The Shoemaker: The Boston Tea Party

The Shoemaker and the Tea Party The nickname “The Boston Tea Party” that refers to the rebellious actions of dumping tea into Boston harbor was actually given in a later time period. The original name that colonist described it as was “The Destruction of the Tea”.1An important man named George Robert Twelves Hewes gives a personal recollection of his participation during the prerevolutionary war. Hewes was renounced a hero in his later years towards his hundredth birthday. He was the last know survivor of the massacre, a leader during the tea party, and a privateer. Hewes’ story helps identify how ordinary men were treated in the American and their opinions of equality in the late eighteenth century. A revolution was necessary to impede
George Robert Twelves Hewes was considered an ordinary man because of his financial standpoint. Hewes was a shoemaker. Most shoe makers were generally poor during this era due to the simple craftsmanship. The reason why George was put into shoe making was because “No one in his family had the indenture fee to enable him to enter one of the more lucrative trades.”1 This was not the only thing that prevented Hewes from becoming anything but a shoe maker. “George was too small to enter trades that demanded brawn.”1Hewes eventually wanted to escape his life of shoe making through the military. However, Hewes did not fulfill the height requirements of the royal army.1During the summer of 1768, four thousand British soldiers were stationed in the town where Hewes’ shop resided. Hewes claimed he knew how irritating it became to be challenged by British soldiers after curfew.1The soldiers simple annoyance of curfew was not the only thing they had done to Hewes. One soldiers in particular ordered shoes from Hewes. However, the soldier never paid for them. Hewes also says he witnessed a soldier “sneak up behind a woman, felled her with his fist, stripped her of her bonnet, cardinal muff and tippet.”1 It was clear to Hewes that the soldiers were abusive. The colonist must have also witnessed countless attacks similar to what Hewes
The colonist fell intolerable of British rule after much economic and physical abuse. . George R.T Hewes was regarded as “living history” when he gave his accounts of what happened during the revolution. 1 George’s story is vital for history purposes because he gives firsthand details on how life was growing up in the colonies as a poor man, as a protestor and as a patriot. Although Hewes did not gain any riches or instant popularity from being a patriot, he did gain liberty to think of himself as a better man. After fighting and protesting side by side with the Sons of liberty and other patriotic men, George Robert Twelves Hewes discovered that he is indeed equal to any man despite being a poor shoe maker.1 George Hewes is a symbol for the ordinary man that existed and participated in the events during the