User:Jbanda0351/sandbox

Copied from Isaac Sears

Isaac Sears was born July 1, 1730 at West Brewster, Massachusetts, the son of Joshua and Mary Sears. He was a descendant of Richard Sears, who immigrated to the colonies from Colchester, England, in 1630. Richard Sears appeared on the Plymouth tax list in 1633 establishing him with the first colonists arriving. Sears was the sixth of nine children born to Joshua and Mary Thatcher Sears. He was a fifth generation New Englander whose family left Cape Cod and settled in Norwalk Connecticut. As a young boy he sold shellfish, and by sixteen had begun apprenticing to the Captain of a New England coastal vessel. After ample time learning the trade, he was commissioned as an officer. By his twenties he commanded small sloops that sailed the North American coast between Halifax and New York. Some of these sloops would see him travel as far as the West Indies, even during the winter. By 1752, he was in command of a sloop trading between New York and Canada. During the Seven Years War he became a Captain of privateers and commanded The Decoy a six gun sloop, The Catherine, and The Belle Isle which had fourteen guns. Sears established his reputation as a privateer during the French and Indian War, commanding a vessel from 1758 until 1761, when he ultimately lost his ship. He moved to New York City and had become successful enough to become a merchant investing in ships engaging in trade with the West Indies. By 1763 he underwent a career change in which he moved on from captaining ships, to settle as a merchant. He started first in vessels but The Revenue Acts of 1764 affected his trade along the North American coast, and West Indies and ultimately forced him to stop trade with Madeira.

Copied from SOL

On October 31, 1765 the day before the Stamp Act was to take effect he was among the merchants assembled in New York City resolved to enforce opposition to distribution of the stamps and to curtail the importation of British goods

·        On October 31, 1765 the day before the Stamp Act was to take effect Sears, and Sons of Liberty Gathered at a coffee house and resolved to enforce opposition to the distribution of the stamps and formed an association to stop importation of British goods until act was rescinded