On this day in 1765, the British official charged with administering the hated Stamp Act was hung in effigy from an elm tree near Boston Common. A small group of merchants and master craftsmen had staged the prank, but soon a large crowd gathered to vent their anger at the Crown's interference with colonial affairs. Over the next weeks, the great elm emerged as the place in Boston for protest meetings. People of all classes — including unskilled laborers, enslaved people, and women, who were normally excluded from official town meetings — flocked to the "Liberty Tree" to post notices, hear speeches, and hold outdoor meetings. The practice caught on, and with opposition to British rule mounting, Liberty Trees were soon found in many colonial towns.