# Did Loyalists ever tar and feather patriots? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-loyalists-ever-tar-and-feather-patriots/798504 "2017-10-10T18:46:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-loyalists-ever-tar-and-feather-patriots/798504/1 "2017-10-10T18:46:36Z")
Hi Did Loyalists ever tar and feather patriots? I haven’t read of any cases of it. If the loyalists never engaged in it, why not? I look forward to your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-loyalists-ever-tar-and-feather-patriots/798504/2 "2017-10-10T19:38:09Z")
While not answering your question > **[5 Myths of Tarring and Feathering - Journal of the American Revolution](https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/12/5-myths-tarring-feathering/)** > > 1. Myth: Tarring and feathering could be fatal. Busted: The notion that hot tar caused severe, sometimes fatal burns is based on the assumption... may have some information worth following in the footnotes. I am not aware of a specific case but I do believe some of the Loyalist centers/towns in New England to have “heavily oppressed” anyone thought to have Patriot leanings. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-loyalists-ever-tar-and-feather-patriots/798504/3 "2017-10-11T05:41:16Z")
I think it’s reasonable to say people on both sides of the early revolution got attacked by various methods. This article mentions several attacks. I’ll quote just one of them. Interesting that so many people assume roofing tar is the stuff they used to tar & feather. Pouring that on somebody would give potentially lethal burns. Roofing tar is hotter than boiling water. This article claims pine tar is what they used and it wasn’t lethally hot. Tar & feathering was uncomfortable and humiliating but it didn’t kill anybody. > **[5 Myths of Tarring and Feathering - Journal of the American Revolution](https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/12/5-myths-tarring-feathering/)** > > 1. Myth: Tarring and feathering could be fatal. Busted: The notion that hot tar caused severe, sometimes fatal burns is based on the assumption that “tar” meant the asphalt we use on roads, which is typically stored in liquid state at about 300°F... > [@](#): > > Tarring and feathering undoubtedly caused pain and a lot of discomfort and inconvenience. But above all it was supposed to be embarrassing for the victim. Mobs performed the act in public as a humiliation and a warning—to the victim and anyone else—not to arouse the community again. There are no examples of people in Revolutionary America dying from being tarred and feathered. > [@](#): > > On 28 October 1769 a mob grabbed the sailor George Gailer, who had recently worked on the Customs patrol ship Liberty (confiscated the year before from John Hancock). According to the sailor, that crowd stripped him naked, tarred and feathered his skin, and paraded him around Boston in a cart for three hours, striking him with clubs, stones, and “a hand saw.” Gailer recognized some of his assailants and sued. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-loyalists-ever-tar-and-feather-patriots/798504/4 "2017-10-11T06:18:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I think it’s reasonable to say people on both sides of the early revolution got attacked by various methods. > > This article mentions several attacks. I’ll quote just one of them. > > Interesting that so many people assume roofing tar is the stuff they used to tar & feather. Pouring that on somebody would give potentially lethal burns. Roofing tar is hotter than boiling water. > > This article claims pine tar is what they used and it wasn’t lethally hot. Tar & feathering was uncomfortable and humiliating but it didn’t kill anybody. > > [5 Myths of Tarring and Feathering - Journal of the American Revolution](https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/12/5-myths-tarring-feathering/) Is this scene a bit exaggerated ? It does seem to be painful. I’ve read that lard and vegetable oil could remove it. How was it usually removed in those days? John Adams tarred and feathered scene [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDiDFAdaMRg) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-loyalists-ever-tar-and-feather-patriots/798504/5 "2017-10-11T21:59:06Z")
I remember that scene well from the miniseries. It seems pretty realistic to me. The real incident may have been even more violent. The crowd probably beat up the guy first. Angry crowds are notoriously unpredictable and violent. Once they get started anything can happen. A person can easily be beat and stomped to death. The tar & feathering gave the crowd something else to do and ended the beating . It might have saved lives. Stoning is even worse and often lethal. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-loyalists-ever-tar-and-feather-patriots/798504/6 "2017-10-11T22:59:57Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I remember that scene well from the miniseries. > > It seems pretty realistic to me. The real incident may have been even more violent. The crowd probably beat up the guy first. > > Angry crowds are notoriously unpredictable and violent. Once they get started anything can happen. A person can easily be beat and stomped to death. > > The tar & feathering gave the crowd something else to do and ended the beating . It might have saved lives. > > Stoning is even worse and often lethal. Realistic for an event that never happened. There is no record of Adams and Hancock witnessing a tar and feathering (which were rare to begin with) and both were opposed to mob violence. > **[John Adams (miniseries)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_(miniseries)#Historical_inaccuracies)** > > John Adams is a 2008 American television miniseries chronicling U.S. Founding Father and president John Adams's political life and his role in the founding of the United States. The miniseries was directed by Tom Hooper and starred Paul Giamatti in the title role. Kirk Ellis wrote the screenplay based on the 2001 book John Adams by David McCullough. > The biopic of Adams and the story of the first 50 years of the United States was broadcast in seven parts by HBO between March 16 and April 20, 2008...