The Boston Town Watch with Nicole Breault

The Boston Town Watch kept order on the streets of Boston, particularly at night. When soldiers of the Crown arrived in 1768 their overlapping authorities came into conflict, which deepened as Crown and colony careened towards war.  We talk with Nicole Breault of the University of Texas, El Paso, who is writing a book on the Boston Town Watch.

Transcript

WEBVTT
 
 00:00:00.779 --> 00:00:01.379
 Hello, everyone.
 
 00:00:01.459 --> 00:00:02.540
 Welcome to the Revolution
 
 00:00:02.581 --> 00:00:03.681
 Two-Fifty podcast.
 
 00:00:03.782 --> 00:00:04.562
 I am Bob Allison.
 
 00:00:04.623 --> 00:00:06.665
 I chair the Rev Two-Fifty Advisory Group,
 
 00:00:06.764 --> 00:00:08.647
 also teach history at Suffolk University.
 
 00:00:09.026 --> 00:00:10.388
 We are a consortium of about
 
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 seventy-five organizations
 
 00:00:11.769 --> 00:00:13.010
 in Massachusetts planning
 
 00:00:13.051 --> 00:00:14.733
 ways to commemorate the
 
 00:00:14.753 --> 00:00:15.853
 American Revolution.
 
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 And with us today is Nicole Brough.
 
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 Nicole Brough is an
 
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 assistant professor of
 
 00:00:20.458 --> 00:00:21.660
 Colonial and Revolutionary
 
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 America at the University
 
 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:23.801
 of Texas at El Paso.
 
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 And her forthcoming book is
 
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 called Set the Watch,
 
 00:00:29.574 --> 00:00:32.095
 Policing and Governance in Early America.
 
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 Tremendous piece of work
 
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 about the watchmen in Boston.
 
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 So, Nicole, thanks for joining us.
 
 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:40.100
 Thank you so much, Bob, for having me.
 
 00:00:40.981 --> 00:00:42.523
 So what can you tell us
 
 00:00:42.563 --> 00:00:44.664
 about who were the watchmen
 
 00:00:44.784 --> 00:00:46.606
 and what were they up to in
 
 00:00:46.646 --> 00:00:48.366
 the period of the revolutions?
 
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 Sure.
 
 00:00:50.177 --> 00:00:52.158
 So the Night Watch is an
 
 00:00:52.279 --> 00:00:54.100
 institution that is
 
 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:56.720
 transferred to Boston along
 
 00:00:56.761 --> 00:00:57.780
 with settlers when they
 
 00:00:57.820 --> 00:00:59.262
 come in the sixteen thirties.
 
 00:00:59.301 --> 00:01:01.243
 So the first watch is called
 
 00:01:01.283 --> 00:01:03.203
 for in sixteen thirty one.
 
 00:01:03.804 --> 00:01:05.384
 And at its onset,
 
 00:01:05.463 --> 00:01:06.984
 it's a voluntary group very
 
 00:01:07.084 --> 00:01:09.286
 similar to jury service.
 
 00:01:09.325 --> 00:01:10.325
 If you're a householder,
 
 00:01:10.646 --> 00:01:11.587
 you'd be called upon to do
 
 00:01:11.606 --> 00:01:13.447
 this duty at different intervals.
 
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 Of course,
 
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 you could pay someone to do it for you,
 
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 but
 
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 Boston's Watch is an interesting entity.
 
 00:01:19.691 --> 00:01:21.012
 By the eighteenth century,
 
 00:01:21.072 --> 00:01:22.873
 it's no longer a voluntary
 
 00:01:22.953 --> 00:01:25.156
 service and they raise
 
 00:01:25.215 --> 00:01:26.796
 taxes to pay for a
 
 00:01:26.856 --> 00:01:28.378
 permanent standing night watch.
 
 00:01:28.418 --> 00:01:31.099
 So by the time of the seventeen sixties,
 
 00:01:31.140 --> 00:01:32.260
 you have an institution
 
 00:01:32.281 --> 00:01:33.201
 that's been going for about
 
 00:01:33.262 --> 00:01:34.643
 sixty years where they've
 
 00:01:34.662 --> 00:01:36.504
 been experimenting with how to
 
 00:01:37.185 --> 00:01:39.506
 you know create a an entity
 
 00:01:39.605 --> 00:01:40.945
 of sorts that's going to
 
 00:01:41.025 --> 00:01:43.367
 set out at nine p.m in
 
 00:01:43.406 --> 00:01:45.186
 winter ten p.m in summer
 
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 and is going to walk the
 
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 streets until dawn and
 
 00:01:48.707 --> 00:01:49.468
 they're going to be doing
 
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 regular duties looking for
 
 00:01:51.067 --> 00:01:53.468
 fires um making sure no
 
 00:01:53.509 --> 00:01:55.608
 one's abroad after curfew
 
 00:01:56.030 --> 00:01:57.250
 ensuring that people have
 
 00:01:57.290 --> 00:01:58.709
 lodging no one's breaking
 
 00:01:58.810 --> 00:02:01.751
 into places in the wharfs or other homes
 
 00:02:02.070 --> 00:02:03.311
 they're responding to
 
 00:02:03.331 --> 00:02:04.552
 domestic disturbances,
 
 00:02:05.493 --> 00:02:07.456
 and doing so at regular intervals,
 
 00:02:07.495 --> 00:02:09.016
 setting out from their watch houses,
 
 00:02:09.777 --> 00:02:12.219
 walking through the streets
 
 00:02:12.341 --> 00:02:13.161
 on different routes that
 
 00:02:13.181 --> 00:02:15.103
 the selectmen have set up for them.
 
 00:02:15.704 --> 00:02:16.884
 And this is just their
 
 00:02:16.944 --> 00:02:18.045
 regular work that they're doing.
 
 00:02:18.066 --> 00:02:19.167
 They're calling the time,
 
 00:02:19.866 --> 00:02:21.209
 they're calling the weather,
 
 00:02:21.308 --> 00:02:23.770
 they're checking on different places,
 
 00:02:24.352 --> 00:02:25.893
 and quite
 
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 quotidian in nature but
 
 00:02:27.935 --> 00:02:30.377
 still really critical to
 
 00:02:30.497 --> 00:02:32.979
 how the town works at night
 
 00:02:32.998 --> 00:02:34.500
 I mean they are the only
 
 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:36.281
 kind of other than say
 
 00:02:36.381 --> 00:02:37.641
 scavengers who are out at
 
 00:02:37.681 --> 00:02:39.804
 night occasionally you have
 
 00:02:39.924 --> 00:02:40.705
 other entities who are
 
 00:02:40.745 --> 00:02:41.664
 called out but they're the
 
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 only regular entity that's
 
 00:02:44.086 --> 00:02:45.929
 out working and at the time
 
 00:02:45.968 --> 00:02:48.311
 you have no day policing
 
 00:02:48.450 --> 00:02:51.332
 entities um so so the night
 
 00:02:51.372 --> 00:02:52.454
 watch is kind of the
 
 00:02:52.514 --> 00:02:54.816
 apparatus that is that is working um
 
 00:02:55.395 --> 00:02:56.937
 and out and about doing these things.
 
 00:02:57.056 --> 00:02:57.918
 And of course,
 
 00:02:58.157 --> 00:02:58.818
 another thing that makes
 
 00:02:58.858 --> 00:03:00.799
 Boston quite interesting is
 
 00:03:00.838 --> 00:03:02.099
 that they are writing
 
 00:03:02.259 --> 00:03:04.221
 reports on what it is they're doing.
 
 00:03:04.420 --> 00:03:06.062
 They keep journals that
 
 00:03:06.081 --> 00:03:07.182
 they're supposed to keep nightly,
 
 00:03:07.242 --> 00:03:09.383
 both them and some of the watchmen.
 
 00:03:09.443 --> 00:03:10.044
 This is, of course,
 
 00:03:10.085 --> 00:03:11.545
 possible because Boston has
 
 00:03:11.586 --> 00:03:12.786
 much higher literacy rates
 
 00:03:12.806 --> 00:03:13.567
 than other places.
 
 00:03:14.967 --> 00:03:16.388
 And they're recording what
 
 00:03:16.427 --> 00:03:18.687
 they're doing nightly, recording rounds,
 
 00:03:18.728 --> 00:03:19.588
 disturbances,
 
 00:03:19.729 --> 00:03:22.569
 attendance for administrative purposes.
 
 00:03:22.889 --> 00:03:24.169
 And then they are submitting
 
 00:03:24.210 --> 00:03:25.471
 these reports monthly.
 
 00:03:25.991 --> 00:03:27.591
 So much of our knowledge
 
 00:03:27.610 --> 00:03:28.731
 about what the Night Watch
 
 00:03:28.752 --> 00:03:30.292
 does comes from the
 
 00:03:30.331 --> 00:03:32.853
 writings of these men themselves.
 
 00:03:33.353 --> 00:03:34.834
 And where do you find these reports?
 
 00:03:34.954 --> 00:03:36.114
 Where are they now?
 
 00:03:36.153 --> 00:03:36.813
 And where would they have
 
 00:03:36.854 --> 00:03:39.055
 been back in the seventeen hundreds?
 
 00:03:40.212 --> 00:03:41.633
 So in the seventeen hundreds,
 
 00:03:41.794 --> 00:03:43.054
 each Wednesday,
 
 00:03:43.495 --> 00:03:44.235
 Night Watchmen would have
 
 00:03:44.254 --> 00:03:45.336
 gone and given an oral
 
 00:03:45.376 --> 00:03:47.075
 report to the clerk about
 
 00:03:47.116 --> 00:03:48.157
 what went on that week.
 
 00:03:48.336 --> 00:03:49.677
 And then at the end of the month,
 
 00:03:49.717 --> 00:03:51.419
 they would submit their written report.
 
 00:03:51.739 --> 00:03:52.919
 And those would have been
 
 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:54.939
 filed and kept among the
 
 00:03:54.979 --> 00:03:56.800
 papers of the Boston town papers.
 
 00:03:56.841 --> 00:03:56.980
 I mean,
 
 00:03:57.001 --> 00:03:58.021
 they would have been forwarded on
 
 00:03:58.081 --> 00:03:59.223
 to a treasurer so they
 
 00:03:59.242 --> 00:04:01.103
 could figure out how to pay out monthly.
 
 00:04:01.524 --> 00:04:03.865
 And then those were were retained.
 
 00:04:05.466 --> 00:04:07.326
 It's unclear if they go back
 
 00:04:07.347 --> 00:04:08.586
 to them to use them for
 
 00:04:08.646 --> 00:04:10.048
 referent information, but
 
 00:04:10.127 --> 00:04:10.989
 you certainly see
 
 00:04:11.068 --> 00:04:12.070
 information from the
 
 00:04:12.110 --> 00:04:13.633
 reports making their way
 
 00:04:13.673 --> 00:04:15.496
 into the Selectmen's minutes and notes.
 
 00:04:15.536 --> 00:04:16.476
 So we do know that they're
 
 00:04:16.497 --> 00:04:17.738
 being used for references
 
 00:04:17.798 --> 00:04:19.581
 in some ways when they're
 
 00:04:19.622 --> 00:04:20.543
 being submitted.
 
 00:04:21.303 --> 00:04:22.406
 So today,
 
 00:04:22.485 --> 00:04:24.509
 if you would like to find the Boston
 
 00:04:25.350 --> 00:04:26.630
 night watch reports you will
 
 00:04:26.670 --> 00:04:27.711
 need to go visit the
 
 00:04:27.771 --> 00:04:28.951
 wonderful people in special
 
 00:04:28.992 --> 00:04:30.752
 collections at the boston
 
 00:04:30.853 --> 00:04:33.473
 public library and they are
 
 00:04:33.634 --> 00:04:35.074
 not in a collection unto
 
 00:04:35.093 --> 00:04:36.375
 themselves so if you go in
 
 00:04:36.394 --> 00:04:37.555
 you can't say I want to go
 
 00:04:37.636 --> 00:04:38.755
 see the boston night watch
 
 00:04:38.776 --> 00:04:41.036
 reports they are scattered
 
 00:04:41.137 --> 00:04:43.077
 throughout the town papers
 
 00:04:43.377 --> 00:04:44.838
 um so you would need to go
 
 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:46.519
 through year by year each
 
 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:48.761
 folder to see the um the
 
 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:49.521
 reports themselves
 
 00:04:49.901 --> 00:04:50.581
 And if you're at the
 
 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:52.062
 Massachusetts Historical Society,
 
 00:04:52.122 --> 00:04:53.302
 they have two of them.
 
 00:04:53.622 --> 00:04:55.983
 Unsure why someone, you know,
 
 00:04:56.084 --> 00:04:57.843
 but they do have two of the
 
 00:04:57.863 --> 00:04:58.404
 reports at the
 
 00:04:58.425 --> 00:05:00.305
 Massachusetts Historical Society as well,
 
 00:05:00.365 --> 00:05:01.245
 if you'd like to see those.
 
 00:05:02.086 --> 00:05:02.987
 And you've found a lot of
 
 00:05:03.026 --> 00:05:05.266
 really interesting stuff in
 
 00:05:05.307 --> 00:05:07.247
 these reports.
 
 00:05:07.348 --> 00:05:07.848
 I have.
 
 00:05:10.048 --> 00:05:11.209
 So who are the watchmen?
 
 00:05:11.230 --> 00:05:12.589
 This is their full time job
 
 00:05:12.730 --> 00:05:13.591
 is being a watchman.
 
 00:05:14.536 --> 00:05:15.177
 It is not.
 
 00:05:15.437 --> 00:05:18.680
 So the Watchmen are an
 
 00:05:19.901 --> 00:05:21.843
 interesting collection of
 
 00:05:21.963 --> 00:05:23.944
 men who are in service,
 
 00:05:24.504 --> 00:05:25.665
 both in service to the town,
 
 00:05:25.766 --> 00:05:28.889
 but also doing this for a wage.
 
 00:05:30.430 --> 00:05:31.011
 One of the interesting
 
 00:05:31.031 --> 00:05:32.031
 things about the project
 
 00:05:32.052 --> 00:05:32.992
 was always trying to kind
 
 00:05:33.093 --> 00:05:34.834
 of think through how this
 
 00:05:34.894 --> 00:05:38.117
 is both an element of serving the town,
 
 00:05:38.137 --> 00:05:40.459
 but also a way to sustain oneself.
 
 00:05:40.899 --> 00:05:42.160
 Almost all of the Watchmen
 
 00:05:42.180 --> 00:05:43.541
 would have had day jobs,
 
 00:05:43.641 --> 00:05:46.303
 so they are laborers, lower middling,
 
 00:05:46.764 --> 00:05:49.307
 and in lower sorts.
 
 00:05:51.067 --> 00:05:54.052
 men who are doing a variety
 
 00:05:54.072 --> 00:05:55.413
 of different jobs during the day.
 
 00:05:55.694 --> 00:05:57.016
 So we can imagine how much
 
 00:05:57.036 --> 00:05:59.418
 of a burden it is to go labor all day,
 
 00:05:59.899 --> 00:06:03.824
 go home for, you know, if they have time,
 
 00:06:03.843 --> 00:06:04.084
 you know,
 
 00:06:04.103 --> 00:06:05.545
 having their little intermittent
 
 00:06:05.605 --> 00:06:07.108
 or going straight on to,
 
 00:06:07.689 --> 00:06:09.110
 particularly in winter, because it
 
 00:06:09.531 --> 00:06:11.233
 because darkness falls sooner,
 
 00:06:11.552 --> 00:06:12.533
 kind of going and reporting
 
 00:06:12.574 --> 00:06:13.435
 straight to their watch.
 
 00:06:14.375 --> 00:06:16.358
 So some of the night constables,
 
 00:06:16.377 --> 00:06:17.619
 so you have watchmen who
 
 00:06:17.658 --> 00:06:19.581
 serve under night constables.
 
 00:06:20.482 --> 00:06:21.062
 Originally,
 
 00:06:21.141 --> 00:06:22.483
 some of the night constables
 
 00:06:22.504 --> 00:06:24.446
 were also elected day constables.
 
 00:06:25.425 --> 00:06:26.886
 And then as time goes forward,
 
 00:06:26.925 --> 00:06:28.627
 you see them no longer kind
 
 00:06:28.646 --> 00:06:29.766
 of occupying both of these
 
 00:06:29.807 --> 00:06:32.028
 positions and just being knight consuls.
 
 00:06:32.348 --> 00:06:33.487
 But some of them, you know,
 
 00:06:33.507 --> 00:06:34.968
 we've been able to kind of
 
 00:06:35.088 --> 00:06:36.949
 fetter out other things that they did.
 
 00:06:37.728 --> 00:06:39.369
 Benjamin Burdick being one.
 
 00:06:39.389 --> 00:06:41.069
 I mean, you've had the wonderful J.L.
 
 00:06:41.110 --> 00:06:43.129
 Bell on this podcast,
 
 00:06:43.410 --> 00:06:44.110
 and he found out some
 
 00:06:44.170 --> 00:06:45.269
 wonderful things about
 
 00:06:45.310 --> 00:06:46.891
 Benjamin Burdick and his...
 
 00:06:47.971 --> 00:06:49.411
 his work with the Green
 
 00:06:49.451 --> 00:06:51.093
 Dragon and being a barber.
 
 00:06:51.392 --> 00:06:53.293
 So we've been able to figure
 
 00:06:53.374 --> 00:06:55.615
 out kind of what some of these men did.
 
 00:06:55.954 --> 00:06:57.836
 And then there's just an absolutely,
 
 00:06:58.415 --> 00:06:59.315
 there's some fascinating
 
 00:06:59.377 --> 00:07:00.257
 documents that I've come
 
 00:07:00.276 --> 00:07:01.958
 across where some men were
 
 00:07:01.997 --> 00:07:03.759
 appointed because they were
 
 00:07:03.838 --> 00:07:04.999
 in need of assistance.
 
 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:06.120
 So rather than become,
 
 00:07:07.019 --> 00:07:08.161
 a charge to the town,
 
 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:09.802
 they'd be appointed to be a watchman.
 
 00:07:10.223 --> 00:07:12.303
 And I'm sure we'll move
 
 00:07:12.343 --> 00:07:13.504
 through time to talk about this.
 
 00:07:13.584 --> 00:07:16.687
 But during the during the
 
 00:07:16.747 --> 00:07:18.509
 port blockade of Boston,
 
 00:07:18.809 --> 00:07:19.870
 there's this amazing
 
 00:07:19.910 --> 00:07:21.250
 document where it lists out
 
 00:07:21.350 --> 00:07:22.471
 all of these men who are
 
 00:07:22.492 --> 00:07:23.533
 going to be paid through
 
 00:07:23.552 --> 00:07:24.634
 the Committee of Donations
 
 00:07:24.713 --> 00:07:26.295
 funds to serve as watchmen.
 
 00:07:26.334 --> 00:07:29.197
 And it gave all of their occupations.
 
 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:31.459
 And interestingly,
 
 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:32.721
 you see this pattern
 
 00:07:32.740 --> 00:07:33.562
 throughout time because
 
 00:07:33.581 --> 00:07:34.762
 there's actually a really
 
 00:07:35.182 --> 00:07:35.963
 interesting document from
 
 00:07:35.983 --> 00:07:37.685
 the eighteen fifties that
 
 00:07:37.786 --> 00:07:39.327
 lists out what the Watchmen
 
 00:07:39.348 --> 00:07:42.911
 of Boston do for do for occupations.
 
 00:07:43.331 --> 00:07:44.132
 And you see kind of
 
 00:07:44.192 --> 00:07:45.153
 consistently these
 
 00:07:45.192 --> 00:07:46.454
 different labor classes.
 
 00:07:46.814 --> 00:07:47.694
 Yeah.
 
 00:07:47.915 --> 00:07:48.755
 They live in all the
 
 00:07:48.776 --> 00:07:50.036
 different neighborhoods of Boston,
 
 00:07:50.156 --> 00:07:51.916
 attend all different churches.
 
 00:07:52.237 --> 00:07:54.038
 They're from a variety of ages.
 
 00:07:54.177 --> 00:07:58.300
 They serve, some serve a year, a month,
 
 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:00.401
 and some are long serving,
 
 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:02.242
 twenty plus years in the watch.
 
 00:08:02.262 --> 00:08:03.541
 Well, now,
 
 00:08:03.622 --> 00:08:04.603
 is there anything that
 
 00:08:04.642 --> 00:08:05.562
 distinguishes them as
 
 00:08:05.583 --> 00:08:06.543
 they're walking around?
 
 00:08:06.564 --> 00:08:09.264
 They have a uniform, hat, badge,
 
 00:08:09.285 --> 00:08:10.805
 any way of someone knows
 
 00:08:10.826 --> 00:08:11.605
 that's the watchman?
 
 00:08:12.940 --> 00:08:13.261
 Yes.
 
 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:15.742
 So unlike our modern police, you are not,
 
 00:08:16.142 --> 00:08:17.863
 or even the soldiers who will be in town,
 
 00:08:17.963 --> 00:08:19.165
 they are not wearing any
 
 00:08:19.185 --> 00:08:21.206
 kind of uniform outfit.
 
 00:08:21.545 --> 00:08:24.067
 The one kind of outfit item
 
 00:08:24.108 --> 00:08:25.007
 that they would wear for
 
 00:08:25.148 --> 00:08:25.928
 the majority of the year
 
 00:08:25.949 --> 00:08:27.990
 being Boston would be like a great coat,
 
 00:08:28.771 --> 00:08:29.531
 but that would also be
 
 00:08:29.571 --> 00:08:30.932
 something that anyone might
 
 00:08:30.951 --> 00:08:32.513
 be wearing out in inclement weather.
 
 00:08:32.893 --> 00:08:34.533
 The one thing that they did carry,
 
 00:08:34.634 --> 00:08:36.235
 they didn't wear any kind of badge.
 
 00:08:36.294 --> 00:08:37.835
 That's something that gets
 
 00:08:37.855 --> 00:08:38.635
 formed of the nineteenth
 
 00:08:38.676 --> 00:08:40.956
 century where you start seeing, you know,
 
 00:08:41.037 --> 00:08:43.077
 little emblems and brass items.
 
 00:08:43.697 --> 00:08:46.759
 They did carry a staff of sorts.
 
 00:08:46.820 --> 00:08:48.860
 So night constables carried
 
 00:08:49.020 --> 00:08:50.280
 one particular type of
 
 00:08:50.321 --> 00:08:52.062
 staff and watchmen carried
 
 00:08:52.982 --> 00:08:54.263
 one that was called a watch
 
 00:08:54.283 --> 00:08:55.323
 bill or a watch hook.
 
 00:08:55.783 --> 00:08:58.245
 And so it would have kind of a hooked
 
 00:08:59.966 --> 00:09:01.307
 piece of metal at the top,
 
 00:09:01.366 --> 00:09:02.989
 which would also double as
 
 00:09:03.028 --> 00:09:04.450
 something that could then,
 
 00:09:04.690 --> 00:09:05.951
 when they responded to fires,
 
 00:09:05.991 --> 00:09:08.653
 begin to tear at the
 
 00:09:08.673 --> 00:09:09.595
 building that's on fire and
 
 00:09:09.615 --> 00:09:10.355
 try to pull down some of
 
 00:09:10.375 --> 00:09:10.975
 those structures.
 
 00:09:11.596 --> 00:09:12.376
 There's some interesting
 
 00:09:12.577 --> 00:09:13.577
 other uses of it that we
 
 00:09:13.618 --> 00:09:14.538
 see in the watch reports in
 
 00:09:14.558 --> 00:09:15.440
 terms of trying to hook
 
 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:17.101
 people occasionally,
 
 00:09:17.162 --> 00:09:20.884
 but that was the primary use.
 
 00:09:21.164 --> 00:09:21.405
 Really.
 
 00:09:22.044 --> 00:09:23.326
 Now you mentioned night
 
 00:09:23.346 --> 00:09:25.206
 constables being elected to
 
 00:09:25.285 --> 00:09:26.027
 day constables.
 
 00:09:26.047 --> 00:09:27.547
 So are those elected
 
 00:09:27.606 --> 00:09:28.927
 officers being a constable?
 
 00:09:28.947 --> 00:09:30.307
 Who chooses the constables?
 
 00:09:31.328 --> 00:09:34.350
 So there are elected day constables.
 
 00:09:34.509 --> 00:09:35.710
 And for a while,
 
 00:09:35.750 --> 00:09:37.431
 the town used those elected
 
 00:09:37.490 --> 00:09:39.111
 day constables to serve as
 
 00:09:39.231 --> 00:09:40.192
 night constables.
 
 00:09:40.912 --> 00:09:43.493
 But eventually they do not
 
 00:09:43.533 --> 00:09:44.714
 keep up with that pattern.
 
 00:09:44.854 --> 00:09:46.254
 By about seventeen sixty five,
 
 00:09:46.274 --> 00:09:47.815
 they're not using that pattern anymore.
 
 00:09:48.014 --> 00:09:50.297
 So the night constables are not elected,
 
 00:09:50.356 --> 00:09:52.418
 they are appointed by the selectmen.
 
 00:09:52.778 --> 00:09:54.639
 So they are called upon and
 
 00:09:54.659 --> 00:09:57.101
 they receive an appointment, they go down,
 
 00:09:58.081 --> 00:09:59.143
 it's assumed that they take
 
 00:09:59.182 --> 00:10:00.803
 some sort of oath in taking
 
 00:10:00.844 --> 00:10:01.804
 this appointment,
 
 00:10:02.184 --> 00:10:03.525
 they're given instructions,
 
 00:10:03.985 --> 00:10:05.447
 and the selectmen are also
 
 00:10:05.486 --> 00:10:07.629
 the ones who can easily
 
 00:10:07.668 --> 00:10:08.889
 dismiss them as well.
 
 00:10:09.190 --> 00:10:10.931
 So they can appoint them and
 
 00:10:10.971 --> 00:10:11.912
 they can dismiss them.
 
 00:10:12.272 --> 00:10:13.092
 The night constables
 
 00:10:13.113 --> 00:10:15.475
 themselves are the ones who
 
 00:10:16.315 --> 00:10:18.476
 can also appoint night watchmen.
 
 00:10:18.557 --> 00:10:20.038
 Sometimes the selectmen do.
 
 00:10:20.138 --> 00:10:23.140
 Sometimes you'll find the
 
 00:10:23.201 --> 00:10:25.121
 occasional recommendation
 
 00:10:25.162 --> 00:10:26.523
 letter in the Boston town
 
 00:10:26.562 --> 00:10:27.844
 papers where someone's
 
 00:10:27.884 --> 00:10:29.024
 being recommended and a
 
 00:10:29.144 --> 00:10:30.446
 number of men will sign
 
 00:10:31.947 --> 00:10:34.369
 This practice was not as
 
 00:10:34.870 --> 00:10:36.291
 prevalent in Boston as I
 
 00:10:36.331 --> 00:10:37.851
 saw it in other places like
 
 00:10:37.893 --> 00:10:39.453
 Providence and Newport.
 
 00:10:39.994 --> 00:10:41.375
 There were lots of
 
 00:10:41.456 --> 00:10:42.576
 recommendations with
 
 00:10:42.956 --> 00:10:44.077
 multiple prominent men who
 
 00:10:44.097 --> 00:10:45.119
 had signed saying this is a
 
 00:10:45.139 --> 00:10:46.039
 good person to serve.
 
 00:10:46.059 --> 00:10:49.241
 But that wasn't really the case in Boston.
 
 00:10:50.263 --> 00:10:52.524
 I found it could have been,
 
 00:10:52.943 --> 00:10:53.764
 but whether or not those
 
 00:10:53.783 --> 00:10:55.125
 were preserved is the question.
 
 00:10:55.225 --> 00:10:57.186
 So I found maybe three of
 
 00:10:57.225 --> 00:10:59.385
 those examples of those.
 
 00:11:00.086 --> 00:11:01.267
 It could have been just something, too,
 
 00:11:01.287 --> 00:11:03.148
 that hasn't been retained over time.
 
 00:11:03.587 --> 00:11:04.628
 Interesting.
 
 00:11:04.668 --> 00:11:05.948
 We're talking with Nicole Brough,
 
 00:11:05.989 --> 00:11:07.328
 an assistant professor of
 
 00:11:07.369 --> 00:11:08.549
 colonial and revolutionary
 
 00:11:08.590 --> 00:11:09.990
 America at the University of Texas,
 
 00:11:10.090 --> 00:11:10.671
 El Paso,
 
 00:11:11.530 --> 00:11:14.331
 whose book is going to be called
 
 00:11:14.392 --> 00:11:15.192
 Set the Watch,
 
 00:11:15.351 --> 00:11:17.373
 Policing and Governance in Early America,
 
 00:11:17.413 --> 00:11:19.413
 about the watchmen in Boston.
 
 00:11:20.173 --> 00:11:23.763
 And so I'm wondering then
 
 00:11:23.923 --> 00:11:26.909
 what happens with the British occupation?
 
 00:11:26.929 --> 00:11:28.092
 Do things change when
 
 00:11:28.113 --> 00:11:28.813
 suddenly you do have all
 
 00:11:28.833 --> 00:11:29.676
 these troops in town?
 
 00:11:31.669 --> 00:11:34.371
 Yes, in short, for sure.
 
 00:11:34.952 --> 00:11:36.014
 So one of the things that
 
 00:11:36.114 --> 00:11:38.216
 interests me just generally
 
 00:11:39.177 --> 00:11:40.477
 for the manuscript overall
 
 00:11:40.638 --> 00:11:42.519
 and kind of where I started
 
 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:43.600
 to develop this out of was
 
 00:11:43.721 --> 00:11:45.001
 looking at the occupations.
 
 00:11:45.042 --> 00:11:46.842
 I was interested in how we
 
 00:11:46.883 --> 00:11:48.144
 saw changes in police
 
 00:11:48.164 --> 00:11:49.285
 practice and what that told
 
 00:11:49.346 --> 00:11:50.527
 us about just changes in
 
 00:11:50.586 --> 00:11:51.488
 government generally.
 
 00:11:52.148 --> 00:11:54.568
 And so as I mentioned, of course,
 
 00:11:54.708 --> 00:11:55.729
 much of the work that the
 
 00:11:55.769 --> 00:11:58.470
 Nightly Watch does every
 
 00:11:58.509 --> 00:11:59.691
 day is what we would
 
 00:11:59.711 --> 00:12:01.191
 consider quotidian or
 
 00:12:01.270 --> 00:12:02.471
 normal everyday practice.
 
 00:12:03.072 --> 00:12:03.451
 However,
 
 00:12:03.611 --> 00:12:07.052
 by placing all of these soldiers
 
 00:12:07.133 --> 00:12:09.333
 within the confines of Boston,
 
 00:12:09.693 --> 00:12:11.014
 something as simple as
 
 00:12:11.115 --> 00:12:12.894
 walking around and calling
 
 00:12:12.934 --> 00:12:14.995
 the time or putting
 
 00:12:15.035 --> 00:12:17.557
 yourself in your watch
 
 00:12:17.596 --> 00:12:19.977
 house becomes extremely complex.
 
 00:12:21.158 --> 00:12:22.839
 and becomes challenged.
 
 00:12:22.859 --> 00:12:23.620
 So of course,
 
 00:12:23.700 --> 00:12:25.581
 when you have the arrival of
 
 00:12:25.681 --> 00:12:27.881
 British soldiers in in sixty eight,
 
 00:12:28.202 --> 00:12:30.083
 they're coming to do a particular job.
 
 00:12:30.644 --> 00:12:31.804
 But some of those duties
 
 00:12:31.845 --> 00:12:33.265
 that they are given for
 
 00:12:33.285 --> 00:12:34.306
 their nightly sentry
 
 00:12:34.346 --> 00:12:36.548
 patrols are the same duties
 
 00:12:36.587 --> 00:12:38.308
 that are given to night watchmen.
 
 00:12:38.609 --> 00:12:40.529
 There's also the perpetual
 
 00:12:40.570 --> 00:12:43.552
 question of whose authority,
 
 00:12:44.471 --> 00:12:45.572
 whose authority should the
 
 00:12:45.592 --> 00:12:47.114
 people of Boston be listening to?
 
 00:12:47.653 --> 00:12:48.333
 Is it, you know,
 
 00:12:48.413 --> 00:12:49.735
 does it come straight from the king?
 
 00:12:49.794 --> 00:12:51.375
 Is it through these local arrangements?
 
 00:12:51.816 --> 00:12:53.395
 So when you have these
 
 00:12:53.456 --> 00:12:56.136
 competing entities walking and, you know,
 
 00:12:56.418 --> 00:12:57.158
 someone who's standing
 
 00:12:57.197 --> 00:12:58.477
 sentry for the army tells
 
 00:12:58.498 --> 00:12:59.619
 you to stop and someone
 
 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:00.519
 who's standing sentry for
 
 00:13:00.538 --> 00:13:01.600
 the watch tells you to stop,
 
 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:03.639
 who do you listen to and
 
 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:05.900
 how do they each see themselves as,
 
 00:13:06.422 --> 00:13:09.283
 you know, in response to each other?
 
 00:13:09.342 --> 00:13:09.962
 And of course this
 
 00:13:09.982 --> 00:13:10.863
 relationship becomes
 
 00:13:11.003 --> 00:13:12.644
 extremely antagonistic.
 
 00:13:12.663 --> 00:13:12.984
 Yeah.
 
 00:13:13.043 --> 00:13:13.965
 Yeah.
 
 00:13:15.697 --> 00:13:17.738
 You mentioned among the
 
 00:13:17.758 --> 00:13:18.618
 things they're looking for
 
 00:13:18.638 --> 00:13:20.217
 are people breaking curfew.
 
 00:13:20.618 --> 00:13:22.178
 And so could we talk a
 
 00:13:22.198 --> 00:13:23.058
 little bit more about that?
 
 00:13:23.078 --> 00:13:23.859
 And then we can talk about
 
 00:13:23.899 --> 00:13:24.679
 some of the other things
 
 00:13:24.700 --> 00:13:25.600
 that happened just in the
 
 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:27.379
 course of everyday life of
 
 00:13:27.581 --> 00:13:28.221
 a night watchman.
 
 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:29.721
 Yeah, of course.
 
 00:13:29.740 --> 00:13:31.621
 What is the curfew and how
 
 00:13:31.642 --> 00:13:32.361
 do they enforce it?
 
 00:13:33.432 --> 00:13:33.692
 Yes.
 
 00:13:33.893 --> 00:13:36.316
 So I think that who is
 
 00:13:36.355 --> 00:13:37.756
 allowed to be out on the
 
 00:13:37.817 --> 00:13:40.359
 streets is sounds like it
 
 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:41.500
 should be pretty cut and dry,
 
 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.261
 but it's actually quite subjective.
 
 00:13:44.241 --> 00:13:46.024
 So one of the things that I
 
 00:13:46.083 --> 00:13:48.966
 noticed for the colonial period,
 
 00:13:49.047 --> 00:13:51.609
 so up until seventeen seventy five,
 
 00:13:51.629 --> 00:13:54.551
 we'll say I have two
 
 00:13:54.610 --> 00:13:55.552
 hundred and ninety eight
 
 00:13:55.591 --> 00:13:56.472
 surviving reports.
 
 00:13:56.533 --> 00:13:57.994
 So a good body of
 
 00:13:58.033 --> 00:13:59.413
 information to kind of see
 
 00:13:59.453 --> 00:14:00.975
 the ways in which the night
 
 00:14:00.995 --> 00:14:02.296
 watch talks about who they
 
 00:14:02.336 --> 00:14:03.996
 see out at night.
 
 00:14:04.136 --> 00:14:05.998
 So they are given in their
 
 00:14:06.118 --> 00:14:07.437
 appointment instructions
 
 00:14:07.837 --> 00:14:08.879
 that they are supposed to
 
 00:14:08.918 --> 00:14:11.100
 detain anyone who is out
 
 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:14.041
 and about without a good
 
 00:14:14.101 --> 00:14:15.481
 reason to be out and about.
 
 00:14:15.942 --> 00:14:18.023
 So some of the reports are interesting,
 
 00:14:18.043 --> 00:14:18.964
 like they'll stop the
 
 00:14:19.004 --> 00:14:20.904
 doctor or the midwife and it's like,
 
 00:14:22.841 --> 00:14:24.042
 That one's a little more cut and dry.
 
 00:14:24.142 --> 00:14:25.822
 You let them go and carry on.
 
 00:14:26.923 --> 00:14:29.145
 So the one piece of their
 
 00:14:29.306 --> 00:14:31.508
 instructions that is not so
 
 00:14:31.548 --> 00:14:33.129
 cut and dry is they do have
 
 00:14:33.168 --> 00:14:34.090
 instructions that they are
 
 00:14:34.129 --> 00:14:38.173
 supposed to take up any Negro, Indian,
 
 00:14:38.253 --> 00:14:39.354
 or mulatto servants
 
 00:14:39.573 --> 00:14:40.495
 after nine p.m.
 
 00:14:40.595 --> 00:14:42.057
 That is a strict cutoff.
 
 00:14:42.937 --> 00:14:44.139
 So most of the people that
 
 00:14:44.178 --> 00:14:45.220
 they will report on being
 
 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:48.082
 out at untimely hours are eleven, twelve,
 
 00:14:48.283 --> 00:14:48.964
 one, et cetera.
 
 00:14:49.224 --> 00:14:50.465
 But anyone who fits into
 
 00:14:50.485 --> 00:14:51.706
 that category should not be
 
 00:14:51.725 --> 00:14:53.128
 on the streets after nine p.m.
 
 00:14:53.567 --> 00:14:56.250
 And so throughout a number of the reports,
 
 00:14:56.390 --> 00:14:57.831
 Not as many as you would think though.
 
 00:14:57.851 --> 00:14:58.851
 That was one of the things
 
 00:14:58.871 --> 00:15:01.413
 that I spent a lot of time
 
 00:15:01.474 --> 00:15:02.754
 thinking about is why
 
 00:15:02.813 --> 00:15:04.254
 didn't I see a higher
 
 00:15:04.355 --> 00:15:06.255
 number or incidences of
 
 00:15:06.556 --> 00:15:07.697
 free and unfree Black
 
 00:15:07.716 --> 00:15:09.817
 Bostonians being detained
 
 00:15:10.357 --> 00:15:12.259
 or Indigenous Bostonians being detained?
 
 00:15:12.979 --> 00:15:13.759
 Something I'm trying to
 
 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:15.419
 unravel and think about.
 
 00:15:16.701 --> 00:15:18.782
 So yes, you do see them enforcing that.
 
 00:15:18.861 --> 00:15:22.261
 You also see altercations over that piece.
 
 00:15:22.903 --> 00:15:24.623
 So in one example,
 
 00:15:24.643 --> 00:15:26.182
 I think in seventeen sixty five,
 
 00:15:27.624 --> 00:15:28.783
 a watchman, John Wilson,
 
 00:15:28.844 --> 00:15:30.744
 tries to stop a merchant
 
 00:15:32.205 --> 00:15:35.225
 and he is very much rebuffed at the idea,
 
 00:15:35.946 --> 00:15:37.206
 like, you are not going to stop me.
 
 00:15:37.245 --> 00:15:37.926
 I'm going to keep going
 
 00:15:37.985 --> 00:15:39.886
 along with my duties.
 
 00:15:39.927 --> 00:15:40.626
 And they let him do it.
 
 00:15:41.027 --> 00:15:42.927
 So he keeps going along with
 
 00:15:42.947 --> 00:15:44.207
 his merry band and et cetera.
 
 00:15:44.268 --> 00:15:45.227
 Whereas you do not,
 
 00:15:45.548 --> 00:15:46.567
 like other people we see
 
 00:15:46.607 --> 00:15:47.808
 held off to the bride well
 
 00:15:47.908 --> 00:15:49.068
 or put into the watch house
 
 00:15:49.149 --> 00:15:50.448
 overnight for holding and
 
 00:15:50.469 --> 00:15:51.490
 then brought before justice
 
 00:15:51.529 --> 00:15:53.230
 of the peace for being
 
 00:15:53.269 --> 00:15:55.370
 about without a good cause
 
 00:15:55.451 --> 00:15:57.171
 or causing a disturbance of the peace.
 
 00:15:57.650 --> 00:15:57.850
 Wow.
 
 00:15:58.691 --> 00:16:00.951
 So how was the town divided?
 
 00:16:00.991 --> 00:16:01.172
 I mean,
 
 00:16:01.192 --> 00:16:02.652
 how many watch houses were there
 
 00:16:02.731 --> 00:16:04.332
 and where would they have been?
 
 00:16:04.352 --> 00:16:06.192
 I don't mean the only thing
 
 00:16:06.212 --> 00:16:07.293
 was the street location,
 
 00:16:07.313 --> 00:16:08.594
 but are they in different districts?
 
 00:16:09.778 --> 00:16:10.018
 Yes,
 
 00:16:10.197 --> 00:16:13.421
 so for majority of the time there are
 
 00:16:13.562 --> 00:16:16.464
 four active watches and it
 
 00:16:16.504 --> 00:16:17.284
 divides the city up.
 
 00:16:17.304 --> 00:16:18.525
 There is a north end watch,
 
 00:16:18.905 --> 00:16:19.927
 a south end watch,
 
 00:16:21.107 --> 00:16:24.150
 and then you have the townhouse watch,
 
 00:16:24.191 --> 00:16:25.471
 which is located right
 
 00:16:25.513 --> 00:16:26.634
 across from the townhouse.
 
 00:16:27.114 --> 00:16:29.876
 And then you have either
 
 00:16:30.236 --> 00:16:31.717
 what they call the new south watch,
 
 00:16:31.798 --> 00:16:33.259
 which is closer to the fortification,
 
 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:36.081
 or you have the West End watch,
 
 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:38.601
 which comes about after,
 
 00:16:38.861 --> 00:16:39.621
 when they're starting to
 
 00:16:39.662 --> 00:16:40.982
 develop above the common,
 
 00:16:41.302 --> 00:16:42.543
 the West End part of Boston.
 
 00:16:43.884 --> 00:16:44.884
 The South End varies between
 
 00:16:45.004 --> 00:16:46.325
 one and two watch houses.
 
 00:16:46.384 --> 00:16:48.065
 The West End kind of gets added in.
 
 00:16:48.524 --> 00:16:50.166
 The most at any given time
 
 00:16:50.306 --> 00:16:51.647
 is that they have five
 
 00:16:51.767 --> 00:16:52.527
 active watch houses.
 
 00:16:52.846 --> 00:16:53.947
 which is also really
 
 00:16:53.988 --> 00:16:55.448
 fascinating because if you
 
 00:16:55.489 --> 00:16:57.169
 kind of think about Boston,
 
 00:16:57.210 --> 00:16:58.450
 around sixteen thousand
 
 00:16:58.529 --> 00:16:59.951
 inhabitants in the seventeen sixties,
 
 00:16:59.990 --> 00:17:00.912
 seventeen seventies,
 
 00:17:01.251 --> 00:17:02.913
 you have four to five watch
 
 00:17:02.952 --> 00:17:05.713
 houses with around four to
 
 00:17:05.773 --> 00:17:07.576
 six men at each watch house.
 
 00:17:07.596 --> 00:17:09.016
 So you're looking no more
 
 00:17:09.036 --> 00:17:10.537
 than twenty five watchmen
 
 00:17:10.876 --> 00:17:12.979
 who are ever active at any
 
 00:17:13.038 --> 00:17:14.940
 given time for not only
 
 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:16.160
 that amount of civilians,
 
 00:17:16.201 --> 00:17:18.261
 but also then later the
 
 00:17:18.301 --> 00:17:19.823
 sheer quantity of also
 
 00:17:20.663 --> 00:17:21.864
 British regulars who are in town.
 
 00:17:22.474 --> 00:17:24.576
 interesting and so these
 
 00:17:24.615 --> 00:17:25.516
 guys would spend the night
 
 00:17:25.556 --> 00:17:26.817
 in well they would be based
 
 00:17:26.856 --> 00:17:27.676
 in the watch house but they
 
 00:17:27.696 --> 00:17:28.538
 would be out walking the
 
 00:17:28.557 --> 00:17:31.019
 streets precisely so you
 
 00:17:31.038 --> 00:17:32.078
 would have one person would
 
 00:17:32.098 --> 00:17:33.138
 stand sentry at the watch
 
 00:17:33.159 --> 00:17:34.740
 house to be there if anyone
 
 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:36.540
 comes to alert the watch or
 
 00:17:36.580 --> 00:17:38.240
 call for help um and then
 
 00:17:38.260 --> 00:17:39.582
 they would go out in twos
 
 00:17:39.662 --> 00:17:41.042
 for instance the dock
 
 00:17:41.063 --> 00:17:42.202
 square watch which was
 
 00:17:42.663 --> 00:17:44.763
 responsible for um kind of
 
 00:17:44.804 --> 00:17:45.865
 part of the south end and
 
 00:17:45.904 --> 00:17:49.185
 then walking up and down um literally the
 
 00:17:50.066 --> 00:17:51.446
 the town dock to make sure
 
 00:17:51.487 --> 00:17:52.827
 that no one was breaking
 
 00:17:52.928 --> 00:17:54.128
 into any of the warehouses.
 
 00:17:54.509 --> 00:17:56.150
 They had very specific,
 
 00:17:56.509 --> 00:17:58.191
 they would walk out across
 
 00:17:58.230 --> 00:17:59.711
 the market and back,
 
 00:17:59.751 --> 00:18:00.653
 and then the other two
 
 00:18:00.673 --> 00:18:02.314
 would walk down the town walk,
 
 00:18:02.634 --> 00:18:05.115
 down the dock, and then back up.
 
 00:18:05.155 --> 00:18:06.936
 So they had really specific
 
 00:18:06.977 --> 00:18:07.896
 walking patterns,
 
 00:18:08.217 --> 00:18:10.979
 which contributes to kind of, you know,
 
 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:14.260
 how I kind of see them creating, you know,
 
 00:18:14.300 --> 00:18:15.382
 patterns of authority,
 
 00:18:15.521 --> 00:18:16.501
 even when they're not
 
 00:18:16.642 --> 00:18:18.763
 everywhere at all times.
 
 00:18:19.570 --> 00:18:20.335
 But you would know where
 
 00:18:20.375 --> 00:18:21.199
 they were going to be.
 
 00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:22.063
 Then you'd also know where
 
 00:18:22.083 --> 00:18:22.645
 they wouldn't be.
 
 00:18:23.632 --> 00:18:24.592
 Precisely, yes.
 
 00:18:24.771 --> 00:18:25.652
 So I mean,
 
 00:18:25.672 --> 00:18:28.192
 there are people who get picked
 
 00:18:28.232 --> 00:18:29.532
 up by the watch all the time.
 
 00:18:30.334 --> 00:18:31.394
 And then there are people
 
 00:18:31.473 --> 00:18:34.013
 who obviously were savvy enough to know,
 
 00:18:34.153 --> 00:18:34.555
 OK, well,
 
 00:18:34.575 --> 00:18:35.654
 if they're going to walk past
 
 00:18:35.714 --> 00:18:37.994
 all the way to Mr. Salter's shop and back,
 
 00:18:38.375 --> 00:18:40.316
 then I'm not going to go that way.
 
 00:18:40.336 --> 00:18:41.175
 I'm going to go another way.
 
 00:18:41.195 --> 00:18:42.016
 I mean,
 
 00:18:42.036 --> 00:18:43.896
 they definitely tried to position
 
 00:18:43.916 --> 00:18:46.737
 them in places with larger activity.
 
 00:18:46.836 --> 00:18:48.798
 For instance, Cross Street was just
 
 00:18:50.057 --> 00:18:52.039
 problem that you actually
 
 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:53.381
 had the North Watch and the
 
 00:18:53.421 --> 00:18:54.422
 Dock Square Watch would
 
 00:18:54.461 --> 00:18:55.682
 both walk all the way up to
 
 00:18:55.702 --> 00:18:57.163
 Cross Street to patrol that.
 
 00:18:57.344 --> 00:19:00.705
 You know, lots of houses of ill-fame,
 
 00:19:01.007 --> 00:19:03.127
 tippling houses, people gathering.
 
 00:19:03.489 --> 00:19:04.970
 So, you know, there are spots.
 
 00:19:05.369 --> 00:19:06.270
 But that's how, you know,
 
 00:19:06.611 --> 00:19:07.771
 people know where to go,
 
 00:19:07.832 --> 00:19:10.374
 how to avoid the watch, how to, you know,
 
 00:19:10.413 --> 00:19:11.835
 go visit places at night,
 
 00:19:11.974 --> 00:19:13.836
 engage in illicit economies.
 
 00:19:13.997 --> 00:19:15.157
 All of that's still taking place.
 
 00:19:16.104 --> 00:19:17.345
 And there's some pretty high
 
 00:19:17.384 --> 00:19:19.146
 profile events from the
 
 00:19:19.186 --> 00:19:20.166
 revolutionary period that
 
 00:19:20.186 --> 00:19:21.469
 we know that happened at night.
 
 00:19:21.528 --> 00:19:22.489
 So, you know,
 
 00:19:22.589 --> 00:19:24.171
 how did they respond like to
 
 00:19:24.211 --> 00:19:25.251
 when they see the crowds
 
 00:19:25.291 --> 00:19:26.492
 gathering on King Street in
 
 00:19:26.532 --> 00:19:28.555
 seventeen seventy or later
 
 00:19:28.654 --> 00:19:30.115
 in the destruction of the T?
 
 00:19:30.135 --> 00:19:30.496
 I mean,
 
 00:19:30.856 --> 00:19:34.078
 or the taking taking down of Andrew
 
 00:19:34.118 --> 00:19:35.119
 Oliver's warehouse.
 
 00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:35.500
 I mean,
 
 00:19:36.300 --> 00:19:38.103
 did they have any role in any of
 
 00:19:38.143 --> 00:19:38.962
 these things or?
 
 00:19:41.516 --> 00:19:41.895
 Yeah,
 
 00:19:42.175 --> 00:19:44.738
 I think one of the interesting things
 
 00:19:44.897 --> 00:19:47.000
 about when we think about
 
 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:48.701
 policing generally,
 
 00:19:48.760 --> 00:19:50.981
 we think about policing as action driven.
 
 00:19:51.782 --> 00:19:52.623
 If these things are
 
 00:19:52.663 --> 00:19:55.025
 happening in even in the
 
 00:19:55.065 --> 00:19:56.506
 nineteenth century or into modern times,
 
 00:19:56.546 --> 00:19:57.826
 we think about how are the
 
 00:19:57.846 --> 00:19:59.027
 police going to respond
 
 00:19:59.047 --> 00:20:00.087
 physically to what's going on?
 
 00:20:00.448 --> 00:20:01.288
 And a lot of what was
 
 00:20:01.348 --> 00:20:02.469
 interesting in me reading
 
 00:20:02.529 --> 00:20:03.730
 these reports and then
 
 00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:05.771
 reading how the selectmen
 
 00:20:05.791 --> 00:20:07.673
 and the governor are
 
 00:20:07.792 --> 00:20:09.394
 authorizing the watch to function.
 
 00:20:09.814 --> 00:20:12.154
 is they are actually working
 
 00:20:12.275 --> 00:20:15.336
 in a respond and observe pattern,
 
 00:20:15.395 --> 00:20:17.215
 particularly at the Stamp Act riots.
 
 00:20:17.576 --> 00:20:19.817
 So they adjust what they
 
 00:20:19.856 --> 00:20:21.037
 want the watch to do,
 
 00:20:21.076 --> 00:20:22.278
 the way they want them to walk,
 
 00:20:22.478 --> 00:20:25.617
 and they say, go, watch, observe,
 
 00:20:25.778 --> 00:20:26.398
 write it down,
 
 00:20:26.618 --> 00:20:27.659
 and let us know what happened.
 
 00:20:27.939 --> 00:20:29.058
 So they would have actually
 
 00:20:29.078 --> 00:20:30.059
 probably been gathered
 
 00:20:30.099 --> 00:20:31.059
 pretty close to where
 
 00:20:31.460 --> 00:20:32.700
 Greenleaf is standing while
 
 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:34.520
 he's watching Oliver's
 
 00:20:34.540 --> 00:20:37.021
 structure get ripped down as well.
 
 00:20:37.041 --> 00:20:37.521
 He's the sheriff.
 
 00:20:37.541 --> 00:20:37.741
 Exactly.
 
 00:20:38.501 --> 00:20:39.182
 But does he have any
 
 00:20:39.222 --> 00:20:41.046
 authority over the watch?
 
 00:20:41.667 --> 00:20:42.248
 He does not.
 
 00:20:42.288 --> 00:20:44.132
 He does not.
 
 00:20:44.172 --> 00:20:45.875
 The state police, the sheriff,
 
 00:20:45.894 --> 00:20:46.695
 don't have anything to do
 
 00:20:46.715 --> 00:20:47.698
 with the Boston police.
 
 00:20:48.423 --> 00:20:48.903
 Precisely.
 
 00:20:49.105 --> 00:20:51.205
 So they're there on behalf
 
 00:20:51.306 --> 00:20:53.086
 of the selectmen and the town.
 
 00:20:53.667 --> 00:20:54.528
 So they're observing.
 
 00:20:54.588 --> 00:20:56.490
 So they would adjust the
 
 00:20:56.529 --> 00:21:00.333
 watches walking to try to also,
 
 00:21:01.433 --> 00:21:02.074
 in some ways, I think,
 
 00:21:02.114 --> 00:21:03.055
 make sure that the watch
 
 00:21:03.075 --> 00:21:04.875
 was not then swept up into
 
 00:21:04.976 --> 00:21:05.415
 whether either
 
 00:21:05.457 --> 00:21:06.938
 participating or the
 
 00:21:06.978 --> 00:21:08.318
 violence against them.
 
 00:21:09.419 --> 00:21:10.599
 So there's that part.
 
 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:11.641
 It's really interesting kind
 
 00:21:11.681 --> 00:21:14.403
 of reading their observations of that.
 
 00:21:14.442 --> 00:21:15.284
 And then later, obviously,
 
 00:21:15.304 --> 00:21:16.644
 a couple of weeks later with Hutchinson,
 
 00:21:17.285 --> 00:21:18.826
 um I think that the most
 
 00:21:19.228 --> 00:21:21.089
 active that you see the
 
 00:21:21.130 --> 00:21:22.832
 watch actually interacting
 
 00:21:23.031 --> 00:21:25.835
 with um soldiers is in that
 
 00:21:25.934 --> 00:21:27.656
 early occupation period of
 
 00:21:27.717 --> 00:21:28.838
 sixty eight where there's a
 
 00:21:28.939 --> 00:21:30.079
 lot of these altercations
 
 00:21:30.099 --> 00:21:32.863
 that are going on in in the streets um
 
 00:21:33.403 --> 00:21:35.505
 But obviously for the Boston Massacre,
 
 00:21:35.545 --> 00:21:36.726
 and as we saw through
 
 00:21:36.786 --> 00:21:39.188
 Serena Zabin's amazing new
 
 00:21:39.228 --> 00:21:42.209
 book and JL Bell's article,
 
 00:21:42.829 --> 00:21:45.531
 watch are there for these events.
 
 00:21:45.692 --> 00:21:48.053
 And they're also playing a larger role,
 
 00:21:48.153 --> 00:21:49.773
 I think, than people,
 
 00:21:51.174 --> 00:21:53.537
 than people have previously understood.
 
 00:21:53.876 --> 00:21:54.057
 I mean,
 
 00:21:54.137 --> 00:21:55.739
 one of the things that just came to
 
 00:21:55.778 --> 00:21:57.380
 mind after I read Suna
 
 00:21:57.400 --> 00:21:58.441
 Zayben's book is thinking
 
 00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:59.882
 about what previous
 
 00:21:59.922 --> 00:22:03.184
 conversations had Benjamin
 
 00:22:03.244 --> 00:22:07.028
 Burdick and Thomas Langford, I mean,
 
 00:22:07.048 --> 00:22:07.188
 sorry,
 
 00:22:07.268 --> 00:22:10.089
 Edward Langford and others had with
 
 00:22:10.109 --> 00:22:10.931
 these men that they would
 
 00:22:10.951 --> 00:22:12.813
 have been seeing daily, right?
 
 00:22:12.853 --> 00:22:14.173
 So it's not, it's these
 
 00:22:14.574 --> 00:22:15.835
 spectacular moments that
 
 00:22:15.855 --> 00:22:16.454
 they're coming together.
 
 00:22:16.474 --> 00:22:16.615
 I mean,
 
 00:22:16.634 --> 00:22:18.415
 we know Benjamin Burdick is going
 
 00:22:18.476 --> 00:22:20.497
 off to help get the doctor
 
 00:22:20.537 --> 00:22:22.258
 to carry away the dead and the dying.
 
 00:22:22.759 --> 00:22:24.078
 We know that one of the men
 
 00:22:24.140 --> 00:22:26.101
 who took a ball to the leg
 
 00:22:26.461 --> 00:22:27.981
 is then lodged with Burdick
 
 00:22:28.001 --> 00:22:28.882
 for another year,
 
 00:22:28.922 --> 00:22:30.063
 and he's riding to the town
 
 00:22:30.462 --> 00:22:32.463
 to complain about having to
 
 00:22:32.663 --> 00:22:33.964
 keep sustaining Patterson,
 
 00:22:34.005 --> 00:22:34.726
 who can't work.
 
 00:22:35.506 --> 00:22:37.487
 So I think there's some kind
 
 00:22:37.547 --> 00:22:39.347
 of interesting pieces there.
 
 00:22:39.367 --> 00:22:41.990
 I mean, with the arrival of the tea,
 
 00:22:42.369 --> 00:22:42.569
 I mean,
 
 00:22:42.609 --> 00:22:44.451
 what's so interesting to me is
 
 00:22:44.612 --> 00:22:45.971
 obviously there are special
 
 00:22:46.011 --> 00:22:47.333
 watches being convened that
 
 00:22:47.353 --> 00:22:49.074
 have nothing to do with the
 
 00:22:49.134 --> 00:22:50.494
 municipal town watch, right?
 
 00:22:50.535 --> 00:22:50.855
 So are...
 
 00:22:52.236 --> 00:22:53.076
 I don't know this,
 
 00:22:53.115 --> 00:22:54.376
 but it's interesting to think about,
 
 00:22:54.477 --> 00:22:56.917
 are they walking the similar routes?
 
 00:22:57.137 --> 00:22:58.558
 I mean, they walked, I mean,
 
 00:22:58.578 --> 00:23:00.700
 the Dock Square Watch, I assume,
 
 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:02.381
 was watching all of that happen.
 
 00:23:03.181 --> 00:23:05.041
 But what is also so, you know,
 
 00:23:05.662 --> 00:23:07.623
 it's a lesson in research, obviously.
 
 00:23:07.903 --> 00:23:08.883
 Some of these reports,
 
 00:23:09.042 --> 00:23:12.625
 and I'm sure evasive for the exact reason,
 
 00:23:12.984 --> 00:23:13.826
 Benjamin Burdick,
 
 00:23:14.006 --> 00:23:15.826
 who's there for the Boston Massacre,
 
 00:23:15.885 --> 00:23:17.707
 writes in his report for March,
 
 00:23:17.727 --> 00:23:18.667
 seventeen seventy,
 
 00:23:18.887 --> 00:23:20.808
 nothing remarkable happened this month.
 
 00:23:21.148 --> 00:23:21.288
 Wow.
 
 00:23:21.929 --> 00:23:22.229
 Wow.
 
 00:23:23.410 --> 00:23:23.671
 I mean,
 
 00:23:25.311 --> 00:23:27.794
 Edward Ireland writes nothing about
 
 00:23:27.854 --> 00:23:29.214
 the commotion of all those
 
 00:23:29.255 --> 00:23:30.655
 people getting together in March,
 
 00:23:30.675 --> 00:23:32.557
 seventeen seventy in Dock Square.
 
 00:23:32.798 --> 00:23:33.057
 Right.
 
 00:23:33.317 --> 00:23:35.900
 And then Langford walks by early on.
 
 00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:38.602
 And when the sentries being harassed,
 
 00:23:38.721 --> 00:23:39.843
 he says, oh, they're just boys.
 
 00:23:39.883 --> 00:23:40.844
 And, you know, yeah.
 
 00:23:40.864 --> 00:23:41.023
 Yeah.
 
 00:23:42.324 --> 00:23:43.565
 no and that's you know
 
 00:23:43.605 --> 00:23:44.726
 that's what kind of jogs my
 
 00:23:44.766 --> 00:23:46.366
 mind into thinking like you
 
 00:23:46.386 --> 00:23:48.428
 know is he comforting white
 
 00:23:48.628 --> 00:23:50.230
 in some is he you know is
 
 00:23:50.269 --> 00:23:51.891
 it a ruse is he part of it
 
 00:23:52.010 --> 00:23:53.132
 is he comforting white
 
 00:23:53.192 --> 00:23:54.532
 because he sees this guy
 
 00:23:54.893 --> 00:23:55.993
 every day and it's like
 
 00:23:56.193 --> 00:23:57.454
 you're fine nothing's gonna
 
 00:23:57.515 --> 00:23:59.256
 happen uh so it's
 
 00:23:59.355 --> 00:24:01.237
 interesting kind of uh both
 
 00:24:01.397 --> 00:24:03.098
 in both aspects of that um
 
 00:24:03.558 --> 00:24:05.941
 You know, and then obviously, you know,
 
 00:24:06.040 --> 00:24:07.843
 these these I mean,
 
 00:24:08.022 --> 00:24:09.042
 I've tried to find
 
 00:24:09.183 --> 00:24:10.724
 participation from these
 
 00:24:10.765 --> 00:24:11.965
 men in these moments.
 
 00:24:12.306 --> 00:24:13.467
 I've never found that they
 
 00:24:13.487 --> 00:24:15.028
 don't they don't appear on
 
 00:24:15.368 --> 00:24:17.029
 the list of men who are
 
 00:24:17.069 --> 00:24:18.230
 throwing tea overboard.
 
 00:24:18.730 --> 00:24:20.673
 They're they're not you know,
 
 00:24:21.153 --> 00:24:22.594
 they're not some of them do
 
 00:24:22.634 --> 00:24:24.035
 sign on importation, though,
 
 00:24:24.076 --> 00:24:25.215
 in seventeen sixty seven,
 
 00:24:25.557 --> 00:24:26.718
 which I think is really interesting.
 
 00:24:26.897 --> 00:24:27.117
 Right.
 
 00:24:28.598 --> 00:24:32.383
 So you are finding snippets of that.
 
 00:24:32.722 --> 00:24:33.584
 And then I also have a
 
 00:24:33.624 --> 00:24:34.484
 couple of the watchmen that
 
 00:24:34.525 --> 00:24:36.606
 I found do leave with the
 
 00:24:36.626 --> 00:24:39.128
 British for Halifax after
 
 00:24:39.169 --> 00:24:39.990
 the end of the siege.
 
 00:24:40.411 --> 00:24:42.051
 So they were not active
 
 00:24:42.092 --> 00:24:44.074
 watchmen all the way up to seventy five,
 
 00:24:44.114 --> 00:24:46.355
 but they were men who had served.
 
 00:24:47.116 --> 00:24:48.538
 So you have a variety of
 
 00:24:48.578 --> 00:24:51.260
 different allegiances in there as well.
 
 00:24:52.481 --> 00:24:53.843
 We're talking with Nicole Brough,
 
 00:24:54.022 --> 00:24:55.563
 Professor of Colonial and
 
 00:24:55.643 --> 00:24:56.723
 Revolutionary America at
 
 00:24:56.743 --> 00:24:58.443
 the University of Texas, El Paso,
 
 00:24:58.983 --> 00:25:00.565
 author of the forthcoming book,
 
 00:25:00.605 --> 00:25:01.224
 Set the Watch,
 
 00:25:01.285 --> 00:25:03.726
 Policing and Governance in Early America.
 
 00:25:04.586 --> 00:25:05.105
 And of course,
 
 00:25:05.346 --> 00:25:06.366
 one question that always
 
 00:25:06.406 --> 00:25:07.626
 comes to mind is who tipped
 
 00:25:07.747 --> 00:25:09.268
 off General Joseph,
 
 00:25:09.327 --> 00:25:11.028
 Dr. Warren about what the
 
 00:25:11.068 --> 00:25:11.669
 British were up to.
 
 00:25:11.689 --> 00:25:12.548
 Do you have any sense that
 
 00:25:12.568 --> 00:25:15.430
 the watchmen might have, I mean,
 
 00:25:15.450 --> 00:25:16.450
 they might have known, I mean,
 
 00:25:16.470 --> 00:25:17.171
 they would have seen the
 
 00:25:17.250 --> 00:25:18.651
 British troops marching
 
 00:25:18.691 --> 00:25:20.711
 down to the waterfront.
 
 00:25:22.028 --> 00:25:24.409
 Yeah.
 
 00:25:24.429 --> 00:25:26.249
 Certainly no evidence that they did that.
 
 00:25:26.308 --> 00:25:27.250
 However, I mean,
 
 00:25:27.430 --> 00:25:29.210
 one could imagine that they
 
 00:25:29.250 --> 00:25:30.611
 are also part of these
 
 00:25:30.711 --> 00:25:33.071
 larger networks of information.
 
 00:25:33.392 --> 00:25:33.571
 I mean,
 
 00:25:33.612 --> 00:25:35.291
 the Watchmen have their informants
 
 00:25:35.332 --> 00:25:37.173
 who come and give them information.
 
 00:25:37.553 --> 00:25:39.673
 I'm sure that they are also, you know,
 
 00:25:39.733 --> 00:25:41.673
 passing along this information.
 
 00:25:41.933 --> 00:25:43.494
 But if I do ever find evidence of that,
 
 00:25:43.515 --> 00:25:43.974
 I will let you know.
 
 00:25:43.994 --> 00:25:45.535
 Yeah, yes, yes.
 
 00:25:45.575 --> 00:25:46.915
 That'll be for you.
 
 00:25:47.076 --> 00:25:48.316
 Your next article,
 
 00:25:48.336 --> 00:25:49.036
 your next book on who
 
 00:25:49.056 --> 00:25:50.797
 really killed Warren.
 
 00:25:52.656 --> 00:25:54.097
 I'm wondering, too,
 
 00:25:55.318 --> 00:25:57.201
 what happens after the
 
 00:25:57.240 --> 00:25:59.242
 revolution to the Night
 
 00:25:59.282 --> 00:26:00.624
 Watch and when it turns
 
 00:26:00.683 --> 00:26:01.785
 into a police force?
 
 00:26:03.096 --> 00:26:03.917
 Yeah, absolutely.
 
 00:26:03.958 --> 00:26:07.780
 So one of the things I'm
 
 00:26:07.800 --> 00:26:08.922
 still trying to unravel is
 
 00:26:09.342 --> 00:26:11.723
 what do the watchmen do during the siege?
 
 00:26:12.925 --> 00:26:14.247
 Are some of them still staying in Boston?
 
 00:26:14.487 --> 00:26:15.748
 So that's kind of active
 
 00:26:15.788 --> 00:26:16.788
 research right now.
 
 00:26:17.128 --> 00:26:20.172
 But I have looked at how
 
 00:26:20.192 --> 00:26:21.093
 does the watch rebuild
 
 00:26:21.153 --> 00:26:25.236
 itself after the evacuation in March,
 
 00:26:28.118 --> 00:26:29.880
 So almost immediately after
 
 00:26:29.980 --> 00:26:32.041
 you have something that was interesting,
 
 00:26:32.061 --> 00:26:33.222
 because you don't have it before,
 
 00:26:33.542 --> 00:26:34.903
 you have advertisements
 
 00:26:34.923 --> 00:26:36.204
 that show up in the paper
 
 00:26:36.424 --> 00:26:37.726
 looking for watchmen.
 
 00:26:38.066 --> 00:26:39.227
 You also have some of the
 
 00:26:39.267 --> 00:26:40.448
 watchmen who served before
 
 00:26:40.508 --> 00:26:43.730
 coming and taking up these
 
 00:26:43.790 --> 00:26:45.051
 positions again.
 
 00:26:46.192 --> 00:26:46.813
 For instance,
 
 00:26:47.012 --> 00:26:48.413
 so you have a very long
 
 00:26:48.653 --> 00:26:51.696
 serving night watchman in
 
 00:26:51.777 --> 00:26:52.837
 the North End Watch,
 
 00:26:52.857 --> 00:26:54.219
 his name is Joseph Edmonds.
 
 00:26:54.699 --> 00:26:57.421
 He replaces the Constable Isaac Townsend,
 
 00:26:57.461 --> 00:26:58.382
 who does not come back to
 
 00:26:58.981 --> 00:27:02.243
 serve after the occupation of Boston.
 
 00:27:04.586 --> 00:27:07.567
 You see certain new names
 
 00:27:07.587 --> 00:27:08.588
 that are starting to pop up,
 
 00:27:08.608 --> 00:27:09.909
 but you do see a variety,
 
 00:27:10.190 --> 00:27:11.431
 especially of the Watchmen
 
 00:27:11.471 --> 00:27:13.271
 themselves who continue on.
 
 00:27:13.692 --> 00:27:15.553
 Edward Ireland joins the
 
 00:27:15.573 --> 00:27:17.253
 watch in seventeen sixty
 
 00:27:17.294 --> 00:27:19.414
 four after doing some smallpox duty.
 
 00:27:19.974 --> 00:27:21.596
 And he remains,
 
 00:27:22.496 --> 00:27:23.396
 except for that brief
 
 00:27:23.436 --> 00:27:25.778
 period where we don't have any walking.
 
 00:27:26.097 --> 00:27:27.939
 He remains a watch night
 
 00:27:27.959 --> 00:27:29.779
 constable all the way until
 
 00:27:29.940 --> 00:27:31.099
 seventeen eighty six when
 
 00:27:31.140 --> 00:27:32.181
 he is dismissed for
 
 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:33.560
 infirmity.
 
 00:27:33.901 --> 00:27:34.201
 Yes.
 
 00:27:34.561 --> 00:27:35.721
 So you have some continuity
 
 00:27:35.741 --> 00:27:36.701
 in those who are serving.
 
 00:27:37.021 --> 00:27:39.442
 You have new people who are coming on.
 
 00:27:40.063 --> 00:27:43.124
 And what you find in this
 
 00:27:43.163 --> 00:27:44.664
 kind of early period out of
 
 00:27:44.684 --> 00:27:47.025
 the revolution is they are also, you know,
 
 00:27:47.045 --> 00:27:47.684
 they're dealing with the
 
 00:27:47.704 --> 00:27:48.746
 French being in Boston.
 
 00:27:48.846 --> 00:27:50.365
 Obviously, they're stationed there.
 
 00:27:50.665 --> 00:27:51.906
 There's other kind of
 
 00:27:52.946 --> 00:27:54.186
 obstacles that are going on.
 
 00:27:54.267 --> 00:27:55.347
 And then you're also dealing
 
 00:27:55.367 --> 00:27:57.788
 with massive changes in how
 
 00:27:57.888 --> 00:27:58.868
 people are starting to
 
 00:27:58.888 --> 00:28:00.269
 think about what a town
 
 00:28:00.308 --> 00:28:01.130
 government and what
 
 00:28:01.170 --> 00:28:02.450
 government itself should do.
 
 00:28:03.150 --> 00:28:05.790
 So we find proposals for
 
 00:28:05.830 --> 00:28:06.891
 different types of watches.
 
 00:28:06.911 --> 00:28:08.090
 They want to do a patrolling
 
 00:28:08.111 --> 00:28:09.971
 watch where men just walk
 
 00:28:10.031 --> 00:28:11.132
 the entire time.
 
 00:28:11.152 --> 00:28:13.153
 I mean, night watchmen are,
 
 00:28:14.232 --> 00:28:16.313
 they are an entity of policing,
 
 00:28:16.452 --> 00:28:17.753
 but they are not practicing
 
 00:28:17.834 --> 00:28:18.753
 preventative policing.
 
 00:28:18.773 --> 00:28:19.773
 They're not going out and
 
 00:28:19.913 --> 00:28:21.034
 actively looking for people
 
 00:28:21.074 --> 00:28:22.134
 who are committing crimes.
 
 00:28:22.494 --> 00:28:23.674
 They are on a kind of a
 
 00:28:23.734 --> 00:28:26.536
 respond as we encounter it basis.
 
 00:28:27.516 --> 00:28:28.776
 So there's some proposals
 
 00:28:28.796 --> 00:28:29.636
 for should they be doing
 
 00:28:29.696 --> 00:28:30.797
 more proactive work?
 
 00:28:31.317 --> 00:28:32.798
 These don't get implemented until,
 
 00:28:33.518 --> 00:28:34.759
 you know, seventeen nineties.
 
 00:28:34.798 --> 00:28:35.680
 But but these these
 
 00:28:35.700 --> 00:28:37.339
 questions are coming up pretty,
 
 00:28:37.721 --> 00:28:38.800
 pretty quickly about how
 
 00:28:38.840 --> 00:28:40.041
 should we be thinking about it?
 
 00:28:40.281 --> 00:28:41.022
 There are all of these
 
 00:28:41.042 --> 00:28:42.002
 different proposals from
 
 00:28:42.063 --> 00:28:44.284
 merchants and business
 
 00:28:44.344 --> 00:28:45.424
 entities within the town
 
 00:28:45.744 --> 00:28:47.967
 for wanting more police,
 
 00:28:48.027 --> 00:28:51.568
 which is a very bizarre idea to us today.
 
 00:28:52.568 --> 00:28:53.869
 But they talk about needing
 
 00:28:53.910 --> 00:28:55.551
 a more energetic government,
 
 00:28:55.892 --> 00:28:57.032
 needing more police.
 
 00:28:57.053 --> 00:28:59.576
 So what you see is, over time,
 
 00:28:59.955 --> 00:29:00.997
 the Night Watch continues
 
 00:29:01.037 --> 00:29:02.838
 to operate as it always had.
 
 00:29:02.999 --> 00:29:04.200
 You just see different
 
 00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:06.442
 bureaucratic elements being built in.
 
 00:29:06.801 --> 00:29:08.183
 So by the about the,
 
 00:29:08.203 --> 00:29:09.404
 I think it's the seventeen eighties,
 
 00:29:09.444 --> 00:29:11.606
 I think it's seventeen eighty-six,
 
 00:29:11.807 --> 00:29:12.788
 eighty-five, eighty-six,
 
 00:29:13.127 --> 00:29:14.950
 you start to see these
 
 00:29:15.150 --> 00:29:17.873
 officers called inspectors of police.
 
 00:29:18.492 --> 00:29:19.894
 And they are going out and
 
 00:29:20.294 --> 00:29:21.335
 one of their duties
 
 00:29:21.795 --> 00:29:22.634
 involves the night watch.
 
 00:29:22.654 --> 00:29:23.496
 They're also going out to
 
 00:29:23.516 --> 00:29:24.476
 make sure people don't have
 
 00:29:24.536 --> 00:29:25.537
 carts in the street.
 
 00:29:25.777 --> 00:29:27.397
 They're keeping their sidewalks clean.
 
 00:29:27.978 --> 00:29:29.038
 So police and the broad
 
 00:29:29.117 --> 00:29:31.539
 entity of maintenance, environment,
 
 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:32.599
 health, et cetera.
 
 00:29:33.141 --> 00:29:33.941
 But one of their jobs
 
 00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:36.061
 becomes to go and check on
 
 00:29:36.261 --> 00:29:38.242
 each of the watch houses,
 
 00:29:38.403 --> 00:29:40.644
 check in with the night constables,
 
 00:29:40.723 --> 00:29:42.005
 make sure that they're not assassinated.
 
 00:29:42.444 --> 00:29:44.326
 doing their duties, which again,
 
 00:29:44.346 --> 00:29:46.269
 they still have day jobs, which is,
 
 00:29:46.409 --> 00:29:46.608
 you know,
 
 00:29:47.369 --> 00:29:48.349
 part of it is supposed to be
 
 00:29:48.371 --> 00:29:49.531
 that they're allowed to sleep.
 
 00:29:49.571 --> 00:29:51.252
 So they're making these
 
 00:29:51.272 --> 00:29:52.233
 kinds of adjustments.
 
 00:29:52.273 --> 00:29:54.095
 You also see a move toward
 
 00:29:54.316 --> 00:29:57.137
 using the night watch to
 
 00:29:57.278 --> 00:29:59.160
 enforce vagrancy statutes.
 
 00:29:59.420 --> 00:30:01.102
 in ways in which you do not
 
 00:30:01.162 --> 00:30:05.565
 see prior to the late-seventeen nineties.
 
 00:30:06.566 --> 00:30:08.107
 So to my mind,
 
 00:30:08.147 --> 00:30:10.650
 you see a kind of a slow
 
 00:30:10.809 --> 00:30:12.912
 effort of creating more
 
 00:30:13.011 --> 00:30:15.173
 bureaucracy around how
 
 00:30:15.334 --> 00:30:17.236
 local government is,
 
 00:30:18.257 --> 00:30:19.357
 how it's effectively run
 
 00:30:19.498 --> 00:30:21.499
 and how that then can add
 
 00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:23.161
 to some state building
 
 00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:25.063
 elements in the early republic.
 
 00:30:25.643 --> 00:30:27.864
 When the police become the police,
 
 00:30:27.923 --> 00:30:28.604
 we know them.
 
 00:30:28.784 --> 00:30:31.184
 So it's not until eighteen
 
 00:30:31.526 --> 00:30:33.425
 thirty eight that Boston
 
 00:30:33.486 --> 00:30:36.867
 creates a municipal day policing entity.
 
 00:30:38.208 --> 00:30:38.669
 However,
 
 00:30:38.788 --> 00:30:40.528
 you still have Boston's night
 
 00:30:40.568 --> 00:30:42.289
 watch who are in operation
 
 00:30:42.430 --> 00:30:43.611
 until eighteen fifty four.
 
 00:30:43.990 --> 00:30:45.030
 And they are in operation
 
 00:30:45.270 --> 00:30:46.392
 even though you also saw
 
 00:30:46.412 --> 00:30:47.412
 Boston Municipal Police
 
 00:30:47.432 --> 00:30:49.252
 create a day police and a night police.
 
 00:30:49.613 --> 00:30:50.433
 And you still have the night
 
 00:30:50.453 --> 00:30:51.554
 watch and the night police
 
 00:30:51.594 --> 00:30:52.273
 who are who are
 
 00:30:53.835 --> 00:30:54.516
 kind of attending to
 
 00:30:54.556 --> 00:30:55.876
 different duties at the time.
 
 00:30:56.336 --> 00:30:58.038
 So it's not until eighteen fifty four,
 
 00:30:58.118 --> 00:30:58.878
 which there's a lot of
 
 00:30:58.959 --> 00:31:00.240
 political kind of
 
 00:31:00.361 --> 00:31:01.401
 underpinnings to this with
 
 00:31:01.421 --> 00:31:03.242
 the Know Nothing Party and, you know,
 
 00:31:03.262 --> 00:31:04.483
 the Fugitive Slave Act and
 
 00:31:04.844 --> 00:31:05.444
 different business
 
 00:31:05.545 --> 00:31:06.526
 interests that you
 
 00:31:06.586 --> 00:31:07.326
 eventually have the
 
 00:31:07.346 --> 00:31:09.567
 collapse of the police and
 
 00:31:10.009 --> 00:31:11.470
 and the night watch into one entity.
 
 00:31:12.210 --> 00:31:13.230
 Interesting.
 
 00:31:13.250 --> 00:31:14.531
 We're talking with Nicole Brough,
 
 00:31:14.732 --> 00:31:16.153
 author of Set the Watch
 
 00:31:16.193 --> 00:31:18.194
 Policing and Governance in Early America,
 
 00:31:18.375 --> 00:31:18.536
 and
 
 00:31:19.392 --> 00:31:20.031
 a professor at the
 
 00:31:20.092 --> 00:31:21.893
 University of Texas at El Paso.
 
 00:31:22.613 --> 00:31:25.954
 And so during the British occupation,
 
 00:31:25.974 --> 00:31:27.035
 that is from seventeen
 
 00:31:27.115 --> 00:31:30.116
 seventy four until seventeen seventy six,
 
 00:31:30.777 --> 00:31:31.436
 is the Night Watch
 
 00:31:31.477 --> 00:31:32.617
 maintained even though the
 
 00:31:32.637 --> 00:31:33.678
 British are occupying?
 
 00:31:33.758 --> 00:31:34.878
 Is it still going?
 
 00:31:35.838 --> 00:31:36.259
 It is.
 
 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:40.240
 So one of the very interesting pieces,
 
 00:31:40.401 --> 00:31:41.061
 obviously,
 
 00:31:41.122 --> 00:31:43.222
 with so you have the suspension,
 
 00:31:43.603 --> 00:31:44.682
 the Massachusetts Government Act,
 
 00:31:44.702 --> 00:31:45.983
 the suspension of government,
 
 00:31:46.003 --> 00:31:47.364
 they're limiting town meeting.
 
 00:31:49.727 --> 00:31:51.788
 general thomas gage does not
 
 00:31:51.827 --> 00:31:53.488
 make any effort whatsoever
 
 00:31:53.548 --> 00:31:54.989
 to disrupt how the night
 
 00:31:55.028 --> 00:31:56.909
 watch works in fact from
 
 00:31:56.989 --> 00:31:59.730
 reading um several orderly
 
 00:31:59.750 --> 00:32:01.670
 books both here and over in
 
 00:32:01.790 --> 00:32:03.490
 england I have learned that
 
 00:32:03.550 --> 00:32:06.592
 gage is actually um really
 
 00:32:07.271 --> 00:32:08.772
 supporting the idea that
 
 00:32:08.813 --> 00:32:09.752
 the night watch needs to
 
 00:32:09.772 --> 00:32:10.673
 keep going I think on the
 
 00:32:10.772 --> 00:32:12.253
 one hand obviously it gives
 
 00:32:12.294 --> 00:32:13.394
 more legitimacy to
 
 00:32:13.894 --> 00:32:15.013
 them being there in his room
 
 00:32:15.234 --> 00:32:17.095
 but also he's trying to I
 
 00:32:17.295 --> 00:32:18.596
 think in many ways trying
 
 00:32:18.635 --> 00:32:20.276
 to avoid well he was always
 
 00:32:20.316 --> 00:32:21.057
 trying to avoid what
 
 00:32:21.116 --> 00:32:23.176
 happened in march of and
 
 00:32:23.417 --> 00:32:24.298
 he's trying to avoid
 
 00:32:24.577 --> 00:32:25.758
 anything similar like that
 
 00:32:25.798 --> 00:32:27.118
 happening again so he's
 
 00:32:27.538 --> 00:32:29.220
 writing about cooperation
 
 00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:31.240
 and actually gives soldiers
 
 00:32:31.361 --> 00:32:32.500
 instructions that if they
 
 00:32:32.560 --> 00:32:34.142
 have problems at night they
 
 00:32:34.182 --> 00:32:35.602
 can call on the night watch
 
 00:32:35.701 --> 00:32:37.542
 go to them they are an authority
 
 00:32:38.423 --> 00:32:41.003
 So they continue their exact
 
 00:32:41.023 --> 00:32:42.523
 duties the way they were doing.
 
 00:32:42.604 --> 00:32:43.864
 They are still paid.
 
 00:32:44.684 --> 00:32:46.404
 So that is one of the really
 
 00:32:46.505 --> 00:32:47.244
 interesting things.
 
 00:32:47.285 --> 00:32:49.125
 They're still being actively paid.
 
 00:32:49.266 --> 00:32:51.905
 I have pay receipts where they are,
 
 00:32:52.105 --> 00:32:52.405
 you know,
 
 00:32:52.425 --> 00:32:53.787
 they have to go monthly and sign
 
 00:32:53.846 --> 00:32:55.346
 off that they've received their wages.
 
 00:32:55.727 --> 00:32:57.607
 So they're still receiving, I mean,
 
 00:32:57.728 --> 00:32:59.208
 and this is a conversation
 
 00:32:59.228 --> 00:33:00.988
 that Mark Peterson and I had had before,
 
 00:33:01.288 --> 00:33:01.868
 the idea that they're
 
 00:33:02.169 --> 00:33:03.148
 receiving real money.
 
 00:33:03.749 --> 00:33:05.089
 and throughout this entire period,
 
 00:33:05.109 --> 00:33:06.430
 but then also during a
 
 00:33:06.490 --> 00:33:10.112
 period of obviously immense dearth.
 
 00:33:10.511 --> 00:33:12.292
 So they are still patrolling
 
 00:33:12.673 --> 00:33:14.854
 and they are still having
 
 00:33:14.993 --> 00:33:16.815
 altercations nightly with
 
 00:33:17.755 --> 00:33:20.135
 officers and soldiers.
 
 00:33:20.375 --> 00:33:22.696
 And we actually just had the
 
 00:33:22.757 --> 00:33:25.018
 anniversary of what was a
 
 00:33:25.719 --> 00:33:26.939
 very busy couple of weeks
 
 00:33:26.959 --> 00:33:28.619
 for the Boston Night Watch, January of,
 
 00:33:31.141 --> 00:33:32.942
 where they get into a series
 
 00:33:33.042 --> 00:33:34.424
 of what they start to call
 
 00:33:34.505 --> 00:33:35.945
 high-handed riots.
 
 00:33:36.707 --> 00:33:37.868
 So whereas some of the
 
 00:33:37.888 --> 00:33:40.270
 dimensions of their early altercations,
 
 00:33:40.932 --> 00:33:42.953
 they addressed in kind of
 
 00:33:43.054 --> 00:33:45.237
 more of these terms of, well,
 
 00:33:45.978 --> 00:33:46.919
 we're the watch and we're
 
 00:33:46.959 --> 00:33:47.960
 the ones you should report to.
 
 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:49.901
 they're kind of escalating
 
 00:33:49.941 --> 00:33:51.020
 the way that they're
 
 00:33:51.040 --> 00:33:52.001
 wanting these to be seen
 
 00:33:52.041 --> 00:33:53.642
 both in the press and in
 
 00:33:53.682 --> 00:33:54.843
 these discussions between
 
 00:33:54.883 --> 00:33:58.483
 the army and the town and
 
 00:33:58.523 --> 00:33:59.403
 just really bringing
 
 00:33:59.443 --> 00:34:00.585
 attention to the imperious
 
 00:34:00.625 --> 00:34:03.306
 nature of them attacking the watch.
 
 00:34:03.925 --> 00:34:06.967
 And Gage comes out and he
 
 00:34:07.007 --> 00:34:08.027
 calls all these officers
 
 00:34:08.067 --> 00:34:11.168
 together and demands that
 
 00:34:11.728 --> 00:34:13.148
 there be respect for the watch.
 
 00:34:13.188 --> 00:34:13.969
 And he actually,
 
 00:34:14.028 --> 00:34:15.708
 and this is recorded in one
 
 00:34:15.728 --> 00:34:16.650
 of his orderly books,
 
 00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:19.550
 and he says that attending
 
 00:34:19.769 --> 00:34:22.030
 to the watch here or any
 
 00:34:22.090 --> 00:34:23.351
 part of the world is
 
 00:34:23.431 --> 00:34:24.612
 necessary because they are
 
 00:34:24.632 --> 00:34:26.072
 appointed by the law and
 
 00:34:26.092 --> 00:34:27.452
 the law governs what they do.
 
 00:34:27.893 --> 00:34:30.032
 Which to me, reading that in January,
 
 00:34:32.894 --> 00:34:34.818
 feels, you know, really interesting.
 
 00:34:35.960 --> 00:34:37.164
 And significant, obviously.
 
 00:34:37.965 --> 00:34:39.268
 I'm wondering,
 
 00:34:39.367 --> 00:34:40.771
 how much do these guys get paid?
 
 00:34:42.438 --> 00:34:42.657
 Yes.
 
 00:34:42.858 --> 00:34:46.702
 So you are paid a shilling
 
 00:34:46.742 --> 00:34:49.744
 for each night that you go on the watch.
 
 00:34:49.764 --> 00:34:52.465
 So you get about thirty shillings a month.
 
 00:34:52.806 --> 00:34:53.827
 And then the night
 
 00:34:53.867 --> 00:34:54.807
 constables themselves are
 
 00:34:54.827 --> 00:34:56.369
 given an extra three pounds
 
 00:34:56.409 --> 00:34:58.170
 for being in charge.
 
 00:34:58.552 --> 00:35:03.715
 And I do not remember the exact pay scale,
 
 00:35:03.735 --> 00:35:04.617
 but I did look.
 
 00:35:06.217 --> 00:35:08.699
 And I was very surprised to see this,
 
 00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:09.721
 but also maybe not as
 
 00:35:09.740 --> 00:35:10.742
 surprised if you think about it,
 
 00:35:11.041 --> 00:35:12.123
 that night watchmen made
 
 00:35:12.182 --> 00:35:13.525
 more for their monthly duty
 
 00:35:13.684 --> 00:35:15.346
 than those who were
 
 00:35:15.365 --> 00:35:17.949
 enlisted in the British army.
 
 00:35:17.969 --> 00:35:20.251
 So I believe, don't we all,
 
 00:35:20.791 --> 00:35:21.751
 internet, don't hold me to this,
 
 00:35:21.791 --> 00:35:22.431
 but I believe it was
 
 00:35:22.492 --> 00:35:23.472
 eighteen pounds a month
 
 00:35:23.532 --> 00:35:24.293
 what they are paid for
 
 00:35:24.313 --> 00:35:26.514
 being enlisted somewhere,
 
 00:35:26.735 --> 00:35:27.635
 somewhere in the dissertation.
 
 00:35:28.416 --> 00:35:30.336
 But so they are actually
 
 00:35:30.438 --> 00:35:32.318
 being as long as they attend each night,
 
 00:35:32.838 --> 00:35:34.420
 there's not quite I mean,
 
 00:35:34.460 --> 00:35:35.981
 they're paid for the nights they attend.
 
 00:35:36.121 --> 00:35:37.983
 So if they only attend twenty nights,
 
 00:35:38.023 --> 00:35:39.784
 they get paid for those twenty nights.
 
 00:35:40.083 --> 00:35:40.623
 Interesting.
 
 00:35:40.724 --> 00:35:41.125
 Interesting.
 
 00:35:41.925 --> 00:35:43.646
 And so what does the watch
 
 00:35:43.686 --> 00:35:44.387
 house look like?
 
 00:35:44.407 --> 00:35:45.367
 Do you have any sense of that?
 
 00:35:45.387 --> 00:35:45.547
 I mean,
 
 00:35:45.568 --> 00:35:46.688
 you've been able to figure out what
 
 00:35:46.708 --> 00:35:47.228
 they look like.
 
 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:48.539
 Yes.
 
 00:35:49.380 --> 00:35:52.481
 So one of the very
 
 00:35:52.722 --> 00:35:55.382
 interesting items that I
 
 00:35:55.402 --> 00:35:57.603
 came across in the Boston
 
 00:35:57.884 --> 00:35:59.304
 Town Papers very early on,
 
 00:35:59.344 --> 00:36:00.244
 this is when I was just
 
 00:36:00.264 --> 00:36:02.405
 starting my research for my
 
 00:36:02.445 --> 00:36:03.925
 first paper of the dissertation,
 
 00:36:04.246 --> 00:36:06.987
 was I found plans for
 
 00:36:07.106 --> 00:36:08.427
 building a watch house.
 
 00:36:09.907 --> 00:36:11.389
 And I found lots of receipts
 
 00:36:11.409 --> 00:36:12.568
 and talking about
 
 00:36:14.230 --> 00:36:15.952
 you know, fixing up watch houses.
 
 00:36:15.972 --> 00:36:17.012
 So I've learned over time.
 
 00:36:17.052 --> 00:36:18.094
 So some of them were small,
 
 00:36:18.474 --> 00:36:19.675
 they were eight by eight.
 
 00:36:19.775 --> 00:36:20.876
 They are structures that
 
 00:36:20.916 --> 00:36:24.201
 could be easily taken down and moved.
 
 00:36:24.240 --> 00:36:25.101
 So these structures are
 
 00:36:25.141 --> 00:36:26.543
 moved around town because
 
 00:36:26.802 --> 00:36:29.005
 they're being placed on some of the
 
 00:36:29.326 --> 00:36:30.806
 Most of it is some of its public land,
 
 00:36:30.827 --> 00:36:31.827
 but most of it is private
 
 00:36:31.847 --> 00:36:34.230
 land that they then rent to
 
 00:36:34.250 --> 00:36:35.650
 be able to put a watch house on.
 
 00:36:36.251 --> 00:36:37.532
 One was in an actual
 
 00:36:37.592 --> 00:36:38.853
 physical brick structure in
 
 00:36:38.893 --> 00:36:39.574
 the South End.
 
 00:36:39.835 --> 00:36:41.396
 It was in a home that they rented.
 
 00:36:42.036 --> 00:36:42.916
 But the majority of them
 
 00:36:43.016 --> 00:36:44.679
 were around twelve by twelve.
 
 00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:47.139
 They are clapboard shingles.
 
 00:36:47.179 --> 00:36:48.420
 They have hipped roof.
 
 00:36:50.402 --> 00:36:52.623
 They're pointed with hearth
 
 00:36:52.764 --> 00:36:54.164
 chimney apparatus.
 
 00:36:54.445 --> 00:36:56.186
 Some of them have attached
 
 00:36:56.306 --> 00:36:57.947
 coal houses with them.
 
 00:36:58.987 --> 00:37:00.528
 They would have been whitewashed.
 
 00:37:01.148 --> 00:37:02.989
 And they would have had a
 
 00:37:03.030 --> 00:37:04.190
 door with a lock.
 
 00:37:04.550 --> 00:37:06.311
 Some of them came with cages
 
 00:37:06.471 --> 00:37:11.853
 inside to be able to detain people.
 
 00:37:12.893 --> 00:37:16.074
 So they vary in size,
 
 00:37:16.753 --> 00:37:18.715
 but no larger than the ones
 
 00:37:18.735 --> 00:37:19.434
 that they're building
 
 00:37:19.454 --> 00:37:21.235
 themselves versus the ones
 
 00:37:21.255 --> 00:37:21.996
 that they've rented other
 
 00:37:22.016 --> 00:37:24.016
 structures were the largest
 
 00:37:24.097 --> 00:37:25.797
 one I found as far as twelve by twelve.
 
 00:37:25.978 --> 00:37:26.157
 Wow.
 
 00:37:27.717 --> 00:37:28.838
 uh Jonathan reports that
 
 00:37:28.898 --> 00:37:29.860
 soldiers are paid eight
 
 00:37:29.900 --> 00:37:31.740
 pence a day so eight pence
 
 00:37:31.800 --> 00:37:34.943
 a day times one month I'm
 
 00:37:34.983 --> 00:37:36.485
 not up to date on my uh on
 
 00:37:36.505 --> 00:37:38.706
 my uh conversion and math
 
 00:37:38.726 --> 00:37:40.867
 skills for that um but yes
 
 00:37:40.887 --> 00:37:42.128
 I'll have to as I said I
 
 00:37:42.148 --> 00:37:43.010
 don't remember the exact
 
 00:37:43.349 --> 00:37:44.490
 figure from what I had in
 
 00:37:44.510 --> 00:37:45.711
 the dissertation but it is
 
 00:37:45.972 --> 00:37:47.594
 it is obviously less than a
 
 00:37:47.634 --> 00:37:49.454
 shilling so um so good um
 
 00:37:52.096 --> 00:37:52.878
 So we've been talking with
 
 00:37:52.938 --> 00:37:54.079
 Nicole Breaux from the
 
 00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:55.483
 University of Texas, El Paso,
 
 00:37:55.523 --> 00:37:56.545
 about her work on the Night
 
 00:37:56.565 --> 00:37:57.365
 Watch of Boston.
 
 00:37:57.567 --> 00:37:58.228
 But also, you know,
 
 00:37:58.248 --> 00:37:59.510
 your book is about early America.
 
 00:37:59.530 --> 00:38:01.755
 So I wonder how other cities,
 
 00:38:01.795 --> 00:38:03.338
 other towns are doing this.
 
 00:38:04.641 --> 00:38:05.463
 Sure.
 
 00:38:05.503 --> 00:38:07.684
 So one of the things that I've, you know,
 
 00:38:07.704 --> 00:38:09.686
 that I kind of started out,
 
 00:38:09.786 --> 00:38:11.989
 big question is what makes
 
 00:38:12.048 --> 00:38:13.530
 Boston's police,
 
 00:38:13.650 --> 00:38:14.652
 is Boston's policing like
 
 00:38:14.672 --> 00:38:15.532
 everyone else's?
 
 00:38:15.592 --> 00:38:16.353
 Is it different?
 
 00:38:17.353 --> 00:38:19.135
 Is this an Atlantic story
 
 00:38:19.175 --> 00:38:20.317
 about everyone kind of
 
 00:38:20.356 --> 00:38:22.278
 policing in the same ways or not?
 
 00:38:22.699 --> 00:38:24.460
 So I did
 
 00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:27.021
 independent research,
 
 00:38:27.302 --> 00:38:30.184
 primary source research on Philadelphia,
 
 00:38:30.284 --> 00:38:33.648
 New York, Charleston, Providence, Newport,
 
 00:38:33.788 --> 00:38:34.608
 and Salem.
 
 00:38:36.130 --> 00:38:36.550
 COVID,
 
 00:38:36.610 --> 00:38:38.152
 I didn't get to go anywhere in the
 
 00:38:38.172 --> 00:38:39.373
 Caribbean to look at how
 
 00:38:39.434 --> 00:38:40.235
 they're watching and had to
 
 00:38:40.275 --> 00:38:42.637
 rely on secondary sources for that.
 
 00:38:43.277 --> 00:38:44.920
 So what I learned from this
 
 00:38:44.980 --> 00:38:47.541
 is there is no one type of watching.
 
 00:38:47.722 --> 00:38:49.023
 All of these places have
 
 00:38:49.063 --> 00:38:51.364
 watches and they use them
 
 00:38:51.505 --> 00:38:53.806
 in different ways, at different intervals,
 
 00:38:53.847 --> 00:38:54.947
 different people serve.
 
 00:38:55.007 --> 00:38:57.730
 It really depends on religious affiliation,
 
 00:38:57.889 --> 00:38:58.851
 what the composition of
 
 00:38:58.871 --> 00:38:59.871
 your population is.
 
 00:39:00.271 --> 00:39:01.072
 For a place like,
 
 00:39:01.152 --> 00:39:02.112
 as we learned from Sally
 
 00:39:02.132 --> 00:39:03.054
 Haddon's great work,
 
 00:39:04.715 --> 00:39:05.615
 looking at a place like
 
 00:39:05.655 --> 00:39:07.717
 South Carolina or Virginia,
 
 00:39:08.336 --> 00:39:09.996
 the primary objective for
 
 00:39:10.097 --> 00:39:13.259
 watches early on is slave
 
 00:39:13.278 --> 00:39:15.139
 patrols and maintenance of
 
 00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:16.260
 slave populations.
 
 00:39:16.579 --> 00:39:17.501
 Not to say that Boston
 
 00:39:17.521 --> 00:39:18.221
 doesn't do that as well.
 
 00:39:18.240 --> 00:39:18.780
 Of course they do.
 
 00:39:18.820 --> 00:39:21.402
 They just don't have the size of, say,
 
 00:39:21.601 --> 00:39:22.583
 New York or Charleston
 
 00:39:23.822 --> 00:39:24.403
 to maintain.
 
 00:39:24.884 --> 00:39:26.925
 So again, it's part of their duties,
 
 00:39:26.985 --> 00:39:30.327
 but not, it's one of more many duties.
 
 00:39:30.726 --> 00:39:32.628
 Boston is the only place who's writing.
 
 00:39:32.728 --> 00:39:35.670
 So the first other place to
 
 00:39:35.690 --> 00:39:39.190
 start writing is Charleston in,
 
 00:39:39.231 --> 00:39:40.291
 they begin to write reports.
 
 00:39:40.311 --> 00:39:41.492
 So after the revolution,
 
 00:39:42.893 --> 00:39:44.974
 So one of the things I think
 
 00:39:44.994 --> 00:39:46.673
 we know more about how
 
 00:39:46.713 --> 00:39:47.855
 Boston conducts its
 
 00:39:47.894 --> 00:39:51.356
 policing because of that.
 
 00:39:51.936 --> 00:39:53.056
 And that helps us to kind of
 
 00:39:53.097 --> 00:39:53.597
 understand that.
 
 00:39:53.876 --> 00:39:55.056
 But my conclusion is
 
 00:39:55.416 --> 00:39:57.177
 watching is something that
 
 00:39:57.378 --> 00:40:00.219
 is absolutely integral to how
 
 00:40:00.978 --> 00:40:03.902
 know labor social entities
 
 00:40:03.981 --> 00:40:06.824
 moral issues etc are all
 
 00:40:06.864 --> 00:40:07.965
 maintained throughout
 
 00:40:08.347 --> 00:40:09.728
 british north america and
 
 00:40:09.929 --> 00:40:10.768
 and other places I mean
 
 00:40:10.829 --> 00:40:13.092
 watches go back to the
 
 00:40:13.132 --> 00:40:14.512
 walls of jericho right you
 
 00:40:14.532 --> 00:40:16.094
 have watches that are that
 
 00:40:16.114 --> 00:40:17.717
 are operating all over all
 
 00:40:17.797 --> 00:40:18.677
 over the world but
 
 00:40:18.858 --> 00:40:20.039
 interestingly not something
 
 00:40:20.059 --> 00:40:21.221
 that we really have
 
 00:40:21.701 --> 00:40:23.481
 studied unto themselves in
 
 00:40:23.541 --> 00:40:24.782
 ways that I think that we
 
 00:40:24.822 --> 00:40:26.061
 put a lot more emphasis on
 
 00:40:26.242 --> 00:40:26.983
 looking at modern
 
 00:40:27.023 --> 00:40:28.143
 scientific policing than we
 
 00:40:28.163 --> 00:40:29.764
 do as to how watches work.
 
 00:40:30.083 --> 00:40:32.463
 But they are something that are ubiquitous,
 
 00:40:32.523 --> 00:40:33.465
 they're everywhere,
 
 00:40:34.625 --> 00:40:37.206
 but they all run in different ways.
 
 00:40:37.585 --> 00:40:38.786
 New York's an interesting entity,
 
 00:40:38.867 --> 00:40:39.226
 obviously,
 
 00:40:39.266 --> 00:40:40.407
 because they are under Dutch
 
 00:40:40.427 --> 00:40:41.188
 control first,
 
 00:40:41.288 --> 00:40:43.048
 and they have their rattle
 
 00:40:43.088 --> 00:40:44.989
 watch that is in effect and
 
 00:40:45.010 --> 00:40:46.570
 then is more anglicized
 
 00:40:46.590 --> 00:40:47.990
 when you have English control.
 
 00:40:48.632 --> 00:40:50.813
 So other places also have really,
 
 00:40:50.853 --> 00:40:52.914
 really interesting developments.
 
 00:40:53.273 --> 00:40:54.394
 And then Boston is, of course,
 
 00:40:54.414 --> 00:40:55.715
 the only place that's
 
 00:40:55.835 --> 00:40:56.856
 occupied by the British
 
 00:40:56.956 --> 00:40:58.659
 Army where they do not take
 
 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:00.199
 over the watch or disband it.
 
 00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:01.081
 So I think that's one of the
 
 00:41:01.121 --> 00:41:02.101
 other things that brings
 
 00:41:02.141 --> 00:41:03.222
 kind of an interesting element.
 
 00:41:03.242 --> 00:41:05.083
 I mean, maybe Gage just took that as a,
 
 00:41:05.103 --> 00:41:07.326
 you know, like that did not work.
 
 00:41:07.565 --> 00:41:09.106
 We are going to usurp every
 
 00:41:09.148 --> 00:41:10.248
 watch here forward.
 
 00:41:10.307 --> 00:41:11.550
 But, you know,
 
 00:41:12.070 --> 00:41:12.911
 that's what happened to New
 
 00:41:12.931 --> 00:41:14.012
 York and Newport.
 
 00:41:14.032 --> 00:41:16.273
 The British take over in Charleston.
 
 00:41:16.293 --> 00:41:16.414
 Yeah.
 
 00:41:18.498 --> 00:41:19.579
 And in some places you have
 
 00:41:19.639 --> 00:41:20.659
 more watch cooperation.
 
 00:41:20.699 --> 00:41:21.141
 In New York,
 
 00:41:21.181 --> 00:41:22.641
 there's more watch cooperation.
 
 00:41:23.081 --> 00:41:23.963
 In other places,
 
 00:41:24.163 --> 00:41:25.103
 they disband the watch and
 
 00:41:25.123 --> 00:41:28.166
 do all of the night patrols
 
 00:41:28.246 --> 00:41:30.748
 and et cetera on their own.
 
 00:41:30.788 --> 00:41:31.829
 So yeah,
 
 00:41:32.548 --> 00:41:34.070
 something kind of interesting there too.
 
 00:41:34.110 --> 00:41:34.911
 So Boston,
 
 00:41:35.331 --> 00:41:36.572
 not to overuse that word unique,
 
 00:41:36.592 --> 00:41:38.693
 but they do have some unique facets,
 
 00:41:39.114 --> 00:41:40.233
 certainly of the way.
 
 00:41:40.454 --> 00:41:42.295
 And of course, you know, having, you know,
 
 00:41:42.376 --> 00:41:44.838
 deep religious underpinnings to,
 
 00:41:45.338 --> 00:41:47.739
 to the colony and, and, you know,
 
 00:41:47.778 --> 00:41:49.440
 fears over indigenous populations.
 
 00:41:49.501 --> 00:41:51.402
 So there are some early, you know,
 
 00:41:52.262 --> 00:41:53.543
 pushes toward morality
 
 00:41:53.583 --> 00:41:54.804
 policing that happened with
 
 00:41:54.844 --> 00:41:56.405
 the watch that, you know, aren't as,
 
 00:41:56.826 --> 00:41:57.065
 you know,
 
 00:41:57.085 --> 00:41:59.686
 as necessarily important for a
 
 00:41:59.706 --> 00:42:00.688
 place like Charleston.
 
 00:42:00.708 --> 00:42:01.708
 Okay.
 
 00:42:01.728 --> 00:42:02.929
 As they are for a place like Boston.
 
 00:42:02.949 --> 00:42:03.650
 Interesting.
 
 00:42:03.690 --> 00:42:04.670
 Who patrols the common?
 
 00:42:06.539 --> 00:42:07.019
 Oh, okay,
 
 00:42:07.079 --> 00:42:11.123
 so there is no set patrol of the
 
 00:42:11.143 --> 00:42:13.664
 common until you have the west watch.
 
 00:42:14.045 --> 00:42:15.565
 So originally what you're
 
 00:42:15.606 --> 00:42:16.806
 supposed to do is the
 
 00:42:16.846 --> 00:42:17.947
 townhouse watch is supposed
 
 00:42:17.967 --> 00:42:19.688
 to walk as far as the common,
 
 00:42:21.088 --> 00:42:23.891
 but there is no watch that
 
 00:42:23.971 --> 00:42:25.472
 is given the instructions
 
 00:42:25.512 --> 00:42:26.552
 to patrol around the common
 
 00:42:26.612 --> 00:42:27.532
 until you have the west
 
 00:42:27.572 --> 00:42:28.813
 watch house that is, I mean,
 
 00:42:29.614 --> 00:42:30.635
 they probably needed it,
 
 00:42:30.675 --> 00:42:31.474
 which is why they
 
 00:42:31.855 --> 00:42:33.016
 constantly have these calls
 
 00:42:33.076 --> 00:42:35.056
 by citizens for a West End watch.
 
 00:42:36.317 --> 00:42:38.539
 But you also, along the Common, you have,
 
 00:42:38.559 --> 00:42:39.338
 I mean,
 
 00:42:39.458 --> 00:42:42.039
 watchmen are going there almost nightly,
 
 00:42:42.621 --> 00:42:42.981
 likely,
 
 00:42:43.021 --> 00:42:44.001
 because they're bringing people to
 
 00:42:44.021 --> 00:42:44.681
 the Bridewell,
 
 00:42:44.722 --> 00:42:46.302
 they're bringing people to the almshouse.
 
 00:42:46.922 --> 00:42:47.382
 You also,
 
 00:42:47.603 --> 00:42:49.543
 so if you look at the map of Boston,
 
 00:42:49.563 --> 00:42:50.864
 the price map, et cetera,
 
 00:42:51.244 --> 00:42:52.686
 the only watch house that
 
 00:42:52.706 --> 00:42:54.987
 appears is in the center of the Common.
 
 00:42:55.407 --> 00:42:56.106
 And I remember the first
 
 00:42:56.126 --> 00:42:57.688
 time I saw the map, I was so excited.
 
 00:42:57.728 --> 00:42:58.568
 I found a watch house.
 
 00:42:58.788 --> 00:43:00.429
 It's not a night watch house.
 
 00:43:00.469 --> 00:43:01.869
 It's the watch house for the powder house.
 
 00:43:02.869 --> 00:43:04.150
 So, yes.
 
 00:43:04.190 --> 00:43:06.550
 So I think that there are
 
 00:43:07.291 --> 00:43:08.811
 carceral or surveillance
 
 00:43:09.351 --> 00:43:12.333
 entities that exist at the common that,
 
 00:43:12.432 --> 00:43:12.733
 you know,
 
 00:43:13.753 --> 00:43:16.255
 makes it made it uh less of
 
 00:43:16.375 --> 00:43:17.775
 a priority before you had a
 
 00:43:17.815 --> 00:43:19.237
 lot more uh building
 
 00:43:19.297 --> 00:43:20.617
 efforts around the common
 
 00:43:20.717 --> 00:43:22.358
 area um and then of course
 
 00:43:22.498 --> 00:43:23.458
 you know the different
 
 00:43:23.498 --> 00:43:24.300
 entities did have the
 
 00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:25.420
 instructions to walk as far
 
 00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:27.061
 as the common but until the
 
 00:43:27.081 --> 00:43:28.021
 west end watch you do not
 
 00:43:28.041 --> 00:43:28.561
 have anyone who's
 
 00:43:28.782 --> 00:43:31.023
 specifically told to patrol
 
 00:43:31.244 --> 00:43:32.824
 the common I was just
 
 00:43:32.864 --> 00:43:34.346
 thinking of the silence do
 
 00:43:34.385 --> 00:43:37.487
 good piece about franklin observes the
 
 00:43:38.248 --> 00:43:40.489
 sailors and prostitutes on the continent,
 
 00:43:40.528 --> 00:43:40.829
 thinking, well,
 
 00:43:40.849 --> 00:43:41.849
 this is a place that isn't
 
 00:43:41.909 --> 00:43:43.329
 regularly being watched.
 
 00:43:43.389 --> 00:43:46.309
 So it would be, you know.
 
 00:43:46.349 --> 00:43:47.750
 Which is part of that commentary, yeah,
 
 00:43:47.969 --> 00:43:50.351
 of the need for more oversight.
 
 00:43:50.731 --> 00:43:51.590
 Right, yeah.
 
 00:43:51.630 --> 00:43:52.610
 Well, thank you so much.
 
 00:43:52.650 --> 00:43:54.032
 We've been talking with Nicole Breaux,
 
 00:43:54.211 --> 00:43:55.552
 author of Set the Watch,
 
 00:43:55.592 --> 00:43:57.512
 Policing and Governance in Early America,
 
 00:43:58.112 --> 00:43:59.532
 Assistant Professor of
 
 00:43:59.572 --> 00:44:00.733
 Colonial and Revolutionary
 
 00:44:00.753 --> 00:44:02.233
 America at the University of Texas,
 
 00:44:02.293 --> 00:44:02.713
 El Paso.
 
 00:44:02.733 --> 00:44:04.173
 Thank you so much for joining us, Nicole.
 
 00:44:04.193 --> 00:44:05.574
 This has been a fascinating
 
 00:44:05.594 --> 00:44:07.094
 discussion and look forward to the book.
 
 00:44:08.097 --> 00:44:08.876
 Thank you so much, Bob.
 
 00:44:08.896 --> 00:44:09.697
 This has been wonderful.
 
 00:44:09.737 --> 00:44:10.577
 Thank you for having me.
 
 00:44:10.918 --> 00:44:11.978
 And you also have an article
 
 00:44:12.018 --> 00:44:13.599
 coming out in Panorama for
 
 00:44:13.858 --> 00:44:15.418
 the Journal of the Early
 
 00:44:15.458 --> 00:44:16.739
 Republic is publishing.
 
 00:44:16.938 --> 00:44:19.239
 And so, yeah, so it's a fascinating topic.
 
 00:44:19.260 --> 00:44:20.480
 So thank you for pursuing it.
 
 00:44:21.820 --> 00:44:23.041
 I want to thank Jonathan Lane,
 
 00:44:23.141 --> 00:44:25.181
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 00:44:25.222 --> 00:44:26.302
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 00:44:26.422 --> 00:44:27.501
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 00:44:27.521 --> 00:44:28.302
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 00:44:28.342 --> 00:44:29.983
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 00:44:30.416 --> 00:44:31.936
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 00:44:31.996 --> 00:44:32.896
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 00:44:36.079 --> 00:44:38.280
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 00:44:39.760 --> 00:44:41.860
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 00:44:42.521 --> 00:44:43.262
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 00:44:43.362 --> 00:44:44.362
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 00:44:44.422 --> 00:44:45.922
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 00:44:45.963 --> 00:44:47.603
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 00:45:01.190 --> 00:45:02.010
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 00:45:02.050 --> 00:45:03.592
 Now we will be piped out on
 
 00:45:03.612 --> 00:45:04.512
 the road to Boston.