Gov. Thomas Hutchinson doubts that colonists will ever receive the same rights as British citizens.

In a letter to Thomas Whately, Hutchinson writes, “I doubt whether it is possible to protect a system of government in which a colony 3,000 miles distant from the parent state shall enjoy all the liberties of the parent state . . I wish to see the good of the colony when I wish to see some restraint of liberty rather than [that] the connection with the parent state should be broken, for I am sure such a breach must prove the ruin of the colony.” Hutchinson’s sentiments create great controversy when the contents of the letter and others are released in 1773.*