09/12/14
Period 7
The Shoemaker and the Revolution Article Analysis Alfred F. Young’s The Shoemaker and the Revolution is simply a triumph story. Where a man is just not a man but symbolizes a “revolution” in itself. Through the eyes of George Robert Twelves Hewes, the shoemaker; we take a closer look into what events lead to the Revolution and what the people affected by it truly felt. Young’s argues that the three main regards to the defiance of Britain were the Tea Party, Boston Massacre, and the Tarring and Feathering of John Malcolm. This changed the everyday working class colonist (all colonists) to political activists and changed their political and social views dramatically. For example when John Hancock invited Hewes to his home on New Year’s Eve and he was happy to oblige because Hancock was a man that Hewes respected. Many years later that is not the case. Hewes defied towards the Lieutenant Hancock on his ship and refused the take of his hat. Other reasons that not only colonist like Hewes the Shoemaker defied against the British but also common working people. The disrespect that the Red Coats showed these workers made them resist their authority and rebel. In the shoemakers case when giving shoe repair to Sergeant Burk; the officer refused to pay. Many colonists were fed up and they wanted to make a change, take a stand. Like Hewes did, many citizens started to volunteer for rebellious acts such as the night of December 16, 1773 also known as the Tea Party. The Boston Massacre was no different. After that happen, Hewes and other colonists did not go home in sadness; they went home in anger to only come back and fight for what they believed in Liberty and Equality. Protest and boycotts were the rave of the towns because the colonists did not rest until they had change. Hewes lived the dream; he became a militant like he always wanted fighting for America the country they now called their own. These experiences not only changed Hewes