Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Liberty Tree

The image listed on this blog is a drawing of the Liberty Tree in Boston, which stood for over 100 years and was the historic site of:
On August 14 1765, this particular tree was selected for hanging the effigies of those men who favored passage of the detested Stamp Act. On September 11th, a 3.5' by 2.5' copper plate, with large golden letters, was placed on its trunk bearing the inscription The Tree of Liberty. There after, nearly all the great political meetings of the Sons of Liberty, were held in this square.

The British made the Liberty Tree an object of ridicule. British soldiers tarred and feathered a man named Ditson, and forced him to march in front of the tree. During the siege of Boston, about the last day of August 1775, a party of Loyalists led by Job Williams, defiantly cut it down.

Like real liberty, even if you cut it down? The feeling remains...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I had never heard about that, pretty interesting!