Dear Parents and Teachers The History Files series takes readers into significant eras in United States history allowing them to walk in the shoes of characters living in the periods they’ve learned about in the classroom From the journey to a new beginning on the Mayflower to the strife of the Vietnam War and beyond each title in this series delves into the experiences of diverse characters struggling with the conflicts of their time Each book includes a comprehensive summary of the era along with background information on the real people that the fictional characters mention or encounter in the novel Additional websites to visit and an interview with the author are also included In addition each title is supplemented with online teacher parent notes with ideas for incorporating the book into a lesson plan These notes include subject matter background information inspiration for maker space activities comprehension questions and additional online resources Notes are available at www RourkeEducationalMedia com We hope you enjoy the History Files books as much as we do Happy reading Rourke Educational Media 3
Table of Contents Chapter One 6 Chapter Two 19 Chapter Three 32 Chapter Four 44 Chapter Five 57 Chapter Six 68 Chapter Seven 78 5
Chapter One July 18 1776 On the day the Declaration of Independence was read in Boston the air was hot and humid Jonathan Stone loosened his collar making room against his skin for whatever breeze might stir and cool him off He was harvesting wild strawberries in the garden behind the small house he shared with his mother The strawberry plants were his pride and joy and if he waited any longer to pick the tender red fruit he risked losing them entirely The days were hot and although he watered the plants every day still their leaves drooped a little The stems and leaves were as important for teas as the berries so he worked quickly and efficiently A year ago when his father had been killed 6
at the Battles of Lexington and Concord it had been his idea to sell their bit of farm and move to Boston to set up a small shop selling tea and homespun clothing Ever since the Townshend Acts which had ended six years earlier in 1770 colonists had become clever about tea either smuggling it in from the Dutch or simply making it themselves Homemade and illegal tea did not taste as good as the tea sold by the East India Company but to buy and sell tea from the East India Company meant accepting British taxation without representation Jonathan still found himself chanting No taxation without representation the singsong slogan that had once been so popular and that put into words some of the colonists anger about their mistreatment under British rule And then there had been the Boston Tea Party just three years ago in 1773 when the Sons of Liberty dressed up like Mohawk Indians climbed aboard East Indian Company boats in the harbor and threw all 7
