Daniel Malcolm

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2017}}

{{Infobox spy

| name = Daniel Malcolm

| nickname =

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| allegiance = United States

| birth_name = Daniel Malcolm

| birth_date = c. 1725

| birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts Colony

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1769|10|23|1725|1|1}}

| death_place = Boston, Massachusetts Colony

| death_cause =

| buried = Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston

| alma_mater =

| signature =

}}

Captain Daniel MalcolmName spelled "Malcom" on gravestone. ({{circa|1725}} – October 23, 1769) was an American merchant, sea captain, and smuggler.{{Cite book|last=Anderson|first=Fred|title=Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766|publisher=Vintage Books|year=2001|isbn=0-375-40642-5|location=New York|pages=717|language=en}} Malcolm was known for resisting the British authorities in the years leading up to the American Revolutionary War.{{Cite web|title = This Old Pew: #4 And #25 – Captain Daniel Malcolm, Merchant And Enemy To Oppression|publisher = Old North Church|url = http://oldnorth.com/2015/02/26/this-old-pew-4-and-25-captain-daniel-malcolm-merchant-and-enemy-to-oppression/|access-date = February 22, 2017|archive-date = February 23, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170223125149/http://oldnorth.com/2015/02/26/this-old-pew-4-and-25-captain-daniel-malcolm-merchant-and-enemy-to-oppression/|url-status = dead}} He was the brother of John Malcolm, a minor British customs officer who was violently tarred and feathered by a Boston mob.{{Cite book|last=Jensen|first=Merrill|title=The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution, 1763-1776|publisher=Hackett Publishing|year=2004|isbn=978-0-87220-705-9|location=Indianapolis|pages=2|language=en}}

When the Townshend Acts were passed, Malcolm instigated a boycott on British imports. He led a group of Boston merchants to stop importing products for a year in 1769.{{Cite book|last=Groner|first=Alex|title=American Heritage History of American Business|publisher=New Word City|year=2016|isbn=978-1-61230-937-8|language=en}} He was particularly noted for smuggling sixty casks of wine without paying any dues.{{Cite book|last1=Marcus|first1=Jonathan P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0EICUe-xWtkC&dq=Daniel+Malcolm+smuggler&pg=PA25|title=Our Boston|last2=Marcus|first2=Susan Cole Kelly, Jon|date=2003-07-05|publisher=MBI Publishing Company LLC|isbn=978-1-61060-469-7|language=en}} When British customs men showed up to confiscate the contraband stowed in his cellar, he refused. Malcolm was able to muster four hundred men and boys to block British reinforcements. This episode is said to have contributed to the Liberty Affair involving John Hancock.{{Cite web|date=2015-12-01|title=The Liberty Affair – John Hancock Loses a Ship and Starts a Riot|url=https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-liberty-affair-john-hancock-loses-a-ship-and-starts-a-riot/|access-date=2022-01-07|website=New England Historical Society|language=en-US}}{{Cite book|last=Stevens|first=Peter F.|title=Untold Tales of the Boston Irish|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2021|isbn=978-1-4671-4707-1|location=Charleston, SC|pages=129|language=en}} Malcolm publicized the illegal seizure of a vessel owned by Hancock, who was also a known smuggler.{{Cite web|title=Daniel Malcom Biographical Sketch|url=http://www.celebrateboston.com/biography/daniel-malcom.htm|access-date=2022-01-07|website=www.celebrateboston.com}} It is said that he took risk in providing this eye witness account, which was published in the Boston Chronicle's January 9, 1769, issue. The Liberty Affair led to a riot that was one of the main factors in the British government's decision to send troops to Boston, a move that would culminate in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.{{Cite web|title=Liberty Affair {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/liberty-affair|access-date=2022-01-07|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}

File:Capt. Daniel Malcolm, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston, Mass. - DPLA - b03bf611352ac37415c14e0b852b9ce0.jpg

Malcolm died on October 23, 1769, and was buried in Boston's Copp's Hill Burying Ground. He is said to have asked to be buried in the location, ten feet deep "safe from British bullets". His body was left alone but his tombstone was singled out for target practice by the Red Coats.{{Cite book|last=Guides|first=Insight|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=heycDwAAQBAJ&dq=Daniel+Malcolm+smuggler&pg=PT94|title=Insight Guides Explore Boston (Travel Guide eBook)|publisher=Apa Publications (UK) Limited|year=2018|isbn=978-1-78919-275-9|language=en}}