Pine Tree Riot

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The Pine Tree Riot was an act of resistance to British royal authority undertaken by American colonists in Weare, New Hampshire, on April 14, 1772, placing it among the disputes between Crown and colonists that culminated in the American Revolution. In 1722, under the Broad Arrow Policy it became illegal to cut down white pine trees larger than 12 inches in diameter in New Hampshire in order to reserve them for use as Royal Navy masts. This law was not strictly enforced until 1766, when Governor John Wentworth began enforcing it. On April 13, 1772, Sheriff Benjamin Whiting and Deputy John Quigley discovered a sawmill in Weare, New Hampshire, violating this law. They arrested the leader, Ebenezer Mudgett, and released him on bail. The next day, Mudgett and twenty men attacked the Sheriff and Deputy at the Quimby Inn, beating them nearly to death with large rods and sending them out of town on horseback. Some credit this incident with inspiring the Boston Tea Party, which significantly contributed to the start of the American Revolutionary War.