1. March
22nd,
1765
Hi
I’m
Abigail!
This
is
my
new
journal
my
father
got
for
me.
We
live
on
a
small
farm
away
from
people,
there
are
just
a
couple
of
families
living
around
us.
My
mother
said
that
we
needed
to
live
in
the
country
because
in
central
Boston
there
is
too
much
going
on,
and
it’s
not
suitable
for
children.
I’m
the
third
oldest
in
my
family,
there’s
my
mother,
my
father,
my
older
brothers
Jeremiah
and
Jonathan,
and
my
younger
sister
Katherine.
I
always
hear
my
mother
complaining
to
the
ladies
who
come
over
about
how
rude
people
are
to
the
British
Soldiers.
I
asked
my
brother
what
everything
meant,
and
he
told
me
that
there
are
some
taxes
that
have
been
placed
for
a
few
days,
and
after
the
British
soldiers
won
the
French-­‐Indian
War,
England
lost
money
and
resources.
The
British
Parliament
put
down
the
stamp
act,
so
they
could
get
more
money.
An
official
stamp
was
put
on
every
legal
and
business
document,
as
well
as
newspapers,
books,
buying
land
and
advertisements.
Everything
had
to
be
taxed
before
it
was
approved,
otherwise
it
wasn’t
legal.
Everyone
started
to
protest!
Jeremiah
went
into
town
with
my
father
and
told
me
all
about
it,
he
says
that
he
see’s
why
they
are
protesting,
but
I
think
he’s
just
agreeing
with
our
father.
The
people
have
been
protesting
that
they
lost
their
rights,
and
that
they
shouldn’t
have
to
pay
all
the
taxes.
My
mother
see’s
it
as
a
good
way
for
King
George’s
economy
to
grow,
but
my
father
is
completely
against
it.
The
other
day,
Jeremiah,
Jonathan
and
father
went
into
town,
I
would,
but
I’m
only
11.
When
they
returned,
I
overheard
Father
telling
Mother
that
a
new
act
called
the
“Sugar
Act”
was
placed.
My
father
was
saying
how
the
prices
for
everything
were
raised,
and
how
he
couldn’t
buy
any
candy
for
us
because
it
was
too
expensive.
Katherine
was
sad
she
didn’t
get
any.
After
that,
all
that
was
talked
about
between
my
parents
and
Jeremiah
were
the
new
acts
that
kept
on
getting
placed.
One
of
them
was
that
colonists
had
to
give
a
British
Soldier
shelter.
Ms.
Rosemary’s
family
next
door
has
to
provide
a
home
for
a
British
Soldier.
There
was
the
Navigation
act,
where
all
products
had
to
be
sold
or
bought
from
England.
There
were
to
be
no
trading
with
other
countries,
I
think
its
good
that
all
the
taxes
go
to
King
George.
Anything
to
help
him
and
his
soldiers!
My
mother
was
telling
me
that
Father
doesn’t
support
King
George,
and
that
she
doesn’t
know
why
he’s
making
such
a
big
deal.
I
agreed,
he
is
barely
home
now,
and
when
he
is
he’s
always
grumbling
about
how
unfair
the
whole
situation
is.
Jonathan
says
that
there
are
lots
of
people
protesting
that
they
shouldn’t
have
to
pay
taxes,
but
my
mother
just
tells
him
to
hush,
because
she
says
that
all
the
taxes
are
going
to
King
George.
She
says
that
if
all
the
colonists
would
just
cooperate,
King
George
may
lower
the
taxes.
I
can’t
help
but
agree
with
that.
But
my
father
just
rolls
his
eyes
at
my
mother.

2. December
16th,
1773
I
can’t
believe
that
the
colonists
against
England
would
do
something
so
horrific!
Jonathan
came
back
to
the
farm
to
visit
us
and
told
us
about
the
previous
event.
Some
of
the
colonists
dressed
up
as
Native
Americans
and
dumped
almost
90,000
pounds
of
tea
into
the
Boston
Harbor!
I
can’t
believe
that
they
would
be
this
angry
about
taxes!
He
told
me
they
even
had
a
song!
“Rally
Mohawks!
Bring
your
axes,
and
tell
King
George
we’ll
pay
no
more
taxes
on
his
foreign
tea.”
A
couple
years
ago,
the
Boston
Massacre
occurred.
A
few
boys
and
men
were
taunting
the
British
troops
by
throwing
snowballs
at
them,
Jeremiah
was
one
of
them.
One
of
the
British
accidently
fired
into
the
crowd
and
caused
a
fight
to
break
out.
5
men
were
killed
that
night.
Luckily,
Jeremiah
was
unharmed,
but
those
poor
men
were
killed
all
because
of
the
colonists
picking
a
fight.
If
they
had
left
the
troops
alone
those
men
would
still
be
alive.
A
couple
weeks
ago,
the
Tea
Act
was
placed,
stating
that
the
East
India
Company
could
sell
tea
directly
to
us
American
Colonies.
The
Parliament
decided
to
sell
us
tea
at
extremely
low
prices,
but
the
other
colonists
didn’t
want
to
admit
that
it
was
right
to
tax
them.
So
they
simply
refused
to
buy
tea.
I
guess
the
Parliament
thought
that
they
would
rather
pay
taxes
than
deny
a
cup
of
tea,
but
boy
were
they
wrong.
Three
ships
bearing
barrels
of
tea
arrived
two
weeks
ago.
This
morning,
rumors
started
to
spread,
people
around
town
were
whispering
to
each
other
about
“The
Boston
Harbor
Tea
Pot
Tonight”.
After
this
event
happened,
people
liked
to
call
it
the
“Boston
Tea
Party”.
I
think
the
other
colonists
are
being
foolish.
All
of
this
is
just
going
to
lead
to
no
good.
It
can’t
be
much
longer
until
a
war
between
the
British
and
the
Americans
breaks
out,
right?

3. April
19th,
1775
I
really
do
not
understand
those
other
colonists.
Why
would
they
try
to
take
on
the
British
army
of
700
experienced
soldiers?
They
have
such
little
war
experience.
Since
the
Boston
Tea
Party,
Jonathan
and
Jeremiah
have
joined
the
Patriots
in
the
army.
I
live
on
the
farm
with
Katherine
and
our
mother.
Mother
is
growing
older,
she
doesn’t
do
much,
just
walks
around
the
house
all
day
tidying
things
up.
So
I
stay
to
take
care
of
Katherine,
because
she
is
only
16.
I
must
admit,
they
were
smart
for
teaming
up
with
other
colonies
to
fight
the
British,
but
that
doesn’t
mean
I
support
it,
my
brothers
are
in
those
colonies,
so
I
can’t
be
against
it.
They
joined
together
because
they
knew
the
British
Soldiers
would
crush
them
one
colony
at
a
time
if
they
didn’t.
The
colonists
now
believe
that
if
they
don’t
have
a
representative
in
the
Parliament,
they
shouldn’t
have
to
pay
taxes.
But
the
British
think
that
the
Parliament
is
the
supreme
source
of
power
in
this
situation.
My
friend
Elizabeth
from
town
came
over
a
couple
days
ago,
she
was
telling
me
about
the
event
that
recently
happened.
She
told
me
that
the
night
before,
the
people
in
Concord
were
awoken
by
the
sound
of
Paul
Revere
shouting
down
the
streets,
“The
Redcoats
are
coming!
The
Redcoats
are
coming!”
He
told
the
rebel
leaders
John
Hancock
and
Sam
Adams
to
flee-­‐which
they
did.
The
British
Army
was
sending
over
700
soldiers!
But
700
colonists
were
sent
to
ward
them
off.
They
stood
in
lines,
facing
each
other
until
someone
accidently
fired
their
gun.
No
one
knows
who
it
was,
but
it
led
to
a
great
battle.
This
was
the
real
beginning
of
the
revolution.
Surprising
everyone,
the
American
colonists
drove
off
the
British.
Rumor
has
it
that
some
colonists
are
going
to
send
a
petition
for
peace
to
King
George.
I
doubt
he’ll
accept
it.
After
all
the
rebelling,
how
could
he?
I
don’t
think
that
it
is
the
right
time
for
independence.
We
has
13
colonies
are
not
strong
enough
to
stand
on
our
own.
There
are
still
people
like
me,
who
wish
for
peace
with
the
British,
but
there
aren’t
as
many.
The
American
Army
is
getting
stronger
and
stronger.
Maybe
they
have
a
chance
of
gaining
independence…
I
just
hope
my
brothers
keep
safe
along
the
way.

4. October
19th,
1780
I
can’t
believe
it!
The
colonists
beat
the
British
in
the
Battle
of
Yorktown!
Jonathan
and
Jeremiah
are
coming
home
tomorrow,
Katherine
and
I
haven’t
seen
them
in
a
while,
we’re
really
happy
that
they
are
safe.
The
army
finally
realized
that
they
weren’t
strong
enough
to
take
them
on
by
themselves,
so
they
combined
forces
with
the
French
Army,
causing
the
British
to
surrender.
A
few
years
ago,
the
first
official
national
flag
was
created.
It
had
13
white
stars
on
the
blue
to
represent
“A
New
Constellation”.
There
were
more
loyalists
a
few
years
ago,
some
did
more
than
the
others.
A
couple
loyalists
reported
to
Britain,
telling
them
that
Washington
was
going
to
cross
the
Delaware,
and
gave
them
all
the
supplies
they
had,
while
Washington
and
his
men
were
struggling
to
survive
due
to
the
amount
of
food
and
water
they
had.
I
wouldn’t
do
that
though.
I
may
be
a
loyalist,
but
I
live
in
America,
and
I’m
starting
to
see
things
from
the
others
point
of
view,
my
brothers
have
changed
my
view
on
the
British.
I
was
around
my
mother
a
lot
so
I
believed
whatever
she
believed.
1776
was
a
good
year
for
the
Americans.
The
armies
defeated
so
many
British
Soldiers.
In
fact,
King
George
was
so
angry,
he
burned
down
the
New
England
seaport
towns.
I
think
that
was
a
bit
unnecessary.
Maybe
independence
is
for
America
after
all.

5. September
3rd,
1783
The
war
is
over!
No
more
fighting,
no
more
unfair
taxes,
and
our
whole
family
is
back
together.
Jeremiah
and
Jonathan
came
home
yesterday.
Katherine
and
I
cooked
dinner
for
the
family.
As
we
were
sitting
at
the
table,
they
informed
us
that
the
United
States
signed
the
Treaty
of
Paris
with
Britain.
Which
meant
that
America
won
independence!
They
told
us
all
about
the
battles,
how
they
defeated
the
redcoats
by
digging
a
trench
and
attacking
them
as
they
were
in
it.
They
forced
the
British
troops
to
surrender!
They
were
already
lacking
unity,
and
they
were
all
exhausted,
that’s
probably
part
of
the
reason
that
they
surrendered.
But,
according
to
my
friend
Elizabeth,
the
Americans
responsible
for
dealing
with
the
treaty
were
not
following
through
with
their
obligations.
They
hadn’t
paid
the
money
they
owed
to
the
British,
and
some
people
lost
land,
and
didn’t
get
it
back.
So
the
British
said
they
wouldn’t
leave
until
the
problems
were
all
solved.
They
were
supposed
to
leave
and
abandon
their
forts
in
the
western
lands,
but
they
wouldn’t
leave.
At
the
same
time,
there
was
a
dispute
with
Spain!
They
closed
the
Mississippi
to
us,
so
we
lost
the
fastest
way
to
ship
good
from
market
to
market.
Even
though
all
of
this
was
going
on,
the
war
was
over.
And
America
had
won
independence!
Even
though
we
weren’t
doing
a
very
good
job
at
keeping
peace
with
the
British,
it
would
happen
one
day.
Hopefully
soon,
but
the
future
generations
will
all
have
independence.
And
for
now,
my
family
and
I
are
happy,
because
the
war
is
over
and
none
of
us
are
in
danger.