Johnny Tremain – December 16, 1773

Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.

It’s December 16, 1773. I’m on the British ship, Dartmouth, in Boston Harbor with fourteen-year-old Johnny Tremain.

JG: “Johnny, why is a young man like you throwing tea into the sea with the Sons of Liberty?”

JT: “Mr. Gillespie, the British shot my brother in the Boston Massacre, they tax my dad’s business, and those lobsterbacks stay in my house without our permission. They’ve got to go.”

Go they did, but it would take ten more years of fighting to bring the end of English tyranny.

Read the full text of the Tea Act.

John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.

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