The Boston tea party

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

GENERAL HERKIMER AT ORISKANY

Preface

In explanation of the plan of this work, it may be stated that such an occasion as that upon which the veterans met was especially adapted to awaken recollections of the struggle for Independence. A Fourthof-July festival in the old rendezvous of the Boston Tea-Party is surely well calculated to excite patriotic feeling ; and when to those who participated in the festival are added a number of the veterans of the War of Independence, filled with glorious recollections, the effect is to turn the mind to the admiration and veneration of the men and deeds of the " trying time."

No event excites more interest among Americans than the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor. Then and there the unconquerable resolution of freemen was first made apparent to the obstinate oppressors of our infant country. Yet, until of late

4 PREFACE

years, the history of the affair was very imperfectly known, and the names of men who participated in it are scarcely mentioned. In these pages will be found a faithful account of this daring exploit ; and, in connection with the other narratives, it is hoped it will kindle in the breasts of young readers an enthusiasm for liberty. The anecdotes of personal daring, the descriptions of men and of places, the fragments of history and the accounts of campaigns which follow the story of the "Tea-Party," cannot fail to interest and instruct youthful readers, and must awaken a desire to learn more of the events which shaped the growth of our nation. As an auxiliary to the study of United States History, such reading is always entertaining and profitable.