Making a connection to history through literature

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Making a connection to history through
literature

• By
• Nadine Uremovich

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Summary of Johnny Tremain

• Esther Forbes gives readers a glimpse into the
  life of American colonists during the beginning
  of the American Revolution in her 269 page
  historical fiction novel, Johnny Tremain. Johnny
  is a rebellious young man who joins the Sons of
  Liberty and participates in events such as The
  Boston Tea Party, Paul Reveres Midnight Ride,
  and the Battle at Lexington and Concord.

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The Lead Characters

• Johnny Tremain
• A very talented fourteen-year-old silver-smith
  apprentice. He burns his hand and loses all hope
  of becoming an artisan. As he struggles with how
  he will fit into society, he meets Rab. They
  become good friends, and Rab introduces Johnny to
  the Sons of Liberty. Johnny and Rab play
  important roles in gathering and transmitting
  information for the Patriots.

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The Lead Characters

• Rab Silsbee
• A calm and reflective sixteen- year-old newspaper
  printer. Rab prints the Boston Observer, a
  newspaper that propagates the Patriot cause.
  When he meets Johnny, he does not offer pity like
  many others. He accepts Johnnys disability and
  helps Johnny realize that his crippled hand does
  not define Johnny. Rab draws Johnny into the
  Patriot cause.

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Supporting Characters

• The Lapham family
• Mr. Lapham
• Master Silver-smith
• Mrs. Lapham
• Madge Lapham
• Oldest daughter
• Dorcas Lapham
• 2nd daughter
• Cilla Lapham
• 3rd daughter, Johnnys friend. She adores
  Isannah.
• Isannah Lapham
• Youngest daughter. Becomes tied to the Lytes

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Johnnys Blood Relatives

• Lavinia Lyte Tremain
• Johnnys mother, she died when he was young. She
  taught Johnny how to read.
• Charles Tremain
• Johnnys father, he died before Johnny knew him.
• Jonathon Lyte
• Wealthy Boston merchant and Johnnys great uncle.
• Lavinia Lyte
• Jonathon Lytes spoiled daughter. She takes
  Isannah from the Laphams.

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The Whigs

• Johnny meets up with some of the most famous
  revolutionaries. Their fictional roles in Johnny
  Tremain align with history.

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Samuel Adams

• Sam Adams organized the Sons of Liberty. He
  published many articles opposing British tax
  policies.

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John Hancock

• One of the wealthiest men in Boston. Like many
  of the wealthy, he opposed the new taxes that the
  British were imposing on colonists.

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Doctor Joseph Warren 

• A doctor who became involved in the Patriot
  cause. He joined Sam Adams, John Hancock, and
  Paul Revere. He sent Paul Revere on his midnight
  ride.

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Paul Revere

• A member of the Sons of Liberty. On a midnight
  ride, Revere informed colonists in Lexington and
  Concord that the British were coming.

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James Otis 

• An advocate for colonial rights. He became
  mentally unstable when he was attacked for
  propagating the Patriot cause in a newspaper
  article.

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What can we learn from Johnny?

• The types of jobs people had in the 1770s
• How people learned their trade
• What education was like
• Social Class
• What life was like in the 1770s
• How the conflict affected colonists
• Literary Connections

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Working for a livingSome of the colonial
occupations are stated outright and some can be
implied.

• Silver smith
• Butcher
• Clockmaker
• Tailor
• Barber
• Bookbinder
• Doctor
• Printer
• Cobbler
• Carpenter
• Farmer

• Captain
• Sailor
• Porter
• Rigger
• Doctor
• Merchant
• Lawyer
• Clerk
• Coachman
• Minister/deacon
• Constable

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How did people learn their trade?

• It was very common for people to start out as an
  apprentice.

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What is an Apprentice?

• Johnny Tremain was a silversmiths apprentice.
• In 1773, it was common for people to serve a
  master as an apprentice in order to learn a
  trade. An apprenticeship is like going to
  technical college.
• An apprentice served his master for seven years.
  After seven years, his educational debt was paid
  and the apprentice could be his own master.

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Education

• None of the children in the story went to school.
• Colonial governments did not require children to
  go to school.

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Reading

• Aside from the master, Mr. Lapham, Johnny was the
  best reader in the house. Mr. Lapham required
  the children to read verses from the Bible.
• When Johnny read, he never stumbled on words, and
  he liked to listen to the words roll from his
  lips. He was a very dramatic reader.
• How did Johnny learn how to read?
• The book says that his mother made sure that
  Johnny knew how to read before she died.

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Literacy

• Who was Johnnys mother?
• Because she taught her son how to read, that
  tells us something about her background.
• Johnnys mother must have come from a wealthy
  family.
• Only wealthy families educated their children.
  Any ideas why?

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Social class

• Upper class
• Could afford to sustain the family without the
  labor of their children.
• Children from wealthy families received a formal
  education.
• Everyone but the Upper Class
• Needed the labor of their children to financially
  sustain the family.
• Children learned the family trade and household
  chores.
• No time for school.
• The characters in Johnny Tremain
• Were not wealthy. The children learned the
  family trade and household chores.

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Life in the 1770s

• Land Travel
• Horse
• Horse and wagon
• Walking
• Transatlantic travel
• Ocean vessel
• How is that different from today?

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Home life

• In 1773, there were a lot of animals in the city
  limits
• Horses provided transportation and performed a
  lot of heavy work.
• Hens and cows for eggs and milk
• Cats took care of rodents
• How is that different from today?

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Shopping

• Did you notice that when Johnny was looking for
  work that there were a lot of different types of
  shops?
• People went to the butcher for meat
• The cobbler for shoes
• The tailor for clothes
• The clockmaker for a clock
• The carpenter for furniture
• How is that different from the way we shop?

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Tories and Patriots

• Tories
• Colonists who supported King George.
• Merchant Lyte was a Tory.
• Whigs
• British colonists who opposed English imperial
  policy (e.g. Stamp Act, Townsend Act)
• Paul Revere, James Otis, John Hancock, and
  Joseph Warren were Whigs.

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The power of print

• The Whigs were very effective at using the
  printing press to propagate the Patriot cause.
• Literate adults could read the articles.
• Illiterate adults took meaning from political
  cartoons.
• What forms of media shape our world view today?

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A cause worth fighting for

• The Sons of Liberty met in secret to avoid
  British persecution.
• The Sons of Liberty were wealthy colonists who
  risked losing all of their wealth in order to be
  relieved of British tyranny.
• Printers, carpenters, butchers, and farmers
  transformed into soldiers. Many gave their lives
  for freedom.

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Conflict and colonists

• Colonists formed militias to stand up against the
  British soldiers.

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The Turning Point

• It is important to remember that it took a long
  time for the colonists to rebel. Forbes is
  writing about a turning point.

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Important Literary Details

• Johnny starts out as a promising silver-smith who
  is wounded by the silver which he loves.
• The colonists start out as a promising extension
  of England until suppressed by the country they
  love.
• In the end, Dr. Warren cuts the scar tissue on
  Johnnys hand to free him from his wound.
• The American colonists cut ties with the English
  monarchy.

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References

• Forbes, E. Johnny Tremain. 1943. Dell Publishing
  New York, NY.
• Images
• http//etc.usf.edu/clipart/sitemap/sitemap.htm

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The End