Henry Anthony’s Journal

Angela L

Stamp act March, 22,1765

The Colonist's reaction after knowing about the Stamp act

The stamp

 April 24 1765Last month, an act called the Stamp Act was released from our clever parliament to get tax from those colonists that have been living in North America. There was a war between the Indians, French and us. Because of the war, Great Britain is becoming poor, so His Majesty thought of a great idea to get taxes from every paper. This is going to earn lots of money for our Kingdom. There might be more acts if it earns us money. It was required to the Patriots in North America and lower class people in Britain. I believe that we will soon be rich again! I am very proud to be a part of King George III’s Kingdom.  We have become poor because of the French and Indian war, also called as the Seven Years War; we can’t even afford our tea now! We spend a lot of money to protect those and they should they pay for their protection. The war lasted for 9 years! It was hard to fight with the French and the Indians but we won the war, fortunately! However, we owe people lots of money. The colonies were sent to the New World to punish them. After that, a group of soldiers and I were also sent to North America, where the Patriots live, to control them and help them. Luckily, one of my friends was also in the troop. I was so happy that I didn’t have to be alone! However, I don’t want to go because those thoughtless patriots aren’t worth us going to help them.  The idea of applying tax on paper was brilliant! The new tax requires that every piece of paper, every newspaper, marriage license, etc., to carry a British stamp before it could be legal. The colonies get very angry and they would shout at us. They were being silly. Those stupid patriot politicians thought that it was “death of liberty” since the King breaks his promises with the taxes, His Majesty promised to give people peace and prosperity and wealth. The King did that for a reason. We fight to get the land for them to live on, and they don’t want to do some thing for their country, which is ridiculous. And they Americans didn't agree to pay the taxes, they claimed there was not “taxation without representation”, so they had no control over their own laws. However they used to be a part of Britain and they live fine under those laws. Also they should contribute to the Empire although there was nobody to represent them. They also don’t like the fact that normal people don’t have to pay for the tax but only them, the patriots and women, slaves, children and servants in Britain. I feel bad for them about this because no one would be happy if they were compared to the lower class people. As a loyal Red Coat, I think that we shall all contribute and help our country go through the hard time.  

1773, Dec, 16 Boston tea party

Patriots throwing boxes of tea into the sea Colonists dressed up as Indians

throwing Tea boxes

Dec, 30, 1773Those stupid colonists! Recently, those rude Patriots dressed up as Indians, got on the ship full of sweet-smelling tea and dumped our tea into the sea! OH how dare they do that! What a waste of the best tea! They were angry about the taxes that they were to pay for the tea, but the taxes were for helping our country get out of debt! Although it was a bit too much, the tea is so delicious they should have to pay for the treasure.  I believe that the Tea Act and Boston Massacre both led to the Boston Tea party. Tea Act was to help reduce the massive surplus of tea the British East Indian Company had and help the company survive. One of the objectives was to undercut illegal tea so that more people would purchase the Company's tea instead. It allowed the Company to duty-free ship tea from Britain and directly ships it to North America. The company is one of the ways to make money for the significant country to get rich again, so they should do some thing. Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770 was horrible. The colonies were teasing us again, but this time they also threw snowballs at us. One of us was trying to scare them away by pointing his gun at them, but the gun accidentally got fired at the crowd. We thought that it was a signal to fight, so we all started to fire at them. They got even angrier; they eventually picked up sticks and hit us with them… 2 of us and 3 of them died… The great Kingdom granted the monopoly on tea to the East India Company and said that the colonists could only buy tea from this company. So, the Parliament got rid of other taxes, and then put taxes on the tea from the East India Company. So, this was the only place where the colonists could buy tea. That is the only tax they had to pay. The wise Government thought that tea was so important to the Colonists that they would pay the tax anyway, but the colonists became angry. They would shout at us and tease us when they walk pass our station, and as a Red coat, we can’t shoot them although we have guns.  The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons Of Liberty in Boston. My group and I were there, surrounding those wicked people. However there were no orders from the captain, so we watched them. It was very cruel for us to see them throwing our beloved teas into the sea and waste it. In three hours, they dumped 340 chests of tea--about 90,000 pounds--into the harbor. Oh those rude and uncivilized people. The important British officials were enraged. To teach the unforgivable colonists a lesson, the Parliament quickly passed laws that became known as the Intolerable Acts.  I hope they will learn a lesson from that and stop making thoughtless mistakes.   

Sep, 3, 1783Treaty of Paris

This is the Treaty of Paris

The representatives are signing the Treaty of Paris

Sept. 4. 1783Thank God we got rid of America. It is all over the news now! Yesterday, on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed. It happened in Paris by representatives of King George III of the great country and representatives of the United States. America is now officially a new country. The war had ended, and we can finally go back to our homeland! I can’t wait to see my parents and my little sister. I am so thankful and joyful! I am leaving the land I’ve been living in for 18 years. Time passed by really fast! I am almost 40 years old! This reminds me of all the hard times we had spent in America…   They thought of the idea of writing a treaty during the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. This announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states and no longer a part of the British Empire. Instead they formed a new nation—the United States of America. They came up with the name “America”, which didn’t sound as good as “ England” and “Britain”.  They also sent a petition to British, saying that they still wanted to be a part of Britain but free from the Parliament’s control, but this was rejected. I think that since we can get much money from America, why not keep it and earn money from it as we used to do with the taxes. However, I believe that the King has his own concerns and reasons for rejecting it.  There were arguments, wars and dead bodies. My brave friend, Thomas, who had come with me to America, died during the Battle of Yorktown, with 155 other brave soldiers killed, and 326 injured. The colonists shot him. Cruel American Continental Army troops and French Army troops joined together to fight us. Thomas could have gone back to our birthplace and meet his families… His wife must be really sad to know that he has died. The Battle of Yorktown ended using George Washington’s idea of zdxfchgvjbh. After they won, he was seen as a war hero by the people and they all want him to be the king. However, he resigned from the Congress and departed from politics. It might be a good idea and he didn’t even want to be the king. Now the new country, America, is going to crash without him. The final battle made the trustworthy King of England realize that there was no more need to take America because it was impossible. The cost of war against the Americans was too high and it was not worth it. I hate them. I can’t believe that I used to feel sad for them and thought about helping them. During the Treaty of Paris, The representatives for royal England are David Hartley and Richard Oswald. Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams represented the United States. They are no longer a part of Britain, and I am happy about that.  

Citations

0 Bos, Carole "Treaty of Paris, Granting American Independence" AwesomeStories.com. Date of access        <http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Treaty-of-Paris-Granting-American-Independence>.

0 Mcpherson, James. "Treaty of Paris." The Results of the Revolutionary War. Bryce, 2 Mar. 2012. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

0 Elizabeth. "Cedar Rapids Metro Education System." Cedar Rapids Metro Education System. Britannica, 25 Jan. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

0 Georgia. "Boston Tea Party." Georgia Studies Images. Georgia Performance Standard SS8H3 (a), 16 Aug. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

0 White, David. "Social Studies for Kids." Social Studies for Kids. David White, 24 May 2008. Web. 18 Mar. 2015.

0 Thomas. "Stamp Act 1765." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.