In the heated disputes of March 6th, on the privotal question of whether troops could or should be removed from Boston, no language had greater influence than the resolution or "Vote" passed unaimously by the town meeting soon after it convened at 11AM at Faneuil Hall. Its efficacy seems to have resulted from its bevity, its rigorous avoidance of any characterization of the events of the previous evening (which might have occasioned disputes upon facts), and its canny rhetorical duplicity: while it assumes the form of the petition ("we therefore most fervently pray His Honor..."), its content is an uncompromising demand ("the immediate removal of troops.") The "vote" succeeded in its most essential function--to set the agenda for the deliberations of the day.

View the full page of the 12 March 1770 Boston Gazettee from which this "vote" is excerpted.