The Year of the Hangman
By: Gary Blackwood
Primary Setting
The primary setting is in New Orleans
Creighton
Creighton is the main character in the book and he is 15 years old. He was living in England before being shipped off to the colonies.
General Gower
General Gower is Creighton's uncle. He was in charge of getting Creighton away from England and making him into a gentleman in the colonies.
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin was the one to take Creighton into his home. He liked being called Dr. Franklin and he knew that Creighton wasn't an indentured servant, but an Englishman.
Main Conflict
The main conflict is Creighton is trying to figure out whether he should help the Americans or the British. He must choose between his home country and a new land.
In the beginning...
- In chapter 1, Creighton finds out that his mother didn't want him because he is disobedient and because of his disobedience she is sending him off to the Americas.
- In chapters 5-8, Creighton has to pretend that he is a slave(for the rest of the book) so that he can be a spy for the British. He gets placed in Dr. Franklin's print shop where he must work to be able to stay in Dr. Franklin's house.
In the middle...
- In chapters 9-11, Creighton finds out where his uncle is being kept after his ship was taken over by Americans. Creighton is told to find out if Dr. Franklin is printing The Liberty Tree, and he is. Creighton tells this to his uncle and his uncle says that they need to get out of New Orleans.
- In chapters 12-13, Creighton takes General Arnold's gun so that he can free his uncle. When he gets his uncle out of the prison he betrays Creighton. He hits Creighton on the head with a gun and runs off to go to the nearest British camp.
At the end...
- In chapter 14, Creighton finds out what happened to his father. His father was hanged because he was helping the rebels. Creighton is angry that his father would go help the rebels win the war.
- In chapter 17, Dr. Franklin's print shop gets burnt down by British soldiers dressed up as Indians-Creighton's uncle sent them. Creighton and Dr. Franklin try to get as many of the types for the print out of the burning print shop as they can before the print shop burns down. Dr. Franklin goes back in right before the roof is about to fall in and Creighton goes in to save him. Despite his efforts, Creighton could not save Dr. Franklin. Dr. Franklin had crushed his ribs and broke one of his arms.
The main conflict was solved when...
In the end, Creighton decides that he needs to stop playing games and fight for what's right. After his experiences in the book he now knows that he shouldn't be helping the British. All the Americans want is to be independent and the British won't let them have their own piece of land to live on. The British don't want to lose the land that they found to a bunch of people who no longer want to be English.