 
it is a great mistake to think of public opinion as united in the colonies 
and as gradually rising against british tyranny. 
public opinion is never wholly united, and seldom rises to a pitch of 
passion without being influenced, in other words, without the use of 
propaganda... 
the years preceding the final secession of the colonists may be divided 
into three periods. 
during the first, from the passage of the sugar act to the practical repeal 
of all obnoxious legislation in 1770, the different groups were by force of 
circumstances united in opposition to the policy of england. 
the merchants needed no propaganda to realize that their business was being 
seriously interfered with, though they cared little about the popular 
catchwords that were being used by the new leaders of the people to inflame 
them... 
but by 1770 the merchants" grievances were settled, and from then until 
1773 all desire for agitation and "rocking the boat" disappeared among the 
richer classes. 
up to that point, the popular anger had served their own cause... 
from the first (samuel) adams and those working with him had realized the 
necessity of democratic slogans in the creation of a state of mind... 
his political philosophy was eagerly lapped up by a populace smarting under 
hard times... 
the establishment of government by free consent of all had become imbedded 
in the mind of the average man, as an essential part of the american dream... 
such talk as this could only make england fearful of how far the people 
might try to put such precepts into practice. 
the upper classes in the colonies also began to be uneasy. 
up to 1770, when their own grievances were redressed, they might allow such 
ideas to be disseminated, considering themselves in control of the situation, 
but after that it became clear that they were losing control. 
