While the Loyalist influence was strong in Coastal Georgia, it wasn’t the only powerful voice. By 1774, the Sons of Liberty had gained a foothold in Savannah. Locally known as the “Liberty Boys,” the group held meetings and elections at one central location: Tondee’s Tavern. Despite an order by Georgia’s Royal Governor, James Wright, that forbade meetings critical of British rule, a group of around thirty participants continued to gather—secretly, and then publicly—at Tondee’s. They were aided by Peter Tondee and his wife Lucy, who operated the tavern alone after Peter’s death in 1775.
Library of Congress
"Raising the Liberty Pole"
An engraving by John C. McRae of a painting by F.A. Chapman, titled “Raising the Liberty Pole.”
On June 5, 1775, the Liberty Boys “celebrated” King George III’s birthday with drinking, demonstrations, and the construction of a liberty pole. Now a lesser-known symbol of the Revolution, a wooden pole topped with a “cap of liberty” was at the time a common signifier of dissent in the British American colonies. At times, a red flag was run up the pole as a call for Sons of Liberty to gather.
National Archives
The original parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence
Patriots like the Liberty Boys found themselves with friends in high—and unexpected—places. Across the Atlantic, the cause of American independence had an important supporter in John Glynn. He was the chairman of the Society of the Bill of Rights, a British group that, as early as 1771, called for “the full and equal representation of the people” and for the end of taxation of the American colonies without representation.
On August 10, 1776, Archibald Bulloch read the Declaration of Independence aloud for the first time in Georgia on the front porch of Tondee’s. The Declaration itself built upon a long tradition of ideas, meetings, and grievances like those expressed by the Society of the Bill of Rights and the Sons of Liberty. Yet the concepts at this founding document’s core were revolutionary—and they affected groups of American colonists in drastically different ways.
The first featured image this month, courtesy of the Library of Congress, is an engraving by John C. McRae of a painting by F.A. Chapman, titled “Raising the Liberty Pole.” In the background, a group can be seen removing a portrait of King George III. The second featured image is of the original parchment copy of the Declaration of Independence, courtesy of the National Archives.
Coastal Georgia Historical Society presents this article and images from our archives as part of our mission “to connect people to Coastal Georgia’s dynamic history.” The Society operates the iconic St. Simons Lighthouse Museum and the World War II Home Front Museum, housed in the Historic Coast Guard Station at East Beach. To learn more about the Society, its museums, diverse programs, and membership, please visit coastalgeorgiahistory.org.
