The American Revolution was a major force affecting the lives and memories of the American people. Alfred F. Young, the author of The Shoemaker and the Tea Party presents the trials and tribulations of a common Bostonian named George Robert Twelves Hewes. Hewes is placed in uncommon situations, experienced through the late part of the 18th century. George R. T. Hewes was a common man of occupation and wealth class but was unique to the events of the American Revolutionary War. His uncommon spot in history comes from witnessing almost every major Revolutionary event in Boston. The shoemaker was present at key events in the pre-Revolutionary movement: the Boston Massacre, the so-called Tea Party, and the tarring and feathering of the customs officer John Malcolm.
             The first event George R. T. Hewes encountered was the Boston Massacre. Hewes became part of the mob that formed after the bloody murder of a young schoolboy. Hewes was not the coordinator of any action, nor was he involved in any violence himself, but witnessed the event. He even knew four of the five Bostonians killed during the Massacre. He and his relatives testified or gave a deposition for the prosecution of the British commander who ordered his troops to fire. George R. T. Hewes began a docile assault on the injustices he saw in the form of protest. Hewes experienced one of the first assaults on American life by British troops. He was in a situation where any of the protestors could have been killed. From Hewes words, "I was soon on the ground among them" (38). Young writes following this, "as if it were natural that he should turn out in defense of fellow townsmen against what was assumed to be the danger of aggressive action by soldiers" (38). This parallel among Young and Hewes' thoughts is apparent throughout the book. This mob was a unified structure without social barriers.
             The second event and seemingly the most important action Hewes helped undertake,...