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

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

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. The profession of the s ...

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, and political figure who played an important role in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

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

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, 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 Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

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

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. 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 ship that engages in maritime warfare 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 or deleg ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, 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 or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

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

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Early life

Born in July 1730 in West Brewster, Barnstable

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

, 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 comprising 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 to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

er whose family left

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

and settled in

Norwalk, Connecticut , image_map = Fairfield County Connecticut incorporated and unincorporated areas Norwalk highlighted.svg , mapsize = 230px , map_caption = Location in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County and ...

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

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

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

Congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: *Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship *Congregation (Roman Curia), an administra ...

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

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

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

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. 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 (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

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 The Sugar Act 1764, 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 stated: "it is expedient that new provisi ...

of 1764 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 pl ...

all gathered at a

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non- ...

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 is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d "King Sears" by

aristocrats Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

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) served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and education De Lancey was born in New York City on November 27, 170 ...

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, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

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 Ro ...

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 two or more Acts of British Parliament requiring local governments of Britain's North American colonies to provide the British soldiers with housing and food. Each of the Quartering Acts was an amendment to the Mutiny A ...

, 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 The Battle of Golden Hill was a clash between British soldiers and the Sons of Liberty in the American colonies that occurred on January 19, 1770, in New York City. Along with the Boston Massacre and the ''Gaspée'' Affair, the event was one of t ...

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 help th ...

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 The Townshend Acts () or Townshend Duties, were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to fund administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the ...

, 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 an American political and mercantile protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 16, 1773. The target was the Tea Act of May 10, 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea ...

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, 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 ''Intolerable Acts'', the ...

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 (Manhattan), Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street (Manhattan), Broad Street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhatt ...

was called of the various factions. The Committee of Fifty was elected with

Isaac Low } Isaac Low (April 13, 1735 – July 25, 1791) was an American merchant in New York City who served as a member of the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association. He later served as a delegate to the New York Provincia ...

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 The Committee of Sixty or Committee of Observation was a committee of inspection formed in the City and County of New York (Manhattan, New York City), in 1775, by rebels to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by t ...

. In a letter to the Boston

Committee of Correspondence The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...

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 from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...

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 were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...

arrived he and his followers seized the arsenal at the Custom House. He was the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

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 __NOTOC__ Year 860 ( DCCCLX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * June 18 – Byzantine–Rus' War: A fleet of about 200 Rus' vessel ...

(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 was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...

. 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 James Rivington (1724 – July 4, 1802) was an English-born American journalist who published a Loyalist newspaper in the American colonies called ''Rivington's Gazette''. He was driven out of New York by the Sons of Liberty, but was very likely ...

'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

, 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 legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

, 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 (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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 Assem ...

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