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Whigs were people in the Thirteen American Colonies who resented British rule and believed that the Colonies would be better off governing themselves.
Whig Quotes in Johnny Tremain
The Johnny Tremain quotes below are all either spoken by Whig or refer to Whig. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4
Quotes
Rab was obviously a Whig. ‘I can stomach some of the Tories,’ he went on, ‘men like Governor Hutchinson. They honestly think we’re better off to take anything from the British Parliament—let them break us down, stamp in our faces, take all we’ve got by taxes, and never protest. […] But I can’t stand men like Lyte, who care nothing for anything except themselves and their own fortune. Playing both ends against the middle.’
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Chapter 7
Quotes
‘Uncle Lorne is upset. He says the printers will not be able to go on with the newspapers. He won’t be able to collect subscriptions, or get any advertising. He won’t be able to buy paper nor ink.’
‘He’s sending the Webb twins home?’
‘Yes. Back to Chelmsford. But he and I can manage. The Observer is to be half-size. He won’t give up. He’ll keep on printing, printing and printing about our wrongs—and our rights—until he drops dead at his press—or gets hanged.’
Chapter 8
Quotes
Johnny liked the old woman all the better that in the end she had been unable to see a considerate master, whom she had served for thirty years, a young woman whom she had taken care of since she was a baby, humiliated, tossed about, torn by a mob. Sam Adams might respect her the less for this weakness. Johnny respected her more.
‘It’s no good to me. We’ve… moved on to other things.’
‘But it isn’t stealing to take back what Mr. Lyte stole from you.’
‘I don’t want it.’
‘What?’
‘No. I’m better off without it. I want nothing of them. Neither their blood nor their silver… I’ll carry that hamper for you, Cil. Mr. Lyte can have the old cup.
‘But your mother?’
‘She didn’t like it either.’
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‘Rab! How’d you do it? How’d you get away?’
Rab’s eyes glittered. In spite of his great air of calm, he was angry.
‘Colonel Nesbit said I was just a child. “Go buy a popgun, boy,” he said. They flung me out the back door. Told me to go home.’
Then Johnny laughed. He couldn’t help it. Rab had always, as far as Johnny knew, been treated as a grown man and always looked upon himself as such.
‘So all he did was hurt your feelings.’
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Get the entire Johnny Tremain LitChart as a printable PDF.
Whig Term Timeline in Johnny Tremain
The timeline below shows where the term Whig appears in Johnny Tremain. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...to him. Johnny knows little about politics, but he can tell that Rab is a Whig (they believe “taxation without representation is tyranny”). Rab explains that he can stomach Tories (British...
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Chapter 5
1. Mr. Quincy takes Johnny, Rab, Cilla, and Isannah to the Afric Queen. Several Whigs stop to laugh about how Quincy embarrassed Merchant Lyte earlier, though Quincy also warns Johnny...
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...to deliver papers. Before long, Johnny is also well-informed about politics and has become a Whig. He falls off often but discovers that he can coax Goblin back to him with...
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Chapter 6
...Liberty, tacking up Mr. Adams’s notices. Johnny goes to look and sees a Tory chasing Whigs who tried to tack a notice to his house. The men turn on him and...
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...the fiddler.” Everyone knows this, and everyone knows that England will punish all of Boston, Whig and Tory alike. While everyone else is exhausted the next day, Paul Revere rides to...
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Chapter 7
...whole, friendly and civil. With Rab’s encouragement, Johnny begins carrying notes for the British. Though Whigs tease him for being disloyal, Johnny soon uncovers double agents and feels great about himself.
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...and make him swear loyalty to the King—mostly because Dove says that Johnny is a Whig.
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...is moving to the country estate for a while, but they’ll be back soon: the Whigs are trying to tempt Mr. Lyte to go so they can tar and feather him....
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Chapter 8
...tarred and feathered farmer. When Colonel Nesbit begins leading the procession to each of the Whig papers, making threats, Johnny runs ahead to the Observer’s office. Rab is there. He explains...
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Chapter 9
...that the papers will still get to an eager readership: lots of British soldiers are Whigs, and that’s why there’ve been so many deserters. Still, though, they’ll “fight like hell” when...
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...Pumpkin’s musket, and he and Johnny begin secretly casting bullets at night. Like all other Whigs in Boston, they’re melting pewter from family members—Aunt Jenifer gives hers to Rab. People make...
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Chapter 11
...Lytes are afraid, and Cilla adds that she and Mrs. Bessie are the only two Whig servants and so are refusing to go. Izzy will go with the Lytes, though Cilla...
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