“People Like Us” by Robert Bly from Stealing Sugar from the Castle. © Norton, 2013. ORIGINAL TEXT AND AUDIO - 2017 The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought on this date in 1775. For some years, American colonists had been growing tired of the British crown’s interference in their affairs. It was expensive to defend the colonies, and Britain had imposed a series of revenue-generating and cost-cutting acts. These included the Sugar Act, which limited trade and imposed import duties; the Stamp Act, which required all legal documents to be produced on specially watermarked (and taxed) paper; and the Quartering Act, which required the colonies to bear the cost of housing and supplying British soldiers. The American colonies argued that this was taxation without representation. British troops arrived in Boston in 1768, to quell and manage the growing unrest. In 1773, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act, which allowed the East India Company to sell its tea in America without paying import duties; Americans were angry at being forced to subsidize a British company, and responded by dressing up as Mohawk Indians and dumping the tea in Boston Harbor.
Here's my reading of Longfellow's PAUL REVERE'S RIDE!
Here's my reading of Longfellow's PAUL REVERE'S RIDE!