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Letters Written By Member of Boston
Tea Party Uncovered In Family Household!
by Ellis D. |
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14 December 1773
Dear Tom,
As I sit to write this letter to you, it is late on the fourteenth of
December. There has been a lot of business here at the Elm and Hoop
Cooper shop on Mackrel Street today. My hands are raw from all of our
hard work making barrels. There hasn’t been much business lately, but
today there were swarms of people. I cannot tell you exactly why.
It probably has something to do with the ridiculous tea scandal
that is going on down at the docks. There is a shipment of tea sitting
down at Griffin’s Wharf that the King has put a tax on to give the East
India Tea Company some money. It is not the money we are objecting to,
it is the fact that we have no word in it. If we give in to this
tax,
matters could get out of hand.
The captain of the tea ship, the Dartmouth, was told by the King that
he had to unload before he returned. If he left before unloading he
will be fired upon. On the other hand, the Bostonians crowded around
the
docks whenever the captain tried to unload, blocking his path. In just
a few days, the tea and ship will be seized and the tax will have to be
paid. I hope someone will do something about this tea tax. It has
gotten way out of hand. I think my father’s friend, Samuel Adams, is
doing something in a couple of days to attempt to stop it. If it does
not cost any money because we do not have much, I will definitely be a
part of it.
Sincerely,
Matthew Dubois
15 December 1773
Dear Tom,
Today has been a fairly average day. Father has a bit of a fever, but
it is not too bad, so it should pass fairly soon. Yesterday morning, he
told me that tomorrow night, Samuel Adams is going to set up an attack
on the British ships to rid them of the bricks of tea that every
Patriot Bostonian loathes. A kind of protest, I suppose. No one will
buy it because the Patriots are angry with the taxation without
representation. The Bostonians will not let the tea off the ships, but
the ships cannot leave the harbor without being fired upon on account
of the Governor. Samuel came to our house today and asked me if I
wanted to be a part of it. I answered yes. My father at first did not
agree, but eventually did. I most definitely wanted to be a part of it
because it really bothers me that the British would do that. The tax
does not hurt my business directly, but there has been so much business
about it that people do not stop by to buy containers as much.
Later that day, I had a customer come to the shop. He was interested in
the cooper trade. So he watched me build a barrel. As I was carving
the fifth stave, I almost cut into my old scar that I got at age
nine when I was just learning to carve. That year I cut a thick
piece of wood off a stave and the knife cut deep into my elbow. I got a
very bad infection and I was bandaged and sweated. Luckily, I did not
open it again today. But that was eight years ago. I am anxiously
awaiting tomorrow night. It should be exciting to get back at the
British. Treacherous, but exciting.
Sincerely,
Matthew Dubois
16 December 1773
Dear Tom,
Tonight was the night! I have just gotten home. This was the event I
have been telling you about the past few days.
We dressed up like Mohawk Indians and hid outside the front door of the
South Church, also known as the South Meeting House. Very secretly, we
sat there waiting. Listening for the signal. Some Patriots and
Loyalists were inside having a debate over the tea. My heart was
pounding like a drum as I waited. When the signal was given, we marched
to the wharf where the ships were sitting, all the while chanting
“Boston Harbor, a teapot tonight.” This was a very exciting time for
me. I knew I was doing something that could get me in a lot of trouble,
yet I did not care. The signal was given when we heard someone from
inside say, “This meeting can do nothing more to save our country.” He
said this as the captain of one of the ships returned from the
governor’s house to ask if he could have permission to leave. The
answer was of course no; there was no chance. We marched through a
crowd and onto the large, wooden ships. When we were on the ships, we
threw all of the tea off the sides of the ships still chanting. It was
a very exciting and frightening time. People all around were watching
us with their mouths hanging open. They dared not try to stop us for
everyone here fears Indians. Our party was very careful on the ship. We
did not wish to harm the ship, we simply wanted to rid Boston of those
horrible bricks. Thousands of pounds of tea must have been dumped in
the water. It most likely would have been worth a lot of money. Upon
leaving, someone noticed there were still some tea chests floating in
the water. We were worried that some Loyalists would go out and pick
them up, sell them, and ruin our entire plan. Some men went out in
boats to sink all the chests and crates that had remained on the
surface. I was at first worried, but when they got rid of it, I was
feeling better.
To change the subject, my father is getting better. Although he was not
able to attend tonight, he is recovering. He is up walking around and
out of bed and should be back working with me by next Wednesday. I
really would like him to be back. He trusts me, but it is lonely
working alone.
After I closed up Dubois’ Elm and Hoop, our shop, I went out to inspect
what had happened after we left. People were confused, trying to figure
why a group of Indians would attack a ship full of tea. It felt strange
to be the only one out in the street to know what was going on. This
was a fun night, overall.
Sincerely,
Matthew Dubois
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<>Historical References:
Collier, Christopher, James Lincoln Collier. The American Revolution.
April 26, 2006. Benchmark Books, New York, 1998
Hakim, Joy. From Colonies to
Country. April 26,2006.
Oxford University Press, New York, 1993
From Revolution to
Reconstruction. April 26, 2006.
<http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/E/teaparty/bostonxx.htm>
The Patriot Resource.
April 26, 2006.
<http://www.thepatriotresource.com/events/bostontea.html>
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