Journey on the Freedom Trail

By: Miss Clarke

Image 2: The Boston Common

Image 1: Faneuil Hall

Image 4: Old South Meeting House

Image 3: Old State House

Image 5: Old North Church

It was very difficult being a colonist in the late 1700s. The British Parliament placed many taxes on all of us colonists including the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. The Sugar Act placed a tax on all molasses (sugar), coffee, and other products that were imported into the colonies in large amounts. The Stamp Act required tax stamps to be purchased and placed on all printed materials including newspapers, legal documents, college diplomas, almanacs, playing cards, and dice. We used the items taxed by the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act on a daily basis which made this act expensive and unfair.

The colonists are I decided that we would have “no taxation without representation” since the colonies sent no representatives to Parliament and therefore had no say in the development of taxes. This was a violation of our rights and led us to have many town meetings at Faneuil Hall (image 1) where we discussed the taxes and possible solutions. We decided to have a protest at Faneuil Hall against the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act causing them to be repealed. Our protest was successful and we celebrated the repeal of the acts at the Boston Common (image 2) with bonfires and fireworks.

Unfortunately, the British Parliament still placed some taxes on us such as the Townshend Revenue Act which placed a tax on colonial goods that were exported or sent to England including, glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. This caused me to debate British rule and taxation at the Old State House (image 3) in Boston with other colonists during meetings led by Samuel Adams. Then on March 5, 1770 just outside the Old State House, a street fight occurred known as the Boston Massacre. The colonists and I threw snowballs, stones, and sticks at the British soldiers. These British troops were not welcome in our city of Boston. Captain Thomas Preseton, a British officer, gathered more soldiers who fired into the mob of colonists. Several colonists died or were wounded.

The British Parliament still would not stop taxing us as they passed the Tea Act in May of 1773. The Tea Act sold us tea at a bargain price from the British East India Company. The British thought shipping the tea directly to the colonies and selling it at a bargain price would help the British East India Company. The British East India Company had eighteen million pounds of tea to sell and needed financial support at the time. However, the other colonists and I were worried following this act would support the taxes already in force and after all, we were still being taxed without representation in government. When three ships, the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver sailed into the Boston Harbor, the other Bostonians and I did not want to buy this taxed tea. The Sons of Liberty gathered and had a discussion in the Old South Meeting House (image 4) to determine what should be done with the tea. We failed at sending the ships with the tea back to England so we decided to disguise ourselves as Mohawk Indians and marched down to the harbor painted in coal dust and with hatchets in our hands. We boarded the three British ships and destroyed the tea by opening the chests and dumping them into the harbor. All of the tea was left floating in the harbor and the event known as the Boston Tea Party was a success.

The British Parliament was furious and passed the Intolerable Acts to punish us. The Intolerable Acts closed the port of Boston, limited town meetings, and required colonists to house British troops in America. These acts were a violation of our rights and made us want to fight against Britain even more. This is exactly what happened on April 18, 1775 when the Sons of Liberty discovered the British plot to send troops to Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere and Robert Newman were prepared for this arrival and planned to warn the other colonists by following the phrase, “One if by land, two if by sea.” Newman climbed the eight stories of the Old North Church (image 5) where he hung two lanterns for a few moments to alert the patriots that the British were advancing by boat. They were about to begin the battle of Lexington and Concord and the start of the American Revolution.

• School House Rock Video:

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5YIBmfZid0

• Brain Pop Road to the Revolution:

•http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=144117

• Interactive Timeline:

•http://timeline.americanrevolutioncenter.org

• PBS Kids Liberty Boston Tea Party Literature:

•http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/chronicle_boston1774.html

• Paul Revere’s Engraving of the Boston Massacre:

Artifacts