Gage, Thomas

(1721-1787), came to America in 1754 in command of a regiment accompanying Braddock’s expedition. He was appointed Governor of Montreal in 1760, and from 1763 to 1772 was commander-in chief in America. In 1774 he was appointed Governor of Ma achusetts, and attempted to subdue the antagonism of the colonists to English rule. In 1775 he sent troops to destroy stores collected at Concord, and this led to the battle of Lexington. The colonists refused to recognize Gage as Governor, and soon after the battle of Bunker Hill he resigned his commi ion. Gag-rule. A rule adopted by Congre in January, 1836, on motion of John C. Calhoun. Congre had long been besieged by petitions from abolitionists all over the country. Calhoun proposed that henceforth all anti-slavery petitions be laid on the table unnoticed. This infringement upon the right of petition only increased the petition spirit in the North, and the “‘ gag-rule’’ was, after a long struggle, abolished December 3, 1844. John Quincy Adams was its bitterest opponent and an ardent upholder of anti-slavery principles in Congre during ten years. 281