More handpicked essays just for you.
Transformation of the american revolution
Transformation of the american revolution
Transformation of the american revolution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Alfred F. Young’s The Shoemaker and the Tea Party illustrates the life of George Robert Twelves Hewes, a lowly shoemaker in Boston, and his transformation into a citizen active in the revolutionary events of his time. Young uses Hewes’ transformation to illustrate what liberty and freedom meant for the ordinary Bostonian during the revolutionary period, and emphasizes how the definition of freedom was an enigma even as the colonial rebels fought for their liberation from England. As the events of the revolution went underway, it brought an opportunity for everyone affected by and participating in these events to consider and challenge their own definitions of freedom as their new identity as Americans emerged. Hewes was directly impacted by …show more content…
As Hewes was “moved to act by personal experience that he shared with… other plebian Bostonians”, the “unwarrantable sufferings” that Britain inflicted on its American citizens, so many others felt the same need to protect themselves from the British government. Hewes was moved to action and was “politicized...by things that happened to him, that he saw, or that happened to people he knew”. The politicization of Hewes as well as of many of the Boston’s lower classes indicated a growing resentment within the public about their treatment under the crown. Many citizens of Boston abhorred the British government’s violation of their colonialist rights during the time of the Stamp Act and were “excited with an inextinguishable desire to aid in chastising them.” The fact that the famously rebellious Tea Party act was a “quasi-military action, the boldest and most dangerous in Boston up to that time” exemplifies the frustrations of Bostonians and their need to fight for their rights through massive demonstrations to get the attention of Britain. This feeling obligation of many Bostonians to fight to protect themselves from the British government suggests that there was an underlying idea among Americans that freedom meant that all humans have inherent rights and these rights need to be protected by their
Gary B. Nash argues that the American Revolution portrayed “radicalism” in the sense on how the American colonies and its protesters wanted to accommodate their own government. Generally what Gary B. Nash is trying to inform the reader is to discuss the different conditions made by the real people who were actually fighting for their freedom. In his argument he makes it clear that throughout the revolution people showed “radicalism” in the result of extreme riots against the Stamp Act merchants, but as well against the British policies that were implemented. He discusses the urgency of the Americans when it came to declaring their issues against the British on how many slaves became militants and went up against their masters in the fight for a proclamation to free themselves from slavery. But he slowly emerges into the argument on how colonists felt under the
The beginning influential essay examines the Revolution through the experiences and recollections of Hewes who, in the 1830s, had two biographies written about him as Americans were trying to re-appropriate and reinterpret the era to reflect their own perspectives. Hewes never becomes rich but he was still known as a humble man. One of Hewes earliest memories, that Young mentions, is a meeting with John Hancock, one of the wealthiest men in Boston. Hewes became a shoemaker which was, in Young’s assessment, among the lowliest and least respected occupation. For Hewes, the American Revolution became about social equality, where a poor cobbler was as important as a wealthy merchant to the body politic. This is represented when Hewes recounts that even the wealth John Hancock was throwing crates into the water next to him. Young gives Hewes a partial justification in believing this by stating “American Revolution was not a plebian revolution” there was nevertheless “a powerful plebian current within it”
George Hewes’ account of the Boston Tea party is considered a firsthand account of a historically significant event. The Boston Tea party took place the night of December 16, 1773 on three ships anchored in Boston Harbor. Hewes recounts the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party, the actual attack on the ships and its aftermath. He provides descriptive narration thus contributing to the historical context surround the Tea party. This event and many others leading up to it, provide a colorful backdrop on the eve of the American Revolution.
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.
...itish government. In Boston, the site of a bloody confrontation between British redcoats and Americans citizens less than 10 years before, emotions ran high. Boston was a center of agitation and finally on the night of December 16,1773, the course of world history was changed. A revolutionary event was on the horizon. As once patriot mournfully observed, “Our cause is righteous and I have no doubt of final success. But I see our generation, and perhaps out whole land, drown in blood.” (Liberty, 2) The rest is history.
The setting is eighteenth century Boston, Massachusetts. The population in Boston between 1760’s and 1790’s ranged from sixteen thousand to eighteen thousand . Some of the major building that are well known for the time period are Old State House; originally called Town House, this building is very historic the Boston Massacre of 1770 took place in front of this building, also the Declaration of Independence was first read off the balcony. Also Boston has the Old South Meeting House; which in that time was the largest meeting space, this was where the “convocation met before the Boston Tea Party, and this is community commemorated the Boston Massacre” . Another building is the Old North Church, the first stone was laid in April of 1723 taking twenty-two years to complete, this is the oldest church is Boston today. This church’s steeple was immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem “The midnight ride of Paul Revere” . The geography in Boston is that it was a coastal region with poor soil, this was not a farming community, and most people that lived in Boston were people that practice a trade or a craft. The climate in Boston ca...
For my whole life, I have lived in Boston. In 1773, me and some others went on to the British’s ship to protest. We threw 342 chests of tea into the Ocean. This had caused the Boston Tea Party. As I am serving in the war, young women at home are crushing on British soldiers, only for their handsomeness and red fancy coats. At one point Washington’s position was uncertain. Valley Forge was located about 18
The Sons of Liberty was a group of men fighting for their independence. They were fighting before the continental congress or the beginning of the Revolutionary War. They were called out as being disobedient. They were believed to be political radicals at the time; doing what they felt was right for their town and their colonies. The Sons of Liberty were everyday men that expanded from New England all the way down the thirteen colonies. However, the high activity political gang started to appear with aggressiveness in Boston, Massachusetts. This paper will demonstrate the origins of the Sons of Liberty in Boston, their manifest, leading actions, and development within their first year.
“Is there a single trait of resemblance between those few towns and a great and growing people spread over a vast quarter of the globe, separated by a mighty ocean?” This question posed by Edmund Burke was in the hearts of nearly every colonist before the colonies gained their independence from Britain. The colonists’ heritage was largely British, as was their outlook on a great array of subjects; however, the position and prejudices they held concerning their independence were comprised entirely from American ingenuity. This identity crisis of these “British Americans” played an enormous role in the colonists’ battle for independence, and paved the road to revolution.
In the minds of most Americans, the name of Paul Revere forever conjures up the image of the lone patriotic rider shrouded in the darkness of the New England night. His mission: to inform the countryside that the Regulars are coming. On this night, the fate of the natural rights of all men in the new world seemed to rest on his shoulders. As terrifically romantic as this thought may be, it is far from the truth. Revere's midnight ride was anything but the heroics of just one man; rather, it can be much better summarized as the collective effort and doings of all New England Whigs. (ANB)
These divisive effects of the pre-Revolutionary War time period first become evident when Daniel West witnesses certain events go by and starts to question his own loyalty to the British King. Daniel is a young, fourteen year-old, colonist with a father who happens to be a doctor, a sister and a brother, and best friend, Beckett Foote. He has to deal with many worrying events and the conflict between the Tories and the Whigs. They were two groups that caused Salem and its people to split under the escalating violence. The Whigs stood for the American side, however, the Tories were the patriots loyal to the King. Though Daniel and his family were loyal Tories, but he did not take part in any events that occurred where violence was involved. At that time, 1774, Salem was home to a sickness and it caused additional unrest with the current situation between the two groups. It was only a year before the great Revolutionary War would begin. Daniel watches as events that lead to the war take place and starts to question his place with the loyalists. The mischief of The Liberty Boys harassing Tories, adults avoiding their neighbors, the danger of fire in a town, the tricks that Sam Adams plays to work around the British governor and the redcoats, and more force Daniel to make his decisions. The Liberty Boys are a young, rowdy group of trouble makers. Throughout the story, a message is conveyed, simply a touch of danger can change one’s life. Salem was in a time of turmoil; the conflicting groups made it worse.
In the article The Shoemaker and the Revolution written by Alfred F. Young, the transition from ordinary citizen to an assertive patriot is clearly articulated. This article focuses on one man specifically, George Robert Twelve Hewes, an apprenticing shoemaker who was personally affected by events in the revolution. The changes in Hewe’s occurred because of the Boston Massacre of 1770, The Boston Tea Party of 1773, and the tarring and feathering of John Malcolm in 1774.
Alfred F. Young took on an interesting task with his book The Shoemaker and the Tea Party: Memory and the American Revolution. He began his project looking for what role the average person played in the history of the Revolution, but changed directions when he realized it was more than just the common persons account that mattered; it was also about the meaning behind an individual’s memory. The way a person interpreted their experiences was equally important, if not more important, than the details of the events themselves. Young describes the process of constructing memory as both a construction of personal experience and a construction of public memory. What is most important in “doing history” is how those events were forgotten, and then
Rice does a stupendous job of briefly and easily reinterpreting and breaking down a time of revolution, rebellion, and transformation within colonial America. Though short and sweeping, his intriguing work should not go unnoticed for he recreates a crucial event in history into something much more exciting than ever before for his audience. Rice ties this rebellion to other revolutions that would follow such as the Glorious Revolution in Maryland arguing that there is a link between this revolt in 1676 and the many others than would eventually follow. Rice’s narrative is one that is extremely unique. His ability to affectively grasp his readers attention on subjects of history such as Bacon’s Rebellion, that have been previously over looked due to their blandness, is truly remarkable. Despite his inability to give an in-depth analysis on each event that occurred, making the subject interesting and reasonable to read and understand is more important for the success of the narrative. Though some claims within the book could probably use further elaboration for his audience, James D. Rice’s Tales from a Revolution is a well-written book that is able to convey in a concise manner, accurate information regarding an extremely important event in history for a wide array of audiences using what can be considered a new-age style of
At the beginning of the war, everything was in array and no one could agree on anything, disorganization and uncertainty overwhelmed everyone. Organizations that were meant to be unifying factors for the colonists, like the Continental Congress, were little more than debating clubs that had to work for weeks before they could come to a decision. As time went on and the Tea Act was put into place the rage of the people made them grow closer. By the eve of the American Revolution, Parliament’s aggression towards the colonists had drawn a distinction between the colonist’s political, economic, and social ideas and those of the British. Colonists had embraced a new identity that helped fuel their resistance against Britain (American Identity and