Gage 's thoughts on the reasons for colonial unrest played an important role in furthering the unrest . He at first believed that the popular unrest after the 1765 Stamp Act was primarily due to a small number of colonial elites , led by those in Boston . In 1768 he recommended the deployment of two regiments to occupy Boston , a move that further inflamed the city . Among the troops quartered in the city was the 29th Regiment of Foot , which had previously clashed with colonists in Quebec and New York , and had a reputation for poor discipline . This occupation eventually led to the Boston Massacre in 1770 . Later that year he wrote that " America is a mere bully , from one end to the other , and the Bostonians by far the greatest bullies . " Gage later came to change his opinion about the source of the unrest , believing that democracy was a significant threat . He saw the movement of colonists into the interior , beyond effective Crown control , and the development of the town meeting as a means of local governance as major elements of the threat , and wrote in 1772 that " democracy is too prevalent in America " . He believed that town meetings should be abolished and recommended that colonisation should be limited to the coastal areas where British rule could be enforced
Boston Massacre
Boston Massacre
Thomas Gage