Liberty Tree

Liberty Tree. . An Elm Tree in Boston became known as The Liberty Tree. This tree became a rallying point for the growing resistance to the rule of Britain over the American Colonies. In 1765, Patriots in Boston staged the first act of defiance against the British government at the tree. That year the British government had imposed a Stamp Act on the American colonies to raise government funds to offset the British government's costs to protect and administer the Colonies. The act required all legal documents, permits, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards in the American Colonies to carry a tax stamp., On August 14, 1765, a crowd gathered in Boston under the large elm to protest the Stamp Act. Hanging from the tree was a straw-stuffed effigy labeled "A. O." for Andrew Oliver, the colonist chosen by King George III to implement the Stamp Act. Beside it hung a British cavalry boot with its sole painted green. This second effigy represented the two British ministers who were considered responsible for the Stamp Act: The Earl of Bute (the boot being a pun on "Bute") and Lord George Grenville (the green being a pun on "Grenville"). Inside the boot was a small, devil figure holding a copy of the Stamp Act and bearing a sign that read: "What Greater Joy did ever New England see / Than a Stampman hanging on a Tree!" This was the first public show of defiance against the Crown and spawned the resistance that led to the American Revolutionary War only 10 years later., During the Siege of Boston, a party of British soldiers and Loyalists cut down the tree, knowing what it represented to the Patriots, and used it for firewood. Following the British evacuation in 1776, patriots returning to Boston erected another Liberty Pole at the site., This tree is dedicated to the memory of the Patriots of the American Revolution during the commemoration of the 250th anniversary by the Dacotah Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. And in memory of Alice Strouse Ellingsberg., (Caption) , The Colonists under Liberty Tree