, at West Brewster,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, the son of Joshua and Mary Sears.Dictionary of American Biography He was a descendant of

Richard Sears Richard Sears may refer to: *Richard Warren Sears (1863–1914), founder of Sears, Roebuck and Co. * Richard Sears (pilgrim) (1595–1676), early settler of Yarmouth, Cape Cod, Massachusetts *Richard Sears (tennis) Richard Dudley Sears (October ...

, who emigrated to the colonies from

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

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, in 1630. While he was a child, the family moved to Norwalk,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. At the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed to the skipper of a coastal vessel. By 1752, he was in command of a sloop trading between New York and Canada. Sears established his reputation as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, commanding a vessel from 1758 until 1761, when he lost his ship. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and had become successful enough to become a merchant investing in ships engaging in trade with the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

Early life

Born in July 1730 in West Brewster, Barnstable

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

, the son of Joshua and Mary (Thacher) Sears. Isaac Sears was the sixth of nine children. He was a fifth generation of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

er whose family left

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

and settled in

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

. He had well established Religious ties, as he also had ancestors who were a Deacon and a Minister in the

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

. He was baptized in the church in 1730, moreover, he would go on to be a member of the

Congregation Congregation may refer to: Religion *Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church *Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...

in Harwich Mass. He would later go on to become an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and marry Sarah Drake at Trinity Church in New York, and raised his family in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. His Father-in-law was Jasper Drake who owned the Water Street Tavern. As a young boy he sold shellfish, and by sixteen had begun apprenticing to the Captain of a New England coastal vessel. After ample time learning the trade, he was commissioned as an officer. By his twenties he commanded small sloops that sailed the North American coast between Halifax and New York. Some of these sloops would see him travel as far as the West Indies, even during the winter. By 1752, he was in command of a sloop trading between New York and Canada. During the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

he became a Captain of privateers and commanded ''The Decoy'' a six gun sloop, ''The Catherine'', and ''The Belle Isle'' which had fourteen guns. Sears established a reputation during the

and became Captain of several privateers. He was commissioned to prey on enemy ships from 1758 until 1761, when he ultimately lost his ship. He moved to New York City and had become successful enough to become a merchant investing in ships engaging in trade with the West Indies. By 1763 he underwent a career change in which he moved on from captaining ships, to settle as a merchant. He started first in vessels but the

Sugar Act 1764 The Sugar Act 1764 or Sugar Act 1763 ( 4 Geo. 3. c. 15), also known as the American Revenue Act 1764 or the American Duties Act, was a revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on 5 April 1764. The preamble to the act stat ...

affected his trade along the North American coast, and West Indies and ultimately forced him to stop trade with Madeira.

Sons of Liberty

Sears and his fellow

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It p ...

all gathered at a

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...

on October 31, 1765, the day before the Stamp Act was to take effect. They ultimately resolved to enforce the opposition to the distribution of the stamps and formed an association to stop the importation of British goods until the act was rescinded. Sears organized and was a known leader of the

in 1765. They used violence and threats of violence to prevent the use of stamps, moreover, Sears issued a death threat to anyone breaking the non-importation agreement before the colonies agreed to do so. He was

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d "King Sears" by

aristocrats Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

who feared his power to mobilize people in the streets and for his influential role in organizing and leading the New York mob. He was a most militant and influential agitator and earned a reputation for bravery and sought to limit the scope of Britain's authority in 1760.Shecter, Barnet. ''The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution.'' New York: Walker and Company, 2002. Another nickname that was bestowed upon him by British military engineer and cartographer John Montresor·, was the “Spawn of Liberty and Inquisition” which Montresor both passionately and derisively called him and his posse of vigilantes. British Vice Admiral Samuel Graves lists Sears as the “most active leaders and agitators of the rebellion. He was at the head of nearly every demonstration of mob violence in New York City. He partnered with

James DeLancey James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) was an American politician from the colonial period who served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and educatio ...

in opposition to the stamps and supported him in his 1768 election to the New York assembly. Sears and many of his followers were engaged in trade and demanded that trade continue without stamps. In 1766, Sears, John Lamb and three others formed a

committee of correspondence The committees of correspondence were a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independence during the American Revolution. The brainchild of S ...

to communicate with other Sons of Liberty groups in other provinces. After the Stamp Act was repealed the Sons of Liberty erected a

Liberty pole A liberty pole is a wooden pole, or sometimes spear or lance, surmounted by a "cap of liberty", mostly of the Phrygian cap. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar by a group of Rom ...

to celebrate. The liberty pole was a galling sight to the redcoats and a symbol of pride and defiance to the townsfolk. When the British cut down the pole for the first time, Sears and Walter Quackenbos collared two redcoats posting broadsides, a fellow soldier drew his bayonet and threatened them, Sears had a rams horn in his hand and threw it at him and hit him in the head. In 1768, he and numerous New York merchants sent a petition to Parliament outlining their grievances on the state of trade. In 1769, when the New York assembly passed an appropriation for funding of the

Quartering Act The Quartering Acts were several acts of the Parliament of Great Britain which required local authorities in the Thirteen Colonies of British North America to provide British Army personnel in the colonies with housing and food. Each of the Qua ...

, he posted an inflammatory broadside entitled "To the betrayed inhabitants of the city and colony of New York". On January 19, 1770, the Battle of Golden Hill began when Sears took it upon himself to prevent a half dozen redcoats from posting broadsides at an outdoor market near the East River wharves, Sears seized the soldier fixing the paper by the collar and asked him what business he had to put up Libels against the inhabitants and carried him to the mayor. The fifth liberty pole was raised on February 6, 1770 on a plot of land owned by Sears. When the

Tea Act The Tea Act 1773 ( 13 Geo. 3. c. 44) was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The principal objective was to reduce the massive amount of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to he ...

was passed in 1773, he organized the city's captains into refusing to freight the East Indian tea. It was the first organized opposition to the tax. Broadsides, signed "The Mohawks", were posted warning against anyone trying to land tea. New York's opposition was partly responsible for Boston's decision to stop the landing of tea. Adams wrote, "we must venture, and unless we do, we shall be discarded by the sons of liberty in the other colonies". They were successful in preventing the landing of tea. In April 1774, they boarded the ''Nancy'' and destroyed its tea. During the Townsend Acts, Britain passed a

in 1773 to ship tea directly to North America to help the East India Company, saving it from being taxed so it can come out of bankruptcy. Sears and his companions believed that the ruin of their commerce was inevitable if they did not succeed in preventing the sale of India Company tea in America. They were convinced that this could only be effected by total prohibition of English tea, since the Company would find ways of importing its tea to America by way of private merchants regardless. He was also worried Britain would soon try to make a monopoly of other goods in the colonies, threatening the welfare of the Sons of Neptune. Before the tea was to be sent to the colonies, Captain Sears and McDougall decided an opposition was needed and sought to unite all the Sons of Neptune and Liberty with the merchants and tea-smugglers. The

and the Dutch smugglers had come together and sparked the "New Flame" described by William Smith. As the tea approached the harbors of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston in early November the campaign began. The tea stood in the boats that were in the harbor and no one dared to remove them for fear of the tea being destroyed. Towards the end of November, McDougall from Sons of Liberty made a publication to be sent out to all harbors. "If any of the tea by any persons associated with the India Tea Company had accepted a commission to sell, land, or store the tea would be paid "an unwelcomed visit, in which they shall be treated as they deserve: by 'The Mohawks.'" Thus Sears and McDougall initiated the use of this distinctively American name to cover the identity of those who were ready to employ violence to block the operation of the Tea Act." Not long after, the

Boston Tea Party The Boston Tea Party was a seminal American protest, political and Mercantilism, mercantile protest on December 16, 1773, during the American Revolution. Initiated by Sons of Liberty activists in Boston in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colo ...

took place and the tea ships in Philadelphia and New York turned back to England for fear of their cargo. When in May 1774 news of the

Boston Port Act The Boston Port Act, also called the Trade Act 1774 ( 14 Geo. 3. c. 19), was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which became law on March 31, 1774, and took effect on June 1, 1774. It was one of five measures (variously called the ''Into ...

arrived, Sears and McDougall wrote a letter of support to Boston, without consulting anyone else, in addition to a British boycott, they proposed a ban on exports to the West Indies and called for a Continental Congress. Reaction in New York to the Boston Port Act was cautious and equivocal, there was a split with the DeLanceys on whether to proceed with nonimportantion.

Committee of Sixty

On May 16, 1774, a meeting at the

Fraunces Tavern Fraunces Tavern is a museum and restaurant in New York City, situated at 54 Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The location played a prominent role in history before, during, and after th ...

was called of the various factions. The Committee of Fifty was elected with Isaac Low as its chairman. James DeLancey's faction was in the majority, with Sears and his Sons of Liberty in the minority. In 1774, he was a leading member of New York City's Committee of Sixty. In a letter to the Boston

Committee of Correspondence The committees of correspondence were a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independence during the American Revolution. The brainchild of S ...

he proposed a meeting of delegates from the principal towns. This proposal was initially disavowed by the Committee of Sixty, but later was ratified in a proposal for the meeting of the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies held from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia at the beginning of the American Revolution. The meeting was organized b ...

American Revolution

On April 15, 1775, he was arrested for his anti-British activities, but was rescued at the prison door by his supporters and paraded through the streets as a hero. When news of the

Battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

arrived he and his followers seized the arsenal at the Custom House. He was the de facto commander of New York City until Washington's Army arrived in June, 1776. On November 20, 1775, Sears led a group of 80 citizens in apprehending Parson Seabury, Judge Fowler, and Lord Underhill.Moore, Frank. 860(2001). Diary of the American Revolution Vol. I.: 122-123 Edited by Jay Carper. Internet: Third Millennium Publishing. At some point the mob forced Fowler to write (or else they forged his name) an apology and a promise not to interfere with the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...

. While some of the mob escorted the three prisoners to

, ·November 23, 1775, Sears and his men rode into New York at high noon with bayonets fixed and shut down James Rivington's Gazetteer by taking all of the type from his office at the foot of Wall Street where a large crowd gathered outside the Merchants coffee shop to cheer the raiders as they marched out of town to the tune of Yankee Doodle . However, this action was condemned by the Committee of Sixty, the

New York Provincial Congress The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...

and the New York delegation to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

, but public opinion was with him and no action and after the capture of New York, Sears returned to

, where he grew rich by privateering and spending time at sea as a privateer from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

from 1777 to 1783. He formed partnerships with other privateers, such as John Kendrick, with whom he owned in partnership the vessel ''Count d'Estaing'', commanded by Kendrick.

Post-war years

After the British left New York City in 1783, he returned to the city installing himself in a mansion on the Bowling Green and reviving the

. By March, he was calling for the expulsion of any remaining Loyalists in the state by May 1. He and other members of the Sons of Liberty won enough seats in the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

in December, 1784 to enact a set of harsh anti-Loyalist laws. He was exposed for buying up soldier's pay certificates at depressed prices and using them to speculate in forfeited Loyalist property. The public regarded this as the height of venality and cynicism. He was again elected to the assembly in 1786, but by then he was deeply in debt and he left the state to avoid arrest.Schecter, pg. 385 Sears died in October 1786 of fever and dysentery contracted in Batavia in the Dutch East Indies while on a great adventure to open American trade with China, where he would be buried on an island in Canton Harbor.

Footnotes

References

* Isaac Sears.''Dictionary of American Biography Base Set. American Council of Learned Societies'', 1928-1936. * Ketchum, Richard, ''Divided Loyalties, How the American Revolution came to New York'', 2002, * Schecter, Barnet, ''The Battle of New York'', 2002, * Christen, Robert J. "King Sears, Politician and Patriot in a Decade of Revolution." New York: Arno Press, 1968, * May, Samuel P. "Some Doubts Concerning the Sears Pedigree." Boston: David Clapp & Son, 1886