It appears that this talk has no connection to the protests of the 1760s, but rather to the 1772 Pembroke Resolves. As the story goes, the resolves were the first time there had been an open, published text that considered the separation of the American colonies from Great Britain if the mother country did not uphold their end of the bargain (i.e. rescind their overreach). Since this pre-dated the Declaration of Independence, it's therefore of immense importance. Just recently, Pembroke Resolves Day became an official day through the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

But, was this really the case? How unique is the Pembroke Resolves and why was it written? Certainly, looking at the document, there is nothing subtle about it:

“Resolve that the measures so justly complained of by this Province and the other colonies on the continant are persisted in and enforced by fleets and armies they must (we think of it with pain) they will in a little time issue in the total dissolution of the union between mother countory and the colonies to the infinight loss of the former and regret of the latter.” [1]

Yet, reading the actual text and contrasting it to what, for example, MA rep. Josh. S Cutler wrote in honor of the proclamation of Pembroke Resolves Day in 2018, we see that the document is saying something very different. Cutler wrote that"[m]any other towns later offered their own resolves setting out a list of grievances against the crown, but Pembroke was the first to go so far as calling for independence." Yet this is not what the document states, as seen above. Instead, it simply states that if Great Britain continues in its present path, this might regrettably result in "dissolution of the union". It's not calling for independence. At best, it can be interpreted as a warning.

Unlike Cutler's claim, Pembroke was not alone in expressing their grievances at the same time. Lexington, New Bedford, Sheffield, Springfield, Worcester - all these towns and many more (a total of 240 towns) wrote responses and resolves. Why? I've written more extensively on this here, but in a brief summary, a Boston town meeting in late 1772 formed a Committee Of Correspondence which would facilitate colony-wide communications. 240 towns in Massachusetts received the so-called 'Boston Pamphlet' which urged the towns to create their own committees and to express their grievances. The Pembroke Resolves has to be seen in this context. The sentiments expressed in the Pembroke Resolves were common throughout Massachusetts, just as common as views expressing the opposite opinion. The Pembroke Resolves are therefore nothing out of the ordinary and has not gained the attention of many scholars because of this.