Wilson Rexford’s Journal The American

RevolutionBy Ryland Sun

Boston Tea Party POV of witness

Boston Tea Party Close up view

Tea Act

Date: December 16th 1764

Date: December 16th 1764

Bloody hell!

These darn taxes were killing my blacksmith business! I’ve never felt so desperate for money in my whole life! I was literally feeding off of left over scraps…my house only lit with a dim candlelight, the lighting so poor I had to squint my eyes to read what was inscribed in the letter I had received a few years ago from my uncle Robert. He had informed me that the British were now going to increase our taxes and enforce them in the colonies due to the fact that they were getting desperate for money ever since the French and Indian war ended. I was furious with these new taxes bestowed on us. I had told my best friend, Samuel Maverick, of the news that afternoon when I had received the letter; he was also furious and started swearing at the reckless British king. That evening I had taken Samuel with me to have a couple of drinks at the local pub. I recalled a man named Sam Adams was giving a speech when we first entered on how the taxes weren’t fair as King George promised us to live in peace and prosperity. “Britain, a vast country that was filled with lies and crap lead by a stupid tyrant.” I said to myself.

Each morning I woke up and saw my fellow colonists engulfed with rage by the taxes as they went along with their day. Each one of them had taken up a grudge against the British. It seemed like most of them would murder the tyrant across the world if they had the opportunity at hand. I was told that The King desired a revue from the North American colonies, therefore as time passed by the money that was exhausted through the French and Indian war would be paid back gradually. This made sense to me, however I was living in poor conditions. Everyday I would see collectors scampering around the town claiming taxes from American colonists. Their facial expression, so emotionless, yet I could tell they were furious when they handed over the money to the British.

From the beginning to now the British had enforced the Sugar act, Stamp act, the Townshend acts, the Declaratory act, the Coercive acts, and so on, but most of them were repealed. The worst part of the high taxes was that we had no direct representation in the parliament that had created the acts. Some of my fellow colonists had also developed the motto ' no taxation without representation' and started protesting against the unfair taxes. On a fine evening the British came to my house to collect the taxes, instead of handing over the money I told them to piss off, however I was arrested and sent to jail. The next day I was released, but instead of learning my lesson of not paying my taxes, I was even angrier with the British!

The most intolerable Act was the Tea Act. We the colonists did not want to pay taxes just to drink tea! It was the silliest thing I’ve ever heard! On a cold December night, I was told three British ships were docked in the Boston harbor and their cargo was British tea. Rumors had spread that Sam Adams and a group of men dressed as Indians were going to dump it all into the harbor. And the very next day I was told it happened. They had dumped 90,000 pounds of tea worth 1.5million dollars into the Boston harbor. What a ruckus they had started!

Wilson Rexford

Battle of Lexington

Battle of Concord

Date: April 19th 1775

Date: April 19th 1775

The British are coming! The British are coming! Warn the others! Those were the words that had awaked me from my sleep. I remembered I saw a faint shadow galloping across the fields out of my glass window as the sounds of yelling slowly faded away. I quickly got dressed and hopped onto my horse and galloped all the way to Lexington where I met the rest of the, inexperienced, untrained minutemen as they were already prepared to fight with the most powerful army in the world at that time. Since the death of my best friend, I had joined the militia. I only had months of training and it was my first time holding a rifle. Of course we were out manned and outgunned, however we still stood our ground for rights of freedom and independence.

Ready! Aim! Fire! Said the captain of the British regiment. The first shots were fired from the British lobster backs therefore we returned fire, however most of us had missed our targets. My trigger finger was so sweaty it slipped and fired the rifle. The bullet had penetrated a loyalist’s skull, which blew off instantly. As the first few minutes of the battle went by the battlefield was filled with corpses of my fellow minutemen. I saw that most of the militia had retreated back into the woods so I thought to myself, “Should I die with honor? Or should I retreat and save my own life?” Bullets were whistling across my head as I made the decision to retreat with the other minutemen that instant. Till this very day I wonder if I should’ve stayed and battled to my death with honor. The battle of Lexington left the British army with minimal casualties, whereas most of our militia that stayed and fought were wiped out instantly.

I ran and ran as fast as the wind could carry me and ditched my gun along the way. On the way to Concord I was join by other minutemen that had also retreated with me. The moment I arrived in Concord I was handed a rifle with a bayonet blade and a couple of musket bullets. We barricaded ourselves at the North Bridge in Concord. I fought and fought for hours, but it felt like years. Many militiamen had fallen, however by the end we had annihilated three companies of the king’s lobster backs. We outnumbered the Red Coats, so with a loud cry from my exhausted lungs I had screamed. FREEDOM FOR ALL! The lobster backs had started their retreat back to Boston, but more minutemen had arrived, therefore we kept on chasing them, firing, and slaughtering them until we could chase no more.

The battle at Lexington and Concord were gruesome battles. During the battle of Lexington had this feeling that I had never felt before. It was the feeling of freedom and independence. I walked to the local pub with my minutemen pals; all of a sudden Sam Adams came up to us and gave us each firm handshakes and told us we had fought bravely. From that instant I had remembered that I took so many lives that day. I couldn’t sleep for days knowing I had killed men, men who were just following their orders as soldiers.

Wilson Rexford

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

Declaration of Independence

Date: September 3rd 1783

Date: September 3r1783

THE TREATY HAS BEEN SIGNED!

Screamed by my fellow Continental army mates. Yesterday the three countries, The United States of America, Great Britain, and Spain had signed the treaty of Paris. Without our bold leaders, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and David Hartley yesterday would’ve just been another gruesome battle with the British redcoats. This was a tremendous moment for the Americans and I. I just wished that my best friend had been able to live to see this historic moment. The war was won and independence was established in the American colonies. The British lobster backs were immediately ordered to abandon their posts and ditch the forts in the American colonies. This was a time for celebration. We chanted and cheered throughout the streets of all the free American colonies. Nobody could have been more joyful than I had been that day; I mean I did survived through so many horrific battles.

“…That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States…” These are the words written from the Declaration of Independence that was posted in the local newspaper. The declaration had also stated that everyman was equal, but in reality we were not. Some were and some weren’t. About six years ago we were still under the authority of the intolerable British country across the world, lead by the tyrant on the high chair. The Declaration had freed us from their evil grasps of the British rule. With our independence won, we had to take up arms against the British in order to keep out independence as the United States of America. This achievement led to the great battle at Yorktown where I saw action again with my war pals, however this time we were fighting as the Continental army against the cruel general Cornwallis of the British military.

The Siege of Yorktown was a key factor to our victory in our battle for freedom. We had sieged the British general Cornwallis with their 9,000 men with our 17,000 men made up of American and French soldiers. The French had gladly accepted our invitation to defeat the reckless British army. The French even blocked the port so that the redcoats could not call for any reinforcements to aid them. Our cannons had demolished whatever defenses the lobster backs had installed. Once the bombardment on the Redcoats finished we charged at the British. Steel clashed with steel, screams of war and death filled the air, and blood smothered everywhere. By the days end, General Cornwallis had surrendered to us.

This dreadful battle had ended our revolt against Great Britain. We finally have won our freedom and independence. The right to speak freely, the right for each man to be equal, and so on. Even though the Treaty of Paris had been signed and peace was restored again, we had serious problems that remained. Though I was just a blacksmith who became a soldier of the continental army, I knew that the most important problems were the challenges from other foreign powers and our financial troubles in our newly established country, but those were not my problems to handle. My life will never be the same as it was two decades ago when I was just a poor blacksmith living off of scraps. God bless America!

Wilson Rexford

Citations 1st entry pictures

Boston Tea Party. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://teachnet.eu/tobrien/files/boston-tea-party.3.jpg>.

Boston Tea Party. Digital image. Boston Tea Party. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/5600/5624/boston_tea_party_1_lg.gif>.

Townshend Acts. Digital image. Townshend Acts. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2013/12/townshend-acts-hero-H.jpeg>.

http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/5600/5624/boston_tea_party_1_lg.gif

http://teachnet.eu/tobrien/files/boston-tea-party.3.jpg

http://cdn.history.com/sites/2/2013/12/townshend-acts-hero-H.jpeg

2nd entry pictures

Battle of Lexington. Digital image. Battle of Lexington. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://content.answcdn.com/main/content/img/getty/1/2/51862212.jpg>.

Battle at Lexington and Concord. Digital image. Battle at Lexington and Concord. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.historyguy.com/Lexington_and_Concord.jp

Minutemen. Digital image. Revolutionary War Minutemen. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/battles/revolutionary-war-minutemen.jpg>.

http://content.answcdn.com/main/content/img/getty/1/2/51862212.jpg

http://www.historyguy.com/Lexington_and_Concord.jpg

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/revolutionary-war/battles/revolutionary-war-minutemen.jpg

3rd entry pictures

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis. Digital image. Surrender of Lord Cornwallis. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis.jpg>.

Declaration of Independence. Digital image. Declaration of Independence. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://calwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/declaration-of-independence.jpg>.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis.jpg

http://calwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/declaration-of-independence.jpg