Samuel Adams And Boston's Sons Of Liberty example essay topic

Michelle Chamber Mr. MorressettePer. 2 Term Paper Boston's Great Effect Independence. Freedom. Democracy. All of these powerful things were gained after winning the war against Great Britain during the American Revolution. But what many people do not realize are all the leading contributions that of which helped start the revolution.

One great aspect in getting the kettle burning was the city of Boston, Massachusetts, with non stop revolting, the Boston Tea Party, and also the Boston Massacre, all as contributing factors. Many revolutionists, such as Samuel Adams and Boston's Sons of Liberty have all played major roles in helping such events to happen. What many people don't realize is what an impact Boston has had on Americas Freedom. Many causative actions such as The Sugar Act, The Stamp Act, The Quartering Act, and the Townshend Act were all causes as to why Boston hosted many revolts. The Sugar Act had placed tariffs on a varied assortment of goods, such as sugar, molasses, textiles, coffee, indigo for dyeing, and wine (Rubel, 4). In 1765, George Grenville, proposed the Stamp act, which put a tax on all paper goods and documents (Rubel, 5).

Grenville was in charge of the national debt and had succeeded Prime Minister William Pitt (Rubel, 3). Passed in 1765, the Quartering Act was put into place; this had meant that authorities were held responsible for sheltering and supplying all troops within their community (Rubel, 6). As things were getting worse, the Garrett 2 Bostonians, along with the rest of America erupted. Riots had ejected from all over the country, surprising even "America's explicitly patriotic group", Boston's Sons of Liberty (Rubel, 5). Then there was the Townshend Acts which had a similar outlook just as the Sugar Act but also condensed the North American troops by almost half and allowed royal officials in American colonies to be paid directly by the Crown (Rubel, 7). With all the revolting against Great Britain, there had been a leader, that leader would have to have been Samuel Adams.

Sam Adams had piloted many revolts including one of the most popular, Boston's Tea Party. He also urged the boycotting of all British trading with the American colonies. Later he served as governor of Massachusetts from 1793 to 1797 (Chid sey, 95). On June 10th, 1768, the HMS Romney, one of British's warships detained John Hancock and the Liberty and indicted them with the charge of tax evasion. This had proved that Britain was trying to prove a point and try to set some examples as to what would happen if Boston and the rest of the colonies would continue with the rioting. John Hancock had been one of the wealthiest and most popular men in Boston.

Also it had been well known that he was quit chummy with fellow revolutionist Samuel Adams. Hearing of what had happened to John Hancock had caused uproar with the colonists and eventually caused another boycott of all British goods, hoping for the repeal of the Townshend Duties. Much to John Hancock's luck, charges were eventually dropped due to lack of evidence. With out much public knowledge, as a way to teach the Bostonians obedience and hopefully have them lead by example and cause all riots in the colonies to end, three regiments of Great Britain's redcoats sailed over to Boston on September 29th. Garrett 3 But due to the outnumbered redcoats, the overpowering Bostonians had quickly turned the tables (Rubel. 7).

February, 1770, angry rioters surrounded Ebenezer Richardson's house. Ebenezer Richardson was a customs informer and he had appeared to be waving his musket at the town's people. After throwing clods of dirt and breaking down his front door, Ebenezer Richardson had fired his gun and ended up killing an eleven year old boy by the name of Christopher Snider. Well over two thousand Bostonians attended his funeral under the Liberty Tree. Sam Adams then took this opportunity to blame the responsibility of the young boys death on the British (Rubel, 7). Almost directly after the death of eleven year old Christopher Snider, on the night of March 5th, 1770, Private Hugh White had butted a young boy with his gun, chased and stuck him again.

The town's people, nearly 200, gathered around White. He then had to call for backup. After trying to persuade the people to disband, White realized that it was useless because the people had seemed to be going crazy (Bailyn, 116). Someone in the crowd had then thrown a club, causing it to knock down a soldier which then caused his gun to go off. No one knows if it was or was not intentional, but regardless it had caused more shots to be fired. In the end five civilians were left dead and six had been injured.

According to Sam Adams it was a massacre, the Boston Massacre (Rubel, 8). Incidentally, that same day the Townshend Duties had been lifted. Even with the Boston Massacre just happening, the revoking of these duties had quieted Boston for the time being. The one thing that had not been taken away was the tax on tea however; this was thought to be easily avoided by smuggling Dutch tea (Rubel, 8). Then the East India Garrett 4 Company had been granted a monopoly on the trade for the colonies. This then caused the Bostonians to become upset and they proclaimed that no East India Ship would be allowed to land in Boston (Rubel, 9).

Then as the ships arrived the people once again threatened them, this still had no affect on them and they still came. Well this then caused numerous amounts of men and women to dress as Mohawk Indians to board the ships and dump the tea. This was known as the Boston Tea Party. Over 340 chests had been dumped into the ocean. Not only had this wild behavior been in Boston but through all thirteen colonies; in Maryland an entire ship was destroyed, in New York they burnt the tea, and in South Carolina the tea had been seized and sold for other activities to rebel against (Rubel, 9).

The outcome of this all happening was a set of new laws. The Coercive Act was then put into place; this made Boston pay for the destroyed tea (Rubel, 9). The Boston Harbor was shut down after the Boston Port Bill and then all of the purposes of self rule was ended with the Massachusetts Government Act (Bailyn, 119). Bostonians then had to protect themselves from the redcoats; the colonists trained themselves to be ready at moments notice, thus calling themselves "Minute Men". (Rubel, 9), If it had not been for the American Revolution then America would not be what it is today, free, independent, and in charge.

Many great contributions all helped in starting the American Revolution and one of the leading contributors would be Boston and its people. From rioting the different assortment of acts and the massacre along with the tea party, and the help of Sam Adams and the Son's of Liberty, Boston has played an important role in starting the American Revolution.