Read Online Terror Attacks : From the Zealots to Bin Laden (True Crime) by Anne Williams, Vivian Head - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anne Williams, Vivian Head
Tags: nonfiction
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preparations to seize the vessel for nonpayment of tax.
This was when the men took the matter into their own hands. Three groups of 50 Boston residents – calling themselves the Sons of Liberty – burst out of the Old South Meeting House and headed towards Griffin’s Wharf. Masquerading as Mohawks they passed through a large crowd of spectators that had gathered on the docks and boarded the three ships waiting at the wharf. The ships were loaded with hundreds of crates of tea, and the raiders opened all the hatches and took out the tea chests and threw them overboard, first cutting and splitting the chests open with their tomahawks. By 9 o’clock that evening they had opened 342 crates of tea and thrown the contents into the water of the Boston Harbour. Even though the harbour was surrounded by British armed ships, no attempt was made to stop the raids. After rampage, the leader of the groups made the men remove their shoes, wash and sweep the decks, and also made the first mate agree to say that the Sons of Liberty had only destroyed the tea and nothing else. The whole event was remarkably peaceful and the next day, the raiders even sent a man to one of the ships to repair a padlock that had been broken the evening before.
The following morning it was discovered that large quantities of the tea were still floating on the surface of the water, and to prevent the possibility of any of it being saved, a number of small boats were rowed out into the harbour and the inhabitants beat the surface of the water with their oars so that the tea was thoroughly drenched in sea water.
Soon the news of the Boston Tea Party spread and other seaports followed their example and held similar acts of resistance.
When the people of Boston refused to pay for the tea they had destroyed, the British government responded by closing the port of Boston. On top of this, in 1774, they introduced the Restraining Acts, or Coercive Acts as they were popularly known in England, which sparked off new resistance up and down the coast of America. It was these new acts, instigated by Lord North with the backing of George III, which led to the American Revolution. Some members of parliament voiced their opinions that these stern measures would lead to something far worse, but their advice went unheeded.
The Boston Tea Party, however, was not a futile reaction to Britain’s unfair taxes because it received a lot of backing and served to rally support for revolutionaries in the 13 colonies. These colonies were eventually successful in their fight for independence.
Samuel Adams continued to represent the people of Boston, and ultimately became president of the Massachusetts Senate. He voted for the Constitution in 1788, and he strongly supported the need for a bill of rights. He spent the rest of his life as a voice for reform. Adams died in Boston in 1803. His strong belief in independence and his ability to persuade support for the cause of freedom earned him the name ‘the Father of the American Revolution’.
John Brown’s Fight Against Slavery
John Brown’s zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light; his was as the burning sun. I could live for the slave; John Brown could die for him.
Frederick Douglass
John Brown is remembered as being a man of action; a man who declared eternal war on slavery; a man who would not be deterred from his mission of abolishing slavery; a man who would let nothing stand in his way.
John Brown was born on May 9, 1800, into a deeply religious family. His father was a vehement abolitionist and when John was only five the family moved from Torrington, Connecticut, to northern Ohio, an area that would become famous for its anti-slavery views. The views of his father had a lasting effect on the young Brown, who believed that his main education came from his own life experiences. He had very little formal education, and when
This was when the men took the matter into their own hands. Three groups of 50 Boston residents – calling themselves the Sons of Liberty – burst out of the Old South Meeting House and headed towards Griffin’s Wharf. Masquerading as Mohawks they passed through a large crowd of spectators that had gathered on the docks and boarded the three ships waiting at the wharf. The ships were loaded with hundreds of crates of tea, and the raiders opened all the hatches and took out the tea chests and threw them overboard, first cutting and splitting the chests open with their tomahawks. By 9 o’clock that evening they had opened 342 crates of tea and thrown the contents into the water of the Boston Harbour. Even though the harbour was surrounded by British armed ships, no attempt was made to stop the raids. After rampage, the leader of the groups made the men remove their shoes, wash and sweep the decks, and also made the first mate agree to say that the Sons of Liberty had only destroyed the tea and nothing else. The whole event was remarkably peaceful and the next day, the raiders even sent a man to one of the ships to repair a padlock that had been broken the evening before.
The following morning it was discovered that large quantities of the tea were still floating on the surface of the water, and to prevent the possibility of any of it being saved, a number of small boats were rowed out into the harbour and the inhabitants beat the surface of the water with their oars so that the tea was thoroughly drenched in sea water.
Soon the news of the Boston Tea Party spread and other seaports followed their example and held similar acts of resistance.
When the people of Boston refused to pay for the tea they had destroyed, the British government responded by closing the port of Boston. On top of this, in 1774, they introduced the Restraining Acts, or Coercive Acts as they were popularly known in England, which sparked off new resistance up and down the coast of America. It was these new acts, instigated by Lord North with the backing of George III, which led to the American Revolution. Some members of parliament voiced their opinions that these stern measures would lead to something far worse, but their advice went unheeded.
The Boston Tea Party, however, was not a futile reaction to Britain’s unfair taxes because it received a lot of backing and served to rally support for revolutionaries in the 13 colonies. These colonies were eventually successful in their fight for independence.
Samuel Adams continued to represent the people of Boston, and ultimately became president of the Massachusetts Senate. He voted for the Constitution in 1788, and he strongly supported the need for a bill of rights. He spent the rest of his life as a voice for reform. Adams died in Boston in 1803. His strong belief in independence and his ability to persuade support for the cause of freedom earned him the name ‘the Father of the American Revolution’.
John Brown’s Fight Against Slavery
John Brown’s zeal in the cause of freedom was infinitely superior to mine. Mine was as the taper light; his was as the burning sun. I could live for the slave; John Brown could die for him.
Frederick Douglass
John Brown is remembered as being a man of action; a man who declared eternal war on slavery; a man who would not be deterred from his mission of abolishing slavery; a man who would let nothing stand in his way.
John Brown was born on May 9, 1800, into a deeply religious family. His father was a vehement abolitionist and when John was only five the family moved from Torrington, Connecticut, to northern Ohio, an area that would become famous for its anti-slavery views. The views of his father had a lasting effect on the young Brown, who believed that his main education came from his own life experiences. He had very little formal education, and when
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