Off To War!!!

Dear Mom,
To you,my dearest personal thoughts,and just what's going on.



I hear arguing outside.It was getting really violent.Fights broke out in the street.Many mean laws and problems called acts were passed,and many people couldn't take it any more.In about 3 days,my brother and husband are going to fight in the American Revolution.I am praying all the time that they will be okay,and hopefully they will.It is now night time.I go to sleep,wake up and wonder:2 more days.WOW.I will miss them dearly,and I am going to have a talk with them about the risk that they are taking.Yesterday,they said that it was a risk they were going to have to take,and they want to fight for what they believe in and be grateful for what they have.I might want to give you a little-lot of background info:

What led up to the American Revolution?How did it end up like this?I ask myself this every day,but I really know the answer.The British parliament and the colonies' didn't like each other very much.The colonies' parliament didn't have much of a say in what went on.They were also on a very short leash.


The Sugar Act of 1764 put tax on things like sugar,molasses,and other things that many people needed in order to survive.Many people protested,like my local friend James Otis.He is a Massachusetts lawyer,and his words are popularly spread throughout the colonies.His words were,"Taxation without representation it tyranny."Meaning,even though the parliament had no representation or say in what went on,they still gave them taxes.The parliament didn't listen and they just kept adding more and more taxes.In my opinion,it's okay to have taxes,the British just went overboard and wouldn't give them a chance to say what they thought about it. The colonies' parliament wanted to stop taxes,because the British just went overboard.Nobody could afford the taxes,but the British parliament didn't listen.They just kept adding on.


In the Townsend Acts,they taxed imported goods and allowed soldiers to search houses to search for smuggled goods.Since many people protested the Sugar Act,they would get things from other places,and trade things among each other.


Another reason for the war is the Stamp Act of 1765.The British put taxes on any legal documents like newspapers.Colonists protested bitterly,and stopped buying them.They then had to have a Stamp Act Congress to decide what to do.After the meeting,Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty burned anything stamped.The taxes went up,and they put taxes on more and more things.Here's where I come in.I belong to a group of women called The Daughters of Liberty.We made goods that other people boycotted and didn't want to buy.They hated to buy things that had taxes on them.They found it a waste of money.After more fighting and name calling broke out on the street,there was a British soldier outside of a building.A crowd formed around him,and I went over there to see what was going on.This was the beginning of the Boston Massacre in 1770.The then small crowd threw rocks and stones.The crowd got bigger,and they called more soldiers over there.Many people called them Lobster back,since they had red coats.The head Sargent told them not to fire,but one did.The crowd responded bitterly,and the soldiers got scared,so they fired and killed many people in the crowd.I got scared from hearing the shots.I ran as fast as I could and got home for protection.As soon as I smelled gun powder,I felt that I was in danger.I stayed home and locked myself in.I knew that there was going to end up being a war.I just knew it.I often heard shots fire,and I kept to myself.I payed taxes,because I wanted to play it safe.I continued to work in the Daughters of Liberty,helping other people.


Just when I thought everything was at a steady pace (still fighting,but nothing increased),They put tax on tea to pay for the British debt.This was the Tea Act of 1773.Many people thought that was the worst.Many people drank tea every day.It was their escape to luxury.I just loved the smell of tea myself,and it helped me relax after a long day at work.But enough about me,when they really opposed,they fought back with the Boston Tea Party.It was when men dressed as Indians threw cargoes of tea overboard a ship,and into the Boston harbor.Over the next 2 years,everything was steady at pace.Still fights,but nothing real big.Things started getting worse.The British knew they couldn't back down,so they made more laws.The Intolerable Acts.


The Intolerable Acts,also called Coercive Acts: A series of laws passed by the British to punish us for not paying taxes.That is the last straw.I'm so fed up because hey just can't treat us like their own.The colonists got real mad,and boycotted....again.They decided how to settle it-the way most people did:WAR!!!At that thought,I noticed it would put me in danger.They recruited just about anyone-including my husband and my brother.My only 2 dearest things.


I am now cooking dinner.I have enough food to get by,but I will need more matches for cooking.I go down to the local market and I see many people arguing to the sales clerk.They are arguing about how much tax is going up.I just decide to borrow some matches from the neighbor.I make shrimp,since I got some from my husband's job (he's trying to get a little extra money for me during the war).He fishes for seafood in the Boston harbor.

After we eat,I go straight to bed.I need rest for tomorrow,the last day that I might ever see my brother and husband.I can barely sleep.Different thoughts cross my mind about how I will say my final goodbyes.I can't think about that right now.I must keep my thoughts positive.I decide to just go to sleep.
April 19,1775
The next day,I wake up.It is now the last day I will see him.I wake up and I am still nestled in my husband's arms.I wonder how I will spend my final 12 hours with him.My brother comes over for the last day that I will see him.It will be hard,because they have to pack their things.They set their things in a secret space,near the war zone.He puts on his uniform and says goodbye.Why is he leaving early?I ask him,and I am shocked by the answer."The sooner I got there,the sooner I can fight.The sooner I fight,the earlier I finish and then I can come back.My brother agrees,and I tell him goodbye,too.I am now writing this letter to you,and I miss you a lot.I wish you were here because now I have nothing to do and nobody here with me.I miss you much and I love you mom.After the war (no telling when that is),I hope they are alive.I wish it were me that would have to go and fight.I just heard the first shots fired.It is very dangerous here.I will write you back AS SOON AS I CAN.

Love,
Alexis