George R. T. Hewes was a British shoemaker who lived in the Boston area during the 18th century. He wrote in a memoir the details of punishment during this time as well as the events leading up to, and during the actual event known as the Boston tea party. After discussing the way that the event went down he then goes on to talk about the people inside of the town that still sold tea products and the things that the colonists would do to them. I believe that his memoir is very important to history. It gives an inside perspective to what is going on within the town of Boston days before the uprising unfolds. The details that George R. T. Hewes shares are first person and allow the reader to get involved in what is happening and how it is progressing. The first full paragraph starts out as a reflection of one of George’s days. He …show more content…
This was shut down as much as possible, people that were found were punished severely as seen to be not on board with the movement they were fight for. One person mentioned in the memoir was Capitan O’ Conner. He was found stuffing tea leaves in his pocket and upon being almost seized, the tail of his coat was all that was recovered. This tail was posted on the whipping post for all to see. I found that the dedication of the colonists was amazing. Finally, the last thing mentioned was the people that still sold tea and how they were treated by the rebels. One mention in the text was that of “Mrs. Phillips, a tory, . . . would import tea and sell Tories.”(Johnson 106). She was treated treacherously, Men smeared fecal matter all over her house. The great length that the rebels would go to stop the sale of tea is disturbing. Smearing fecal matter over a woman’s house just because she supports the cause is uncalled for. They went so far to protect their liberty in odd ways, in some respects, I admire
Many people believe that the Boston Tea Party arose just because of the Tea Act that came into play in 1773, but in-fact, this major statement arose from two issues surrounding the British Empire in 1765. The first of the issues was that the British East India Company was at risk of going under and the Parliament was finding ways to bring it back. The second issue was that there was a continuing dispute about the extent of the Parliament’s authority. Many colonists believe that the Parliament went overboard with their power and the people were concerned about the future. Attempting to resolve these two major issues, the North Ministry only worsened the problem and produced a showdown that would eventually result in revolution.
Many people know about the Revolutionary war and how the colonists seized their independence from the British. What most do not understand is that there was a series of events that steared the colonists onto the road to independence. They began to think for themselves and started to challenge authority. Coming to the New World, the colonists reached for power and financial opportunity when challenging authority in these three examples: the Witchcraft Trials, Bacon’s Rebellion, and the Boston Tea Party.
Alfred Young is a historian who takes a harder look at the life of an ordinary Boston man, George Robert twelves Hewes, before and after the revolution changes in America. The book looks at the developments that led up to the American Revolution through the life Hewes, who goes from a shoemaker to a rebel. Not only was Hewes a participant in the Boston Massacre, he was also involved in the event that later would be referred to as the Tea party. His involvements in these events paint a clearer picture of what can motivate someone to take up arms and fight for their freedom.
The soldiers were trialed for murdered but were found innocent. Afterwards, a group of men formed named The Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty lead protest in Boston. A key event leading to the revolution was the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was a protest lead by the Sons of Liberty. The group of men dumped the imported tea and further eroded the relations with Britain. After the Boston Tea Party, the colonist refused to drink British tea. As stated in Tom Gage’s Proclamation, “Whereas the rebels hereabout, Are stubborn still, and still hold out; Refusing yet to drink their tea, In spite of Parliament and me” Furthermore, the British were becoming annoyed by the colonists actions. Therefore, the British passed the Intolerable Acts. The Intolerable Acts, as the name predicts, made the colonists furious. The British had passed the Intolerable Acts precisely to punish the Massachusetts colonist. The Acts consisted of the Massachusetts Bay closing, until tea was paid for, and a new Quartering Act, The new Quartering Act allowed British Troops to be stationed in private homes if necessary. Also, it gave power to the crown to elect all officials in
It was obvious that the Colonists weren’t responding well to tighter control from the British, but they did not know how to handle it except to squeeze tighter. In an effort to bring back the East India Company from bankruptcy, the British Crown granted them a monopoly on tea sales to the American Colonies. Without competition, the East India Company had full control over the prices they set. This infuriated the colonists. Pamphlets and protests did not seem to be cutting it anymore, so some felt like action needed to be taken.
In response to the Tea Act of 1773, the colonists had various reactions. The Tea Act was suggested by Lord North in order to save the East India Company from bankruptcy. This act also allowed the East India Company to bypass most of the taxes placed on tea, except for the Townshend Act tea tax. The Tea Act made the East India Company’s tea the cheapest, even with the tax. The colonists were
Throughout The Shoemaker and the Tea Party, Alfred Young clearly walks us through the ordinary life of George Robert Twelves Hewes. Some main topics discussed are: average people in historical events, how groups of people view the past, and how memories are shaped over time. Hewes is not the only person discussed in the story, yet this book is essentially a biography of his life. Young touches all of the topics through talking about the different times in Hewes’ life. Ultimately, within this essay, I will demonstrate the understanding of The Shoemaker and the Tea Party, and effectively discuss the main topics during the course of this story.
In the first few months of 1773 the British East India Company found it was sitting on large stocks of tea that it could not sell in England. It was on the verge of bankruptcy, and many members of Parliament owned stock in this company. (USA, 1) The Tea Act in 1773 was an effort to save it. The Tea Act gave the company the right to export its merchandise without paying taxes. Thus, the company could undersell American merchants and monopolize the colonial tea trade. By October, the Sons of Liberty in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston threatened tea imports and pledged a tea boycott.
He was in the crowd that provoked British Soldiers to fire upon them in what we now today as the Boston Massacre, and even knew a few of the victims. Probably the most interesting and popular experiences Hewes had was being apart of the destruction of tea in the Boston harbor. This act of dressing up as an Indian to destroy tea would not be really remembered or called the Boston Tea Party until many years later. In Hewes old age, he left his home to travel to Boston to be celebrated as Americans began to remember the events of the revolution and recognize him as the oldest living Member of the Boston Tea
As I began to research this paper I soon realized that the topic I was looking on would be difficult because of the aspect I was attempting to look at it from. I wanted to see everything from the eyes of those who remained undocumented by the history books. But if I’m looking for something that isn’t there, how on Earth can I find it? I turned to my paragraphs to show me the light. George Hewes was a lowly shoemaker in Boston in the pre-revolution years, and was written about by Alfred Young. But what did the author leave out, and why was he biased towards the young patriot.
The Boston Tea Party was not really a tea party. Instead it was a group of people dressed like Indians with axes dumping tea off three ships to protest British taxes. It took place in Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts on December 16, 1773, from 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.
The Boston tea party was a brief incident among many, composing, economic, and political crisis that ultimately caused a revolution. These events consisted of The French and Indian war, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Revenue Act, the Tea Act, and of course the Boston Tea Party. The incident caused by the colonies infuriated the British government therefore as punishment parliament responded to the abuse with the Coercive Acts of 1774 . When the thirteen colonies once again decided to resist the British troops revolution spread. “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” This act later on lead to the American Revolutionary War, were years later independence was
At the beginning, the Britain did not put much pressure, but the British started to levy taxes on paper, sugar and tea. The colonists also started to stand against the British, and formed a group called Sons of Liberty (Malaspina, Ann). They raided tea-filled British ships, and dumped 92,000 pounds (41,730kg) of tea that are more than a million dollars today (Kjelle 30). After the Boston Tea Party occurred, the revolutionary war also called the American Revolution, really began. In other colonies, there were some colonists who tossed tea from British ships into their own harbor Such as New York, after the Bostonians threw the cases of tea (Anderson 41). The British wanted Boston to punish as a warning to colonists. Also, this event proved an incentive to an armed conflict in 1775, and this is one of reasons of the American
Many sections of the book were unnecessary and useless for my certain task. Most of the book was also written in a story format and was not cold hard facts. However Chapter 5 gave an in-depth description of the Boston Tea Party and also the effects it had on the colonist. It also stated what the colonies did about this and how they went about rectifying it.
The civil rights era highlighted unacceptable conditions of inequality, economic distress, and obsolete government laws. These societal woes formed an outcry for change that propelled and forged leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and the Black Panther Party’s Fred Hampton. Although these unique individuals had different visions on how to eradicate these conditions, they all had a belief in the power in numbers or the masses. Hence, today organizers tend to be more obscured. Instead of one emerging leader or a face of a movement(s), today’s protest movements have more collective or shared leadership. Unlike the protesting or boycotting of yesteryear, today’s movements will reach a higher volume of people. The rationale behind it, not because of lack of engagement, but due to technology. As we have delved into the purpose, process and historical accounting of the Poor Peoples Campaign and Resurrection City, we also must also focus on how we will protest today.