Portfolio: Essay #2

Dear Diary,
----When I was a little girl my parents use to tell me how lucky I was to live here in Boston and still have British protection. As the years go on my eyes have been opened and the truth has been unfolded. Growing up with a father in government I have always been well knowledged on the things that go on politically. As I get older I begin to form my own opinion and values. When America was first colonized Britain didn’t plan out thorough how we were going to be governed. Britain’s plan was to have colonists live in America many miles across the water but still be governed by Britain. Shortly afterwards Britain begun passing laws that helped themselves, without taking our best interest into consideration. After the Stamp Act was passed many colonists began thinking in a new direction, independence from Britain. Unfortunately, many of the colonies were split over the issue of Independence. Some people chose to stay loyal to the British no matter what happened. Others who decided to no longer keep letting Britain take advantage of us while they profit off of our economic struggles. I will do nothing but stand up for what I believe in and do anything to protect my liberty and fight for independence. I will no longer try to ignore the fact that Britain is not my home country anymore for they don’t care about my wellbeing. They proved this multiply times once when they intruded in our homes, the Tea Tax, and again with the Boston Massacre.
----Before even talk of war Britain sent their troops to Massachusetts trying to get control of the patriots in Boston. “In the fall of 1768, three thousand uniformed troops arrived to occupy Boston, The soldiers drilled conspicuously on the Common, played loud music on the Sabbath, and in general grated on the nerves of Bostonians” (Roark p27). This disturbance upset a lot of people living here and went on to an even bigger event. The Boston Massacre, which was where once again the people of Boston were protesting against Britain. My father told me they were only throwing snowballs at British soldiers, when the soldiers in return killed five Boston colonists. This was a devastating time for all of us in Boston. I think it was a time when a lot of the people who were still supporting Britain finally turned their backs, and became united with the American colonies.
----Winning the French and Indian war cost Britain a lot of money. Britain needed desperate help and the solution was to pass acts to tax the colonies in America. The colonists did not want to pay taxes because they were not represented by Parliament and had no say in the making of laws. "The colonies refused to pay the levies required by the Townsend Acts claiming they had no obligation to pay taxes imposed by a Parliament in which they had no representation".(EyeWitness to History). When they decided to make us pay taxes on tea, it caused a big disruption. Everyone thought it was just plain ridiculous. As a result some people refused to buy tea, while others started smuggling it to avoid paying the taxes. The British government believed that since we were still considered British then we should help get them out of debt too.
----When the Tea Act was passed, they neglected to consider how it effected the common people. My family, friends, and neighbors on the other hand were not fooled by Britain’s newest law put onto them, and were not going to easily accept it. Shortly after the Act was put into place another significant event occurred that people will remember for years. The Boston Tea party, a group of dearest friends here in Boston snuck onto a ship and dumped a significant amount of tea into the harbor to prove their point of how ridiculous the new tea tax was. This made us feel like we had won, but only made the British resent all the people of Boston and pass laws to punish the colony. “In response to the destruction of the tea, the British Government adopted four Acts… the Coercive or Intolerable Acts, [which] closed the port of Boston, redesigned the government of Massachusetts Bay to increase British Authority, provided for moving trials of British officials to another colony or to England when local opinion was inflamed, and permitted the housing of British troops in unused buildings” (Greene). Two of these acts effected us directly here in Boston. One closed the port of Boston to all colonists until the damages from the Boston Tea Party were paid for. Another act gave the British Governor complete control of the town meetings, and taking control out of the hands of the colonialists.
----The colonies in America relied greatly on the trade between them and Great Britain. Well I know for sure everyone here in Massachusetts did. So for Massachusetts to agree upon not sending or importing anything from Britain was a huge step towards our revolution. The people in Boston came to an agreement, "That we will not…import into the province any tea, paper, glass, or painters' colors, until the Acts imposing duties on these articles have been repealed" (Boston Non-Importation Agreement). I am so glad we finally came to an agreement I think it was a semi-successful method in the hopes that we would cause financial hardships to businesses in England. Unfortunately, this was not the last we would hear of Britain, this just encouraged them to keep taxing us which was exactly what we were trying to avoid. I had a feeling war was going to be the next solution. Although war wasn’t what I had initially wanted it was the next thing to come.
----Diary, I have no one else to turn to during this time of economic struggle, fight for independence and war. Because of the British I have no family or friends to lean on or receive comfort and support from anymore. I want this war to be done and over with, so we can get on with our lives. I pray to God every night that our colonies uniting together was for the best, and we will win this war, and win our independence. I can say with confidence that I am a patriot who will fight to my death to win over our independence from Britain. I know from the bottom of my heart that the only way the great people residing in these colonies will ever better themselves is to separate themselves from Britain. It still seems frightening when I think about this independent nation, and what will become of us. Then I remind myself that if we can follow this through to the end then we can finally have a country where the freedom rights we deserve.
Until next time,
Alycia Ann



Citations:
---Kindig, Thomas. "Boston Non-Importation Agreement." August 1, 1768 17 Nov 2008 .
---"The Boston Tea Party, 1773," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2002).
Greene, Jack P.. "A companion to the American Revolution." 19 Nov 2008 .
---Roark, James L., Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, and Alan Lawson. The American Promise. 4th. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009.
---liu, Joan. "SMALLPOX DURING THE AMERIAN REVOLUTION." Biological warfare during the American Revolution 19 Nov 2008 .
---Becker, Ann M.. "Society for Military History ." The Journal of Military History 68april 2004 19 Nov 2008 .