Samuel Harken’s Life

in the American

Revolution

Charles Townshend

created the Townshend

Acts

December 18, 1767

December 18, 1767Is taking more from us so that they have enough for themselves all they ever think about? Economically deprived by the war, the

Empire is now taxing us heavily, but can’t they see that they are making us give away what little that we have? In their greed to

take more for themselves, they don’t realize that we don’t have any more to give. Now, even basic things like stamps, tea, and

sugar are taxed. We can’t live without them, yet we can’t pay the taxes. Now we have the Townshend Acts, and they are slowly

killing us.

Father was a soldier in the war. When it was won, there were never any words of congratulations or gratitude from the King. Not

to any of the soldiers. The Empire sits on its haunches and thinks that they are the only ones losing, but they can’t see that they

are taking everything we have away from us. The lobster-backs go back to England and lead a good life while we are here

struggling. Our neighbours are just as upset. They complain about how we have to pay the taxes when we don’t even get a voice,

and there has even been talk about rebelling. Recently, the motto “No taxation without representation” had been getting more

and more popular, and I have to say, I agree. I may not be old enough to understand everything, and I know that I’m just a

student, but I understand that the world we are living in is not fair.

They tax the stamps, they tax the tea, they even tax our sugar. They tax the things that they know we can’t live without, so we

are sure to pay the taxes. We may have gained land in the war, but soon, all the people that now inhabit the land will be dead.

Paper, paint, glass, and tea are now also taxed, and everything that we buy now has a tax on it. We used to live in this country for

hope, but now the sole reason that we still exist is to give money to the King.

The tyrant across the ocean is too busy bathing in all the gold that we have given him that he does not see that he is killing his

own people. We are all grateful that they have given us the land, but don’t they realize that they didn’t spend millions of pounds

on us, for our futures, but rather – for themselves? They spent that money so that they have more land for themselves. And we

have to pay for it. In the house across from us, two children are starving because their parents can’t pay for the taxes.. All their

money has been given to the Empire but they still ask for more. What good is collecting money from a colony that soon won’t

exist? All of us will die off soon if they take all of our money and make things even more expensive.

The King promised us that we would live in peace and prosperity. Right now, we live in poverty and prosecution. The King has

broken his promise. The taxes are killing us.

I really hope that things don’t get worse from here. I’m not sure that I can take it – that everyone can take it. We are dying so that

we can give the King what he wants, but he doesn’t see that. He doesn’t care. And so we will keep dying while offering our

money to him. And when that happens – what good will a dead colony be to him?

There were troops of

trained soldiers at

Lexington.

April 25, 1775

April 21, 1775I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I can be, and I don’t know where things go from here. Two days ago there was a battle. I

heard the soldiers going past my house in Lexington in the morning, and the ground trembled with their footsteps. The lobster-backs

each carried a musket and looked incredibly intimidating. In long, perfect rows, they marched past my house in a seemingly endless

streak of red and white. They marched down the path to the war ground, and I remembered running after them. I don’t know why I did

that. Maybe I just wanted to see how this would all go down, and maybe help my countrymen.

I’ve wanted to join the minutemen for a while now. Father wouldn’t let me join, and told me that war wasn’t worth giving up my future

for, that it wasn’t worth giving up all the hope in my future for. I want to defend what I care about but my parents want me to take over

the family business, and joining the militia would get in the way of that. I want to fulfil my parent’s dreams, but I want to follow my

own as well. My father is insisting that I take over the business soon, and we often fight about my future.

I want to defend what is right. For the last few years since the Townshend Acts, things were rougher than ever. British ships came in to

close the Boston Harbour. Congress met without Georgia for the first time. The Boston Massacre happened and stirred up rage with it.

Our men are dying. The British kill more and more everyday, but I can’t do anything.

I watched the battle from a distance, and it was the most amazing experience of my whole life. Watching a scrawny, untrained army

fight and defeat one of the best armies in the world was wonderful, unlike everything I had ever known. Our soldiers walked into battle,

some without shoes or weapons, but we won. When the hideous loyalists were confiscating our weapons, we got backup and managed

to beat them at Concord. That’s all that matters for now. If we have won this battle, we will surely win all the consecutive ones. It’s

alright if nine out of ten times we can’t beat the Redcoats, that one time where we can is all we need to bring out in this battle.

Thank the gods Paul Revere warned Sam Adams and John Hancock to leave. They are the sparks of the revolution and if they were to

be captured, everything would have crumbled. Weakened by this attack, the minutemen will have to train harder now. Oh, how I wish I

were there training with them. That is the future I look forward to, the future that I want for myself, and if it weren’t for my parents’

wishes, I would have already joined the militia. They wanted my to take over the family business, a small grocery shop, at any cost.

This is the spark of the true revolution. I can feel it. I can feel the victory that is surging in the veins of the soldiers, and all of the others

that want to break free because I can feel it in mine. I understand their amazement because I was there. I know their joy and their hope,

because I share it. As long as there is hope, we will not stop fighting.

I have made up my mind. I will join the minutemen and defend what I believe is right. The King has forgotten about the people that he

governs and is now only interested in his own gain. This is not the way that it should be. A King is here to lead us, to guide us and make

sure that we thrive. Our King cannot do this for us, and therefore he does not deserve the title anymore. We will break free, forge on,

and write our own future.

The British were

outnumbered and out of

supplies during the siege

December 25, 1783

December 25, 1783They used to say in school that the time before the dawn is the darkest in the night. In those dark days at Yorktown, I thought that there

might never be any light. But Cornwallis has surrendered, and that means the lobster-backs go back to England. It means that we’re free.

In the last few years, there were many attacks on us, and the Loyalists wiped out a large portion of us. The Battle of Monmouth was a

memorable battle. All of our men were grateful to Molly Pitcher for fetching us water during that battle. Her bravery when her husband

fell was admirable in the eyes of all the soldiers. The British later captured Saccanah, Georgia, and this disheartened many comrades.

Later, Camden and Charleston were taken from us.

The past few years since joining the militia then the Continental Army were rough. There sometimes weren’t enough food, and often, our

comrades died. But it’s paid off. Ever since we came into Yorktown, things have been rough. Flour was 2000% more expensive than it

used to be. Farmers and shopkeepers hid the goods and livestock from us because they were afraid that we were going to take them away.

There was barely anything that we could eat in the period, and many died. Before this battle, there was series of attacks that continued over

the years. The British attacked us many times, and weakened us greatly, but we rose back up. This time we’re going to end all this.

The 5,500 French soldiers that were on our side were also a huge help in battle. On September 28, George Washington, with 7,800

Frenchmen, 3,100 militia, and 800 Continentals set out to lay siege to Yorktown. That day, we were so happy because this looked like

the end of the long war for us. None of the soldiers wanted to fight Britain, the land that has governed us, but we had to fight for what we

thought was right.

As the siege went on, the rations and supplies grew tight, and many of us went to bed hungry. We didn’t know how the British were

holding up, but we knew they were getting weaker. They fight harder, but they fight with the strength of dying men. A sure victor bides his

time. A desperate man scrambles blindly.

After about a month, the British finally surrendered. They did not have enough supplies and Cornwallis and his men knew that they were

surrounded. Cornwallis was a coward and didn’t come to the ceremony of surrender claiming illness. I am disgusted that I had to fight a

man that does not know how to lose, that sees shame in falling down but does not have the strength to pick himself up.

The Treaty of Paris was presented to the Parliament two days ago, and with it, a peace came over this land. We were now allowed to fish

in Canada, and promised that we would pay back the British merchants. We have problems and we have rough edges, but it’s our country

now.

I’m honoured to have fought in this revolution, to shape this land into the free country it is today. I do not know what it will be like in a

hundred, or two hundred years, but I know the events that are happening now will shape history.

We are paving the way to a new world. We may fall down and scrape our knees many times in this process, but each time we will rise back

up. Each time we will get to our feet again and march forward. This is our world now, and we’ll shape it with our hands for the world, for

the future.

"Charles Townshend." US Exams. StudyBlue, 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 19

Mar. 2015.

"The American Revolution." : The Battles of Lexington and Concord.

Blogspot, 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

"Siege of Yorktown, Sept-Oct. 1783." Siege of Yorktown, Sept-Oct.

1783. Latina American Studies. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

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