The Paxton Boys March on Philadelphia in 1764 occurred within the context of Pontiac's War, during which Indigenous attacks threatened Pennsylvania's frontier settlements. The Paxton Boys, a mob of settlers from Lancaster and Cumberland counties, had formed in 1763 ostensibly to defend themselves against these attacks. In December 1763, they murdered 20 unarmed Conestoga in Lancaster County, justifying their actions by claiming the Conestoga were colluding with the Lenape and Shawnee attackers. This vigilante violence demonstrated the escalating tensions between settlers and Indigenous peoples in colonial Pennsylvania.
In February 1764, the Paxton Boys marched on Philadelphia with the explicit intent of murdering Moravian Lenape and Mohican who had been relocated to the city for their protection. This march represented an attempt to extend their vigilante violence to the colonial capital itself, targeting Indigenous peoples who had been placed under official protection. The marchers proceeded as far as Germantown before encountering organized resistance to their plans.
The march was ultimately dispersed when the marchers met with a delegation headed by Benjamin Franklin at Germantown. This negotiated resolution prevented further violence in Philadelphia and represented a significant check on the Paxton Boys' ability to carry out their stated intentions. However, the group's influence persisted beyond this episode. Members led by Lazarus Stewart subsequently supported Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming Valley during the Pennamite-Yankee Wars and later the Revolutionary War, indicating that the Paxton Boys' frontier activism extended beyond their initial confrontations with Indigenous peoples and into broader colonial conflicts. According to historian Kevin Kenny, the Paxton Boys were Pennsylvania's most aggressive colonists, reflecting their significant role in shaping frontier violence during this period.
European colonization of North America accelerated after 1600, with England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands establishing competing settlements along the Atlantic coast, the St. Lawrence River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Mississippi Valley. The first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia (1607) struggled with starvation and conflict; the Plymouth colony (1620) and the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) followed. By the mid-1700s, thirteen English colonies stretched along the Atlantic seaboard, governed through a mix of royal charters, proprietary grants, and elected assemblies. The colonial economy depended on tobacco in Virginia and Maryland, rice and indigo in the Carolinas, and maritime trade in New England — all increasingly reliant on enslaved African labor after 1619. Conflict with Indigenous peoples over land was continuous, punctuated by major wars including King Philip's War (1675–1676) in New England and the Yamasee War (1715–1717) in the South. The French and Indian War (1754–1763), part of the global Seven Years' War, ended French power in North America and left Britain deeply in debt — triggering the taxation disputes that would lead to revolution.
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