The Sons of Liberty
How did they impact us seperating from Britian?
When did the Sons of Liberty start?
The Sons of Liberty started in July of 1765 with only nine people.
Who were the Sons of Liberty?
The Sons of Liberty leaders were John Hancock, Patrick Henry, John Adams, James Otis, Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. They were all men and the Sons accepted men of any age into their secret organization.
Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams was born on September 27th, 1722 in Boston. Samuel went to Harvard and graduated in 1740. He went to school to be a politician. Soon after this he would be known in all the colonies for going against British control. He was a tax collector for a while and this gave him an advantage when he became one of the leaders of Sons of Liberty. Right around the time the Stamp Act was introduced was when The Sons of Liberty started and he became a leader. He was one of the people involved with the Boston Tea Party. Samuel Adams died October 2, 1803.
John Hancock
John Hancock was born on January 12th, 1737 in Braintree, Massachusetts. He was an orphan child because his mom sent him to live with his rich aunt and uncle. John also went to Harvard in business education and graduated at the age of 17. John worked with his uncle after he graduated in 1754. John went to London in 1759, but came back in 1761 because his uncle's health was getting bad. In 1764 his uncle died and John inherited his business and estate. A little bit after this John entered the world of politics and around the time he entered the politic world was when colonists were started to get mad about the taxes. He was involved in smuggling goods and he was on the committee that demanded British soldiers to leave.
James Otis
James Otis was born in West Barnstable on Cape Cod. He went to Harvard and graduated in 1743. He started as a lawyer in Plymouth, but eventually settled in Boston where he was a highly respected lawyer. Otis was actually very loyal to Britain for a long time and helped catch smugglers. That changed when the writs for searching people's houses and businesses was put in place. He also changed perspectives because when a new governor selected Thomas Hutchinson to be Chief Justice instead of him he wanted revenge.
John Adams
John Adams was born on October 30th, 1735 in Quincy, Massachusetts. His father was a farmer. John also went to Harvard and got his undergrad and master's degree. He wanted to become a lawyer. In 1774, he served on the First Continental Congress. Although he was a colonist and opposed to the British tax he defended the six soldiers and one leader in court. People were enraged about this because they thought he was supposed to be on the colonist's side. John Adams went on to be the first Vice President and 2nd President. He died in 1826.
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry was born May 29th, 1736 in Studley, Virginia. Patrick definitely didn't agree with the British government. He was known for the quote "Give me liberty or give me death."
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was born January 1, 1735 in Boston. He was an artisan and very dedicated to it. Eventually his father passed away and he had to take over the business. In 1757 he had his own family with his wife and eight kids. She died and he remarried to Rachel Walker and had eight more kids. He was involved with the Boston Tea Party. He also made that famous ride to tell the colonists the British were coming.
Why did they start the Sons of Liberty?
The Sons of Liberty started around when the Stamp Act was put in place by the parliament. They started because they disagreed with the parliament putting this tax in place and wanted them to repeal it. Their goal was to make British stamp officials resign and for people to stop buying British goods.
What was the Stamp Act?
This was basically a tax that the British put on the Colonists contracts, licenses, diplomas, calendars and even their playing cards. They decided to put this tax on Colonists because the British had a lot of debt from the war and thought that the Colonists should pay some of it. This enraged many colonists even besides the Sons of Liberty. People thought that they had no right to do this to them and that they should decide things locally. This what the Sons of Liberty were fighting to get rid of.
What did the Sons of Liberty do?
The Sons used violence a lot to get their point across and to get things done. They would vandalize British officials houses, they would threaten stamp agents, burned buildings and if people basically didn't do what they wanted them to they would be tarred and feathered. Another thing that the Sons of Liberty were known for was the very famous Boston Tea Party.
The Boston Tea Party
This was an event that occurred December 16, 1773. British people are addicted to tea and what Britain did was they had boats filled with tea and decided to stay there until the Colonists took the tea off the boat. And that is exactly what they did. Some of the Sons dressed up like Native Americans to get on the boats and they did this so they could throw the tea overboard into the water. This showed Britain that they would not stand for the tax the they put on tea! The Sons of Liberty were willing to risk their lives to fight for their rights.
My Reaction
When I researched this topic it was very interesting to me that even though the Sons of Liberty helped us gain our freedom they were extremely violent. Most of the time they used violence to get what they wanted or get their way. Violence is frowned upon now to get your way, everyone teaches their kids from the time they are born not to use violence. It was just funny to me how different it is now and how different our circumstances are now compared to then. I think that the Sons of Liberty stood up for what they believed no matter what the consequence were and I think that was brave. I am thankful that we had such brave people to fight for our rights back then.
Tea Party - Schoolhouse Rock - No more Kings
Work Cited
http://www.landofthebrave.info/sons-of-liberty.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/related/sons.htm
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/wwww/us/sonsoflibertydef.htm
McDougal Littell American History Textbook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-9pDZMRCpQ
http://www.biography.com/people/samuel-adams-9176129#early-life
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/adams_s.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/hancock.htm
http://www.biography.com/people/john-hancock-9327271#unrest-in-the-colonies
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1204.html
http://www.biography.com/people/john-adams-37967#synopsis
http://www.biography.com/people/patrick-henry-9335512#synopsis
http://www.biography.com/people/paul-revere-9456172#early-years