Preview

My Brother Sam Is Dead Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
505 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
My Brother Sam Is Dead Summary
My Brother Sam is Dead
By: James Collier &
Christopher collier

My Brother Sam is Dead tells about the struggles of Sam, Tim, Eliphalet, and Susannah Meeker. The Meeker’s ran a tavern in the small Tory town of Redding, Connecticut. Their story begins in April of 1775 during the American Revolution. Sam was Tim’s older brother. Sam had been away at Yale University for a year, but he decided to join the Patriots army. This caused any problems for the Meeker family, especially since they are Loyalists and side with King George the Third.
When Sam left for the war everything got harder on the family and the tavern wasn’t making enough money. Sam came back and visited Tim and Betsy Reed, his girlfriend, a few times but his parents didn’t know about it. In the winter of 1776 Tim and his father had to go on a cattle drive to sell the cows in Verplancks, New York. On the way back, Eliphalet was captured and put into an English prison ship even though he was a Loyalists. He died in a prison ship from cholera but the Meekers didn’t find out until months later.
…show more content…
Tim had kept eight cattle for his mother and him to eat and to sell. Sam had been warning Tim to butcher their cows and hide the meat before some of the soldiers stole them, but his warning came too late. Late one night two soldiers stole six cattle and Sam went out to catch them before they butchered them all and ate them. When Sam caught them, they knew that General Putnam would hang them to make an example to all the other soldiers. So, they beat Sam and took him to the training camp and told the guards that he stole cattle and they arrested him, never mind that it was his own family’s cows. Sam was tried in front of court-martial and found guilty. He was shot on February 16th,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Death Summary

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Dr. J.K. Mc Clain and other members of the cardiology department consulted on the patient. They felt that his hypoxia and breathlessness were not secondary to his cardiac status. He had supraventricular cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. The cardiology staff utilized intravenous medications that controlled the cardiac rate, adequately resolving these cardiac issues. I managed the patient’s ventilator in intensive care status along with my respiratory therapy team. Unfortunately the patient developed multiple infections, hospital acquired, including Klebsiella pneumonia infection and…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The character of Mr. Heron was based off of a real person, William Heron. William Heron was a real person that was part of this time. He was a double agent pretending to support both sides, but was truly there to support the Patriots. Sure we know that now, but how did we figure this out for sure? The authors of My Brother Sam is Dead weren’t as clear as they could’ve been.…

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Tim finds himself staying in a marsh, shortly after arriving he meets four white men who briefly teach him survival. Tim went to Jamestown to turn himself in, but he ended up at the Steeds. Mr. Steed passed away, it was his son, Henry and his mother, Mrs. Steed who he meets. They don’t turn him in based on Mrs. Steed’s word. For five days he stays there but then returns to ‘his’ marsh. It was now autumn. The Choptank Indians tell Timothy that they owned the marsh, and he needed to buy it from them. He did so by stealing guns and awes from the Steed plantation and trading it for the land. Henry knows Tim stole his things but can’t prove it because Tim can hide infinite things in his marsh that no one could find but him. Then Pentaquod’s tribe is threatened by hunters and Henry Steed wants to marry Pentaquod’s daughter. The Steeds are ‘king’s’ people and Catholics, which is a conflicting problem. The king is dead, and Henry goes to ask Turlock and his family (Tciblento and 2 boys) to come stay with him under his mother Steeds order. Father Ralph is attacked for being papist, and his church in burned down. After seeing this Tim Turlock says “to hell with Catholics,” and moves back to the marsh. Meanwhile, a new 26 year old run away servant starts staying with the Choptanks. Paul and Ralph Steed go to Jamestown to vacate Tim Turlock’s past (indenture and…

    • 4363 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    3 The incident that occurs is Jeff’s family is attacked by bushwhackers. “And I’m tired of fighting them with just a sickle, Pa. I want to go to fort Leavenworth tomorrow and join the Kansas volunteers.” (Jeff)…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sam grew up well before his time, making up for the work his father never did for the family. He worked until he couldn’t stand and then started over the next day. He was…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Aastha Bhandari Prof Galloway Hist 1301 19 Set 2017 1. You are a British Soldier that was assigned to protect the Customs House in Boston. An event the colonials call the “Boston Massacre” took place. You have been called back to London and must defend your innocence in the matter.…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 4-6 in My Brother Sam is Dead shows the actions the British and Continentals are taking against each other and how they are affecting the Meeker family. In chapter 4, Tim goes to chop wood and the Continentals show up in Redding. The Continentals want Father’s gun, which he doesn’t have due to Sam’s thievery. Therefore, Tim goes to get the gun from Sam. Afterwards, Sam and Tim go to the tavern to check on their parents. Father and Mother are fine and Sam runs off. In chapter 5, Mr. Heron comes by the tavern and wants Tim to runs some letters for him down to Fairfield. Father gives a strong no on that question. Despite that, Tim finds an excuse to run off to Fairfield. Betsy and Tim meet on the Fairfield Road. Betsy wrestles the letter…

    • 144 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the events in the novel that parallels the Scottsboro Boys trial is that…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    my brother sam is dead

    • 1365 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Tim racks his brain to think of an excuse to get away so he can visit Sam. As he chops wood, Tim sees a troop of Rebel soldiers clad in…

    • 1365 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After trying to convince the jury that Jefferson is not clever enough to commit the crime, the defense attorney supposes he is guilty but by comparing Jefferson to a hog, saying that he is not intelligent enough to be held accountable for his actions. This starts a fire under the black people in the town. This leads the blacks to make Jefferson an example of how much dignity, intelligence, and courage they truly had.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Families are torn apart because of war. Sam and Mr. Meeker, come to a huge disagreement whether Sam should join the war or not. This makes Mr. Meeker so frustrated that he kicks out Sam. ‘Go, Sam. Go. Get out…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Soon there after a few of Earl's cousins who did not really talk to Earl felt that the land belonged to them, sued for it by challenging it on a technicality and won, which meant that Sam, who had not a cent to his name, had to find someplace else to go. His children, from a previous, heterosexual marriage, tried to sell a few of Sam's horses, but the asking price was insultingly low, at least to me it was. Sam would sit in a chair in his kitchen and contemplate on the question marks about his future as well as those of his…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    My Brother Sam Is Dead

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages

    War has been a constantly occurring event throughout history, from the strife between Homo sapien tribes to terrorists in modern society. However, what if there was some way to achieve the same ending without contentions of war? This is what who can be assumed as brothers and pacifists, James and Christopher Collier, are trying to tell us through their novel, My Brother Sam is Dead. The example they use is the American Revolution. So many people, innocent or evil, were killed. “My Brother Sam is Dead” takes us through these events using the perspective of Tim Meeker, a young boy that watches the war completely change his life. In my Brother Sam is Dead, although multiple sides are shown, authors Collier and Collier ultimately argue that war…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Pact

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages

    George was one of the three young men talked about in the book. He spent fives years living in the Stella Wright Housing Projects with his mother Ella Jenkins Mack and his older brother Garland, for families with low-income. He said, “Our building was a graffiti-covered, thirteen-story high-rise with elevators that smelled like urine and sometimes didn’t work.” George had become responsible at a young age since his mother worked all the time; he stayed out of trouble, was very smart in school, participated in school events and surrounded himself with positive people. Sam another young man talked about in the book was raised by his mother Ruthener Davis and his father, Kenneth Davis. Years later they divorced and that was the turning point for Sam’s family. His mother Ruthener had little education and no work experience which caused her to go on welfare. Sometimes it would be a struggle to get food or pay bills. She depended a lot on Sam, he read her mail, made bank deposits, and writing out money orders for bills. He likes having the responsibilities but Sam felt like it was too much for someone his age to handle. Rameck is the third one talked about in the book; he…

    • 1244 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Brothers Murder

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A Brother’s Murder” by Brent Staples is about two brothers that grew up together. Staples left his hometown for ten years to better himself. Staples later came to find out his brother was killed by his best friend over a girl. I understand why he made that decision because it was either he leave or end up dead. Brent Staples left his home to achieve success.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays