Essentials: “A Tea Party for the King”
Throughout the school year, we will be using the blog to showcase some of the writing efforts of our Essentials students.
Essentials is a comprehensive language arts program for students 9-12 years of age. In addition to an intensive study of English grammar and math drills, Essentials students will tackle Institute for Excellence in Writing‘s (IEW) curriculum for history-based writing assignments.
Below is a paper on the Boston Tea Party, written by a third-year Essentials student (age 12).
Griffin Prescott
Essentials – Lesson 6
September 28, 2017
A Tea Party for the King
On a freezing December evening in the year 1773, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, were filled with people. Among them was Paul, who was ten years old. His older brother, who belonged to the Sons of Liberty, announced that something exciting was about to happen. Three ships loaded with British tea were docked in Boston Harbor. Paul could scarcely wait to find out what was about to happen.
As Paul stood in the streets, he thought about what his brother had told him. The colonists were refusing to buy British goods because the British were charging harsh taxes on them. The colonists didn’t think the British had any right to tax them, so they tried to send the tea back to England. Unfortunately, the Royal Governor of Boston steadfastly refused to let them return the tea, and told them the King’s orders must be obeyed. The tea must be unloaded by December 16th — that very day.
The crowd began to stir restlessly. Pushing through the throngs of people, almost one hundred Indians appeared on the dock — but they weren’t Indians at all! They were the Sons of Liberty, cleverly disguised as Mohawk Indians. Their cheeks were painted with red and blue stripes, and their faces were covered with soot. Wham! The brave Bostonians boldly busted open each box, and poured the tea into the harbor. The crowd shouted approvingly: “Let’s tell King George we will not pay his taxes anymore.” Even as the Indians disappeared into the night, Paul knew that King George would hear of the Boston Tea Party, and he feared the King would be furious.
