The Common Man’s Role in the American Revolution Essay -- Essays on Am

If you live in the United States, you probably are aware of the American Revolution. Most educated adults in America can name at least on hero of pre-Revolutionary America such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere and Thomas Jefferson . But to what extent did these few men, credited with our freedom, actually participate in events that lead up to the revolution? How many countless men remained unnamed and unnoticed despite the work they put into the Revolution? These men have often been overlooked in textbooks, despite the fact most of the freedoms we have now are derived from their brave actions. But why did these men get the wheels of a revolution turning? What was the reason they had for their actions, the very ones that led America and Great Britain to begin a fight not only for freedom, but for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? The Boston Tea Party is one of the most explosive and dynamic examples of what affect the common man held on the path to the Revolution. The Tea Party itself was organized by some of the more well-known officials such as John Hancock, but would have had little effect without the men who actually participated in tossing of 90,000 pounds of tea. George Hewes, a prime example of the average man’s affect on the war, had this to say about that fateful night: The Commander of the division to which I belonged, as soon as soon as we were on board the ship, appointed me to boatswain, and ordered me to go to the captain and demand of him the keys to the hatches and a dozen candles. I made the demand accordingly, and the captain promptly replied, and delivered the articles; but requested me at the same time to do no damage to the ship or the rigging. We then were ordered to ... ...ned Stamp Act he stated that he, â€Å"never saw one of those Stamps† and that he was â€Å"certain I never paid a penny for one of them†. So with so much attention being paid to Thomas Paine and his â€Å"Common sense† and John Hancock’s larger than life signature, what was the reason for our revolution? While that question may never be answered, there are always the eternal words of Levi Preston, â€Å"what we meant in going in for those redcoats was this: we always had governed ourselves and we always mean to. That didn’t mean we should† Works Cited William Graebner and Leonard Richards. The American Record: Images of our Nation’s Past. McGraw-Hilll; 5 edition. May 27, 2005 Benjamin Woods Labaree. The Boston Tea Party. Northeastern; December 31, 1979 George Browm Tindall, David Emory Shi. American History: 5th Brief edition, W. W. Norton & Company; November 1999