March 5, 1770

Paul Revere’s drawing of the

“massacre”The real drawing of the “massacre”

Friday, May 17, 13

Shots of a MassacreMarch 5 1770

The whistles of the bullets echoed around the city of Boston. It seemed as if time had stopped. Ice ran down my spine as I looked out the window of my shop. Down the street, on King’s Street, I see blood trickling on the pavement like a little stream weaving itself between the dirt. It was hard to tell the difference between a Red Coat and a bloody man. Screams flooded my ears and tears show in my eyes as this event reminded me of the time when I traveled here with my family from Georgia, looking for a new life.

The ground shook as my stallions, with their white manes flashing in the light, pulled my carriage along the trail. Before the eyes of my family and I, there was a new life and a new beginning. I, Peter Smith, had arrived in Boston, Massachusetts in the March of 1769, about of year before today.

I am a male silversmith, as my last name says so and I proudly look up to the crown that sits in England after my ancestors came here long ago with the settlers. The crown is our symbol of hope and it shall always be our leader. I am no American though, as I come from Georgia I am a proud loyalist and I will always remain loyal to the crown.

I can understand the fury some settlers felt in the Proclamation of 1763. This proclamation stated that we, English colonists, were not allowed to go west of the Appalachian Mountains to keep us out of Indian business. However, we are not the center of the world. We colonists must realize that the king made this proclamation to help our butts from getting an arrow stuck in our bloody limbs! But here, in this new city, I have seen tension build between the Bostonians and the British soldiers. “Lousy lobsterbacks!” or “Go back home to England!” were chanted at the soldiers down and back the street. When a soldiers walked by on the street, a block later he would be soaking wet or have a crevice square on his butt. Everybody knew what happened, some snickered but loyalists, like me, always felt pity. It must be hell for those soldiers. After traveling six months to get here, they get treated like nothing at all. Who do these colonists think they are, god or something? But today, March 5, 1770 was the limit. The Bostonians deserved every bit of pain they received. 5 people dead? Hell, that seems too easy on the Bostonians. The King must show who is in power and who is right! And this was no massacre. These people were armed with clubs other weapons! What do they expect to happen when they throw snowballs at the soldiers? And after clubbing Captain Thomas Preston? All he was trying to do was order the soldiers to stand down and negotiate to the Bostonians to go away. Likewise, why would they yell “fire!” at the soldiers when the soldiers are panicking with all the people crowding them? Those people deserved to be shot because they brought it onto themselves. But hell, hope these colonists don’t get too feisty, like a cat guarding its food, over this “massacre”. And the new name for this event, the Boston Massacre, will always be remembered as a day where things change in the lives of each soul in the 13 colonies.

Friday, May 17, 13

June 10 1774

A picture I drew of the

Bostonians chanting in the

streets

The sons of liberty dumping the

tea into the Boston harbor that I

found in a dump

Friday, May 17, 13

Let us be taxed!June 10, 1774

"No taxation without representation!" is what the crowd cheers. What is this? After King George III used his money to fight a seven year long war in order to save us which put him in lots of debt, the Bostonians repay him with this? I proudly will be taxed if it is in order to save the crown and British from going bankruptcy. But I fear that I am alone on this thought here in Boston. If this were Georgia, my whole city would think alike and remain loyal to the crown. That is how it ought to be around here. What can be achieved from rioting and chanting to these soldiers? Hell, I’ll be surprised if they even lift an eyebrow to those rebellious pests.

The quartering act, the sugar act, the stamp act. We as colonists of England should proudly pay these taxes if it is to serve a purpose. I am willing to give my money or let soldiers stay at my house for a good cause. Those spoiled brats call themselves American. To hell with that! We are British citizens and our king fought a war for us so it is time we repay them by stop boycotting their goods. Who cares about the tar and feathers? If you are British, be proud of it and show what we are really made of to those colonial cripples!

Stamps here, stamps there, British goods here, British goods there, this is what I want! When this happens, we will stop being taxed and we will be treated just like any other Englishmen but for now, we pay the price of the war our beloved King fought against France, for us.

But sometimes there is a limit to what can be done. The colonists are out of control. Some “Americans”, calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, dressed up as Indians, on December 16, 1773, colonists stormed into a ship and dump all the imported tea into the Boston Harbor! “Hoorah!” they screamed cried as they called this the Boston Tea Party as I heard the next morning when I woke up to the cries of triumph the colonists howled. What will that reach for us, how will that help? All it will do is anger the king and we will be punished even more! And of course, we were punished by the Coercive Acts, also called the Intolerable acts by the colonists. These acts gave more power to the British Parliament and reduced town meetings, which angered the colonists greatly.

People like me who believe in these taxes have to pay the price with you darn colonists! And that tea could have drunken the tea in the morning just like any other family does in England and had fun with our families, NOT GETTING A PUNISHMENT FOR AN INCIDENT THAT CHANGED NOTHING AT ALL! Curse them colonists, curse them to the ends of hell and please father, help them come to their senses before they do anything more stupid than they have already done.

Friday, May 17, 13

July 5, 1776

King George III’s picture

which I keep in my roomDeclaration of Independence copy

handed out to people in the streets

with John Hancock's giant signature

Friday, May 17, 13

Please  Sign  your  John  HancockJuly  5,  1776

 

“Sign  your  John  Hancock  right  here,”  they  told  me  as  I  was  signing  a  paper.  This  phrase  has  been  popular  ever  since  yesterday,  July  4,  1776  when  the  delegates  of  almost  every  colony  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  After  so  many  years  of  yelling,  “No  taxation  without  representation!”  they  Jinally  start  to  change.  

A  month  ago  I  moved  here,  to  Philadelphia.  I  couldn’t  handle  Boston  no  more.  It  was  full  of  American  patriots  who  would  go  mad  in  order  to  deceive  the  crown.  The  “massacre”  6  years  ago  and  the  rebellious  minds  against  taxation  drove  me  away.  But  here,  in  Philadelphia,  I  feel  safer  and  more  at  ease.  But  today,  a  change  has  occurred  to  me.  The  declaration  was  signed  and  I  fear  the  worst.

Three  days  ago,  on  July  2,  1776,  the  Second  Continental  Congress  voted  to  review  Thomas  Jefferson’s  work  of  the  Declaration.  As  Jefferson  was  the  Jiercest  and  strongest  writer  in  the  congress,  he  was  elected  to  write  the  Jinished  declaration  but  four  others,  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Robert  Livingston,  and  Roger  Sherman  were  all  named  to  produce  the  Jirst  draft  of  the  declaration  which  followed  along  the  path  of,  all  humans  have  equal  rights.  But  we  were  born  with  equal  rights!  Even  if  it  doesn’t  seem  so  with  the  King,  he  is  no  selJish  pig.  He  knows  the  needs  of  the  people  and  we  must  remember  he  saved  us  from  them  French  and  Indians!

  But  once  this  declaration  was  approved,  56  delegates  of  the  continental  congress  signed  it.  With  their  signatures,  they  have  all  blasted  themselves.  How  do  they  expect  the  King  to  not  hang  them?  How  would  the  colonists  make  an  army  that  could  defeat  the  strongest  military  in  the  world?  The  sprit  may  be  important,  but  people  must  be  realistic.  I’d  rather  live  my  life  and  a  King,  whom  I  admire  deeply,  than  throw  away  my  life  and  get  convicted  of  Treason.

Life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  are  written  on  the  paper  of  independence.  We  have  life,  we  have  liberty  and  we  should  appreciate  life  while  we  can,  not  beg  for  more.  The  king  could  easily  just  slaughter  us  and  let  us  rot  out  here  in  America,  a  six  month  voyage  from  England,  but  no,  he  sends  soldiers  over  to  protect  us  from  foreign  nations  and  also  Indians.  The  King  uses  his  money  for  us.  Why  do  we,  colonists  from  England,  ask  for  more?  The  King  gives  us  what  we  deserve  so  we  should  pay  him  our  respect  and  try  to  earn  his  trust  if  we  want  more.  That  is  how  we  should  have  approached  the  king  from  the  beginning,  not  chant  in  the  streets  or  bully  the  soldiers.  But  most  of  all,  we  should  have  kept  the  Declaration  of  Independence  out  of  hand  and  proudly  be  a  colony  of  England.  We  already  have  the  natural  right  to  live  so  why  don’t  we  use  it  and  make  King  George  III  proud  of  us?  Let  us  loyalists  pray  that  King  George  III  takes  the  declaration  as  a  joke  and  does  not  let  the  chains  off  of  the  Red  Coats.

Friday, May 17, 13

December 26, 1776

Art drawn by my friend of

the Hessian soldiers

Another drawing that the same

friend drew after we escaped from

the battle

Friday, May 17, 13

The  loss  of  the  battleDecember  26,  1776

 

I  screamed  I  screamed.  Christmas  night  was  supposed  to  be  a  happy  night,  not  a  bloody  massacre!  The  continentals  took  us  by  surprise.  We  didn't  have  time  to  reach  for  our  muskets  before  George  Washington  led  the  bloody  continental  army  into  the  fort.  We  couldn’t  see  it  coming.  I  wish  I  could  live  this  day  freely  and  happily  for  the  one  time  in  the  past  few  months,  ever  since  I  joined  the  Royal  British  army.

I  still  remember  the  day  when  the  Red  Coats  came  to  my  house  in  Philadelphia.  They  were  moving  north  in  the  colonies,  sieging  one  city  at  a  time.  But  the  man  asked  me  if  I  wanted  to  join  the  army.  He  said  I  would  be  a  hero  and  treated  well  once  the  war  was  over.  He  made  a  promise  to  me  saying  that  the  war  would  end  within  a  few  months.  I  thought  of  what  he  said  and  gave  him  the  answer  of  yes,  I  would  happily  join  the  Royal  British  army  and  Jight  along  with  my  fellow  Englishmen.  

But  the  promise  wasn’t  kept.  Sure  we  had  never  lost  a  battle  for  the  longest  time,  but  the  bloody  war  raged  on.  Blood  had  been  splattered  onto  my  palms  as  my  comrades  fell  down  to  the  ground.  I  was  not  excused  to  help  my  friends  and  the  only  thing  I  could  do  was  Jight  for  him  and  push  forward  in  the  battle.  I  hate  it  but  I  cannot  turn  back  now.  I  agreed  to  Jight  and  I  will  not  betray  my  word.

But  they  would  not  give  up.  No  matter  how  many  battles  we  won,  they  would  keep  coming  at  us.  They’d  use  barbaric  ways  of  Jighting  such  as  Guerilla  warfare  and  take  out  my  friends  one  at  a  time.  I  could  not  forgive  them  but  more  then  anything,  I  wanted  to  war  to  end.

Lexington  and  Concord,  the  place  where  the  Jirst  shot  of  the  war  was  Jired.  That  one  shot  that  dragged  all  of  us  into  hell.  The  shot  heard  around  the  world,  as  people  called  it,  the  end  of  peace  and  the  beginning  of  hell  as  the  minutemen  faced  the  Red  Coats  head  to  head.  They  had  no  chance,  yet  they  stayed  and  didn’t  turn  their  backs.  “Do  not  Jire  unless  Jired  upon!”  they  would  tell  their  men  but  something  went  wrong.  Either  a  misJire  or  an  accident  it  doesn’t  matter.  The  war  had  started  and  there  was  no  turning  back.

Yesterday,  December  25,  1776,  the  tide  of  the  war  changed.  The  continental  army  Jinally  won  a  battle,  a  very  major  battle.  900  out  of  the  1500  men  at  Trenton  were  captured  along  with  22  killed  and  the  patriots  did  not  lose  any.  Most  of  these  men  were  the  German  mercenaries,  Hessians.  I  barely  made  it  out  in  one  piece.  With  one  friend,  we  both  snuck  out  to  the  forest  as  soon  as  the  Jirst  gunshot  was  echoed  throughout  the  camp  as  if  god  was  warning  us  to  run.  I  was  relieved  I  did  not  drink  a  pint  of  beer  or  else  I  would  have  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  unlucky  people.  

God  help  us  all  and  help  us  end  this  bloody  war.

Friday, May 17, 13

The country where

the Treaty of Paris

was signed

A drawing hung up all over America

of Lord Cornwallis surrendering to

George Washington

September 4, 1783Friday, May 17, 13

Independence  and  defeatSeptember  4,  1783

NO  BLOODY  WAY!  I  refuse  to  accept  this!  I  will  not  tolerate  this  joke  at  all  until  I  rot  to  death!  America  has  not  defeated  us,  the  British,  in  this  eight  yearlong  war.  A  ragged  army,  merely  formed  of  farmers,  has  defeated  the  most  powerful  army  in  the  world!  How?  How  could  this  happen?  These  were  the  thoughts  of  thousands  and  thousands  of  British  people,  especially  King  George  III.  The  continental  army  has  done  the  impossible.  No  one  would  have  thought  this  could  happen.  It  was  as  if  the  world  had  Jlipped  upside  down  and  our  souls  drifted  out  to  space.

As  scary  as  it  seems,  I  was  there,  at  Yorktown  when  we  started  to  crumble.  Lord  Cornwallis  led  us  to  Jight  the  continentals  but  turned  back  our  forces  and  “Jled”  to  Yorktown.  His  plan  was  to  lure  the  continentals  in  and  once  they  got  to  the  peninsula,  they  would  suffer  utter  defeat,  as  the  Naval  cannons  would  bombard  them  to  pink  mist.  But  it  did  not  happen.  Americans  had  support  form  France  and,  only  a  few  years  ago,  started  training  the  soldiers  more  and  more  to  be  stronger  and  better  disciplined.  But  that  was  not  it  as  their  navy  snuck  up,  like  hawks,  behind  ours.  With  our  ships  vulnerable,  the  French  massacred  them  ruthlessly  and  sank  every  single  one  of  the  beauties.  We  were  all  surrounded.  Yorktown  was  a  Peninsula,  meaning  water  surrounded  us  in  three  different  directions.  The  French  navy  in  the  sea  and  the  continentals,  with  the  help  of  some  French,  stormed  towards  us  like  a  big  rain  cloud  inching  its  way  down  the  horizon.  We  had  not  choice  but  to  surrender  after  having  500  deaths  during  this  battle.  6,000  of  us  British  soldiers  surrendered  at  Yorktown.  This  battle  was  a  great  devastation  to  any  British  man  or  woman.  

I  was  a  prisoner  of  war  for  a  very  long  as  the  war  raged  on.  After  Yorktown,  there  were  no  big  battles.  We  knew  we  had  lost.  The  British  in  New  York  were  our  only  hope  but  as  time  had  told  us,  it  was  impossible  for  a  miracle  to  happen  for  us.  

The  war  ofJicially  ended  on  September  3,  1783  with  the  Treaty  of  Paris.  On  that  day,  I  was  Jinally  released  from  prison  in  dishonor.  As  I  had  nothing  left  here  in  the  united  colonies,  I  had  decided  to  go  back  to  England,  where  I  can  call  home.  

Today,  my  family  and  I  are  aboard  a  British  ship,  carrying  fellow  soldiers  and  their  families  back  to  England,  all  of  us  having  the  same  thoughts.  Before  I  left,  I  saw  glimpses  of  rebuilding  and  rumors  of  a  new  government  in  the  United  States  of  America.  They  called  this  government  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  But  rumor  also  has  it  that  this  government  is  a  failure  and  one  man,  James  Madison,  is  in  charge  of  making  a  new  one.

The  blood  shed  throughout  the  war  had  tormented  us  British  and  we  do  not  know  how  we  can  pick  up  our  lives  again.  But  one  thing  is  clear,  the  American  colonies  had  done  the  impossible  of  defeating  the  most  powerful  military  in  the  war,  the  British  army.  But  as  impossible  as  it  seems,  there  is  still  a  Jlare  in  some  British  soldiers  mines  of  losing  to  the  colonies  at  war.  I  cannot  believe  how  they  still  seek  vengeance  upon  the  Americans  but  war  changes  people  in  one  way  or  another.  All  I  can  pray  to  god  is  for  help  in  the  years  to  come  and  the  hope  that  England  will  not  seek  war  against  the  colonies  any  more.

Friday, May 17, 13

CITATIONS

! Mackenzie, John. "American Revolution War." American Revolution : The Battle of Yorktown. Chalfont Web Design, 2002. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://www.britishbattles.com/battle-yorktown.htm>.

Penner, Lucille R. Liberty! New York: Scholastic, n.d. Print. Mintz, S., & McNeil, S. (2013). Change this text to the title of the section. Digital History. Retrieved (insert the date your retrieved the information here without parentheses) fromhttp://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/(add the complete URL for the specific page) "PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS TOOL." Primary Source Analysis Tool. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://www.loc.gov/teachers/primary-source-analysis-tool/>. Adams, Abigail. "Letter to Her Husband." Primary Source. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2013. <http://revolutionaryvoices.wikispaces.com/file/view/primary_source_letter_Abigail_Adams_Letter_to_Her_Husband_%28original%29.jpg/325462000/primary_source_letter_Abigail_Adams_Letter_to_Her_Husband_%28original%29.jpg>. "No Taxation Without Representation." No Taxation Without Representation. JK, n.d. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://

Friday, May 17, 13

CITATIONS

! "Boston Massacre Historical Society." Boston Massacre Historical Society. Boston Massacre Historical Society, 2008. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://www.bostonmassacre.net/pictures/pictures4.htm>.

Holshouser, Hellen. "Heart of a Southern Woman." Our Grandfather Crossed the Deleware and Fought with George

Washington! Helen Holshouser, 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://heartofasouthernwoman.blogspot.com/2013/02/our-grandfather-crossed-deleware-and.html>.

"Hessian Jager." Hessian Jager. N.p., 14 Sept. 2010. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://www.battleofgrotonheights.com/images/hessian_yager.jpg>. "King George III Pictures." King George III Pictures. Social Study Network, 2011. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://www.venturausd.org/balboa/Anter/SSN/Revolutionary_Era/King_George_III/King_George_III_pics.html>. By: Lauren, Elizabeth, Zoey. "Boston Tea Party." Boston Tea Party. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition, n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://www.cr-cath.pvt.k12.ia.us/lasalle/Resources/8th Websites 2013/Lauren Elizabeth Zoey Rev War/Elizabeth Janey rev war/Boston_Tea_Party.html>.

Friday, May 17, 13

CITATIONS

! Ashford, Elizabeth. "Antique French Map." Antique French Maps. Encore Editions, n.d. Web. 14 May 2013. <http://www.encore-editions.com/antique-french-maps-map-3565011-rand-mcnally-and-company-1897-france-maximum-size-30-x-40>.

Friday, May 17, 13