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January 11, 1769, Wednesday, the British Soldier is Offered Meat in Lieu of Hard Currency 418 days to                                the Boston Massacre

1/12/2017

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                     “They can’t get no relief. . .There must be some way out of here. . . .”[i]
 
The British foot soldiers were feared around the world for their exceptional discipline.  Their officers had a very different fear, desertion!  Each regiment worked intensely on their esprit de corps.  Each desertion reflected badly on the regiment and  was a point of dishonor.

On this day the Boston Evening Post suggested that the British soldiers were most unhappy that their pay had been offered in beef instead of currency.  Compounding their displeasure, the exchange rate offered was higher than the fair market value.  If the soldiers had hard currency they could purchase fresh cod caught in the harbor, partridge, rabbit, duck, geese, lobster or venison. 
​
The British army private was paid eight pence a day.  This rate of pay was set in 1660 and had not changed in one-hundred and ten years.  Don’t get excited, the army ensured they did not spend their money on alcohol; the soldiers second priority.  The army deducted six pence a week for basic clothing. One pence was deducted per week for the regimental surgeon and to add insult to injury, the pay master.  Fourteen pence sort of went to the soldier's pension fund, cut further with fees to the “regimental agent.”[ii]
 
It was all very neatly done.   Stephenson, in his expansive book, Patriot Battles, on page 40, did the arithmetic cleanly; “fifty-six pence in; fifty-six pence out.” This economic corruption forced the non-commissioned British soldier to seek additional income.  Unfortunately the Boston economy was in free fall as smuggling was nearly eliminated by the British Navy. 

The soldier's presence in the labor market led to several flash points prior to the Boston Massacre. We will elaborate in subsequent blogs on the Riley and Moyce, affairs. Click here for a preview.
   

                                                                  Bibliography
Boston Under Military Rule 1768-1769, O. M. Dickerson 1970, Da Capo Press
Patriot Battles: how the War of Independence was fought.  Michael Stephenson, 2007, HarperCollins

[i] Bob Dillon, All Along the Watchtower, 1965, Isle of Wight album

[ii] Patriot Battles: how the War of Independence was fought.  Michael Stephenson, 2007, HarperCollins, p.40


A brief video of our tour. 
http://www.weebly.com/uploads/7/6/5/7/76576147/videomassacre_321.mp4


Picture
Henry Pelham's rendition of the Boston Massacre
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  • Freedom Trail Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Tour
    • Boston Civil War Tour
    • The Kennedy Tour
    • The Boston Massacre Lesson Plan
    • Paul Revere's Row to Charlestown 4/18/1775
    • Virtual Tour of the Massachusetts State House
    • The Boston Massacre per the Pennsylvania Gazette
    • Paul Revere Lesson Plan
  • Revere Bells Index
    • The Stickney Revere Bell Listings of 1976
    • Paul Revere Bell of Beverly
    • Revere Bells in Boston >
      • Paul Revere Bell Old South Meeting House
    • California's 2 Paul Revere Bells
    • Paul Revere & Son's Bell Westborough Massachusetts
    • Falmouth, Massachusetts
    • Revere Bell Fredericksburg VA
    • Revere Bell Hampton NH
    • First Parish Church of Kennebunk
    • Revere Bells in Maine
    • Revere Bell in Mansfield
    • Revere Bell of Michigan
    • Revere Salem Mass Bell
    • Roxbury First Unitariarn Universalist Church and their Revere Bell
    • Revere & Son Bell, Savannah Georgia
    • Singapore Revere Bell
    • Tuscaloosa Bell >
      • History of the St John and Leavens Patriarchs
      • Samuel St John Jr Estate Genealogy
      • Authenticating the Revere Tuscaloosa Bell
      • Joshua B Leavens Last Will and Testament
      • 20th Century Tuscaloosa bell
    • Revere Bells Lost in Time
    • Revere Bells Washington DC
    • Revere Bell in Wakefield, Mass
    • Revere Bells Woodstock VT
  • Bostonians
    • Edward F Alexander of The Harvard 20th Civil War Regiment
    • Polly Baker
    • John Wilkes Booth
    • The Mad Hatter, Thomas, Boston Corbett who Killed John Wilkes Booth
    • Richard-Henry-Dana-Jr
    • James Franklin
    • Benjamin Harris of Publick Occurrences
    • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
    • William Lloyd Garrison
    • USS Thomas Hudner DDG116
    • Edward Hutchinson Robbins Revere
    • Amos Lincoln
    • King Philip
    • Mayor's of Boston
    • Mum Bett & Theodore Sedgwick
    • James Otis
    • Paul Joseph Revere
    • John Rowe >
      • John Rowe's Diary Entries
      • John Rowe's Dinner Party
      • John Rowe and the Jail Fire
      • Hang John Rowe?????
      • John Rowe the Fisherman
      • Joh Rowe's Tea Ship
    • Be Proud to be Called a Lucy Stoner
    • Rachel Wall , Pirate
    • Paul Revere the Coroner of Boston
    • Deborah Sampson
    • Who was Mrs. Silence Dogood?
    • Dr. Joseph Warren's Dedication
  • History Blog
  • Lilja's of Natick
    • Lilja Brothers Military History
    • Lilja's Family Album
    • Memorials and Tributes to the Five Lilja Brothers
    • Lilja Family Tree
    • Lilja Historical Family Tree Documents
    • Lilja References
  • Collage of Boston
    • 4th of July Parade, Bristol RI
    • Boston Harbor
    • The Customs House
    • Forest Hills Cemetery
    • Georges Island
    • Nonviolent Monument to Peace - Sherborn
    • The Battle Road
    • Skate bike and scooter park
    • Cassin Young & USS Cassin Young
    • MIT
    • Historic Charles River
    • The Roxbury Standpipe on Fort Hill
    • John & Abigail Adams National Park