History paper #1
George Robert Twelves Hewes Ryan Cook History 151 28 February 1997: George Robert Twelves Hewes wasn’t exactly labeled as Mr. Popularity by the elites of his day. This perception of Hewes based largely on the ideals of a custom called deference. George Robert Twelves Hewes was a man who recognized his place in society, and did everything in his power to attempt to better himself. By reading this paper you will see examples of how he helped bridge the barrier of deference between elites and the working class. Hewes was not a bad person in any respect, he merely lived by the standards of the society he lived in. If this makes him a bad person for following society when he had to, and for fighting for what he believed in, then many Americans of this period could be labeled as good individuals. Many Americans would be labeled as good because they followed societies standards. George Robert Twelves Hewes was born in Boston in 1742. George wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead he was born into a working class family who had to struggle to get by. His father was employed as a tanner. This wasn’t the lowest of a professions that one could be in, but it wasn’t viewed as high class either. We can assume that because his father was employed as a tanner, his father’s family must have been a little better off then George would find himself in a few years. It was likely that his father’s side had been blessed with a more money. Because, after all, an apprenticeship as a tanner would cost a more than some other apprenticeships. Take for example shoemaking, one of the most common apprenticeships of the day. Shoemaking was popular because it brought a person lots of money. It was popular because in order to get into an apprenticeship one’s family would have to pay for it. Money wasn’t the only problem George had to face while growing up. George was unusually short for his age- he was only five feet one inch when he was full grown. His height led him to be the butt of many jokes and endless teasing from his peers. This endless teasing probably led him to develop a low self-esteem and a need for attention. This need for attention would cause him to act up in school, which led to his reputation as a discipline problem. But George didn’t seem to care if he was labeled as rowdy. Every time he got into trouble he was getting attention, and attention is what he wanted. When George finally matured enough to enter his apprenticeship he found he was limited in his choices not only because of his physical size, but because of the money it cost to buy your way in. So when George started looking for his apprenticeship, he became discouraged. He wanted to become anything but a shoe maker. But a shoe maker was the only form of apprenticeship his uncle could afford to buy him. And George Hewes was living in a deferential society, which meant that whatever he did as a shoe maker he would never be able to be viewed as successful. This might seem harsh to some people, but to the elites it seemed fair. After all an elite was born into wealth, so there was nothing that anyone could do about this society’s customs except to accept them. George’s first encounter with a deferential society came when he was invited to celebrate New Year’s with John Hancock. Hewes knew Hancock as a very well to do elite. George arrives at the house about fifteen minutes early and knocks on the door. When the servant arrives he is greeted with a perplexed look. The servant was not very friendly towards Hewes. This is no fault of the servant. When you go back to the issue of deference, this servant probably just thought that another low -class person was begging for money or shelter. The servant probably thought this because of how Hewes looked when he presented himself. When the servant arrived at the door what he saw was probably a surprise. Here standing at the front door of John Hancock’s home was a small young man with a low self-esteem. After all it is doubtful that Hewes looked the servant in the eye. Because of his overall appearance he was led around to the back of the house. The back of the house where the people viewed as not important are permitted to enter. When the servant went upstairs to tell Hancock that he had company, Hancock must have corrected him. When the servant returned he treated Hewes with respect and even with a smile on his face. However, when Hancock came down to greet Hewes, he probably made Hewes feel as humiliated as before or possibly more. Because when Hancock first entered the room he took out a coin and gave it to Hewes, for either a compliment or a tip. This can be viewed from two different points, the second of which is why I believe Hancock did it. This could have been viewed as a tip for the work that Hewes did for him on a pair of shoes. After all Hancock was pleased with the quality of work that Hewes had done on the pair of shoes. Hancock believed that this would insure that the same level of quality would be completed next time Hewes did work for him. More importantly, I view it as a measure by Hancock to make himself feel better. The deferential society was set so that elites felt that it was their obligation to provided for people less fortunate than they found themselves. When Hancock gave Hewes this coin, he thought that he was helping Hewes out. Hewes probably didn’t see it this way. But what could he do? He was at one of the most prominent business man’s home in Boston. From Hewes point of view Hancock was showing how he could afford to give Hewes a gift. Hewes was unable to return the favor, so this demonstrates one of the many underlying motives Hancock could have had in regards to the coin giving. A lot can be said about the Hancocks and the beginning deference. After all John’s father bought a plot of land above Boston and separated himself from the rest of the city. That move was like a slap in the face to everyday workers. The elites were saying that the commoners were good enough to work for them, but they were not good enough to live by. This was the beginning of a class system in America. But Hewes was still an apprentice shoemaker. He absolutely hated the fact that he was a shoemaker and would try just about anything to get out of it. So he did what he thought was the most logical, join the military. But he couldn’t even do that. Hewes found that he was too short to enlist as a volunteer. Considering the time, Hewes should have taken this as a blessing. He wasn’t the type who liked to be told what to do, and the military would have told him how to do everything. It might have done him some good, but he was still very lucky. Not soon after that Hewes found himself in trouble again. He was placed into debtors’ prison because he bought some fine clothes to impress a women and her family, but he couldn’t pay for them. Hewes was also without property. This meant that he would have been unable to vote, because back then you had to own property in order to vote. A property-less Hewes was forced to find other ways to become recognized. Hewes became involved in the revolution because he felt personally tied to it. A few weeks before things started to get really bad in the Boston area, Hewes was cheated out of some money by a British officer. Hewes was too upset, but did file a complaint. After Hewes filed the complaint, the soldier who had stolen from him was punished severely. This bothered Hewes, and he wished he hadn’t filed a complaint at all. Several days after this incident there was a ruckus of sorts in the middle of town. This ruckus was a bunch of young apprentices who had gathered to display their anger at the violation of a act of anti-importation agreements. During the altercation a paid informant of the customs agency shot into the crowd. The results of this cowardliness act cost one young boy his life. This senseless shooting outraged an already upset and unsatisfied Hewes. The Boston Massacre would soon follow all of this. The massacre upset Hewes because of the five men who were killed during the massacre, Hewes knew four of them. Hewes was the most upset because he felt that the shot men had as much right to be on the road as the British soldiers. After these incidents Hewes began to take a more active role in his community. This was very evident on the night of the Boston Tea party. Word was passed around from community member to community member about the raiding of the British ships, and Hewes found himself once again right there side by side with his fellow neighbors. But this is also where you start to notice changes in the deferential society that George Robert Twelve Hewes has grown up with. When they first board the ships in Boston Harbor Hewes was pulled aside and given a leadership position. Keep in mind that no one is supposed to be able to recognize anyone else there because of their Indian costumes. But this position is given to Hewes because Hewes was known throughout the community for his whistling. While on the ship fulfilling his duties Hewes thinks that he recognizes someone familiar, Hancock. Hancock may have participated in the Boston Tea Party because he knew that Hewes would be there. After all, Hewes was always helping out with whatever cause he could. So Hancock decided to take full advantage of the situation. Hancock may have possibly viewed the downfall of the British influence on the colonies as a way for himself to gain more power and money. This wasn’t much of a symbolic visit on behalf of Hancock. With all of the Indian costumes that they were wearing he knew if Hewes was there he would be the only one able to recognize him. Remember that Hewes was invited to Hancocks house on New Years Day. Hancock’s participation in the Boston Tea Party was looked at differently from Hewes perspective. Hewes probably didn’t think too awful much about the presence of an elite at the raids. Hewes was thinking only in terms of himself. So Hancocks motives for being there might have been for more of self interest. While his presence was viewed as unity within the working class or at least support of it. But I don’t think Hancock was there to support the working class as much as he was there to support his own pocket book. There is also an Incident in the street with a man named Malcolm. Hewes was simply walking down the street when he comes upon Malcolm dragging a young boy threatening to beat him with a cane pole. When Hewes hears this he won’t stand for it. He immediately goes over to aid the young boy. Malcolm doesn’t like the fact that Hewes is interfering with business that is not his. So Malcolm tells Hewes to stay out of it. But Hewes won’t listen. Malcolm becomes outraged with Hewes for not minding his own business and decides to let the boy go. But that doesn’t mean it is over. Malcolm decides to beat Hewes over the head with the cane instead. This almost kills Hewes. When Hewes regains his senses he decides to take Malcolm to court. To the surprise of Malcolm the court decides to side with Hewes and embarrasses Malcolm. The very next time that the two meet on the street, Malcolm greets Hewes with the utmost of respect and courteousness. Hewes just smiles and thanks him, knowing the deferential society is coming to an end.