General Court passes a law to investigate those who showed Tory sympathies.

The law directs selectmen in every town in Massachusetts to choose a delegate to lay evidence against those who had shown Tory sympathies before the Battle of Lexington. After standing trial, those convicted by the Board of War are to be transported to Europe or West Indies at their own expense. In around January 1778, all Massachusetts residents were compelled to sign an oath of allegiance, and those who refused were to be sent to some British port.