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| Famous Shipbuilder Tells All About
The Destruction of Tea by Ahmed A. |
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April 26, 1773
It was three years ago when I started my apprenticeship. It was
hard enough that my shipbuilder master Samuel Fent was yelling at me to
get the work done and my body was tired from all of it. Now my life is
easy because I am the boss and the employers work under me. I was not
rich but I had enough money to live a good life.
One afternoon at the market place there was a rumor spread by Ebenezer
Macintosh that the King and the British Parliament had just repealed
the Townshend Act and activated the Tea Act. My opinion on this act is
that it is alright to tax colonists, but why do they tax us without
giving us representation in Parliament. I am just saying that why
should we pay a tax that we wren’t even told to pay? I bet there are
many colonists that consider such a tax to be illegal and are
determined not to pay.
That same day when I was walking home for lunch I saw a Journeyman on
the ground. I carried him to my house, put him down on a seat and woke
him up to give him some smoked meat and a glass of tea. After he ate
his food quickly, he thanked me and told me that he was looking for a
job, so I asked him if he knew Geometry and Algebra. He answered yes.
So I gave him the job to help build the ships and make repairs.
I had a lot of slaves, servants, indenture servants, journeymen and
apprentices working at the docks to fix ships. People usually thought I
would have some of the colonists working for me, but not a lot of
people enjoy building ships. After lunch with the Journeyman I went
back to work. At my job there was slave that did not know English who
was teased and life was harsh for him. It helped much when I stopped
the teasing and the slave and I became friends. If I taught Tamad (the
slave) how to speak and read English, he would ignore the teasing and
keep on working hard.
Sincerely,
William Jamerson
December 16, 1773
I had just finished a few ships that had just went off to sea, it
took about eight months to build and it was bought by a British Captain
. When I sold it to him, I asked what he was going to do with them. He
told in me harsh words, to Stay out of his business. I just walked away
and still had what he said on my mind. I wonder if he is involved
in this business with the ships docked in the harbor. I took the
rest of the day off and went to Malborough Street where my house was.
When I got home I took a nap and tried to get rid of the nonsense of
what that careless man said.
When I woke up the sun had started set and through my window I saw
people walking to the South Meeting House. I got dressed and left
to see what was going on. As I ran to the meeting house I just
remembered that the meeting was today and the meeting that was about
the tea act. At the meeting many people were arguing about if the
ships the brought that tea should stay in Boston or go back to England.
There were Patroits and Loyalists at the meeting debating. As I was
leaving I heard Samuel Adams say “ This meeting can do nothing to save
our country.” I walked to Griffins Wharf to do some extra work because
of when I took the day off. When I got there I saw a crowd of people
dressed as Mohawk Indians dumping chests of tea. When I tried to get a
few tea bars, a colonist grabbed it away, threw it into the water and
told me not to take it or the British soldiers would arrest me and hang
me or put me in jail.
In the morning when I went to work the ships that brought the tea had
disappeared and I looked at the water, but there was no tea in sight,
so I just walked off and told people at work what happened.
Sincerely,
William Jamerson
January 22, 1774
A few weeks after the Destruction of the Tea , there were other
Tea Party’s in the New York, Maryland and New Jersey. When I heard that
the British had closed down Boston Harbor, I slowly stopped
coming to work. We hardly had any business after, I got smallpox.
When I went to Doctor Warren because of the disease he started to take
a piece of metal and make small burns on my body using fire to balance
the disease. When he was done he told me to have plenty of rest
and let the burns heal. I was in pain for the first week, later it
quickly went away and I got back to my work.
After the British closed down the harbor no ships could go out and no
ships could go in. Even our materials to build ships were not coming in
and we could not trade stuff. It was like the British were pressuring
us to pay the tea tax and most Merchants were closing down because they
could not trade without ships going out. Then while we are suffering
they passed the Intolerable acts, which did not let the East India
Company to sell tea to us at low price.
This was devastating and I did not want my life ruined because the
British are putting a tax on us. I am afraid that my shipbuilding
career might be over. What will happen to all my employers, where will
they work and where will I work next.
Sincerely,
William Jamerson
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Historical References:
Boatner, Michael. Parliament Passes Tea Act . 26 April
2006<http://www.patroitresources.com/events/boston tea.html>.
Saari, Peggy Colonial America Almanac. New York : The Gale Group, 2000
The Shipbuilders. 26 April. 2006<http
://www.aclink.org/history/mainpages/shipbui.asp
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