Experience the American dream with today’s Patriot of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s February 17, 1775. I’m in the Boston Commons with Will Ashton. Young Will and his friends have been sledding down the hill behind the general store, and the British soldiers have been repeatedly stomping holes in their trails. But apparently that is all changed.
JG: “Master Will, I understand you did a very daring thing.”
WA: “My friends and I went to General Gage today. He’s in charge of the British soldiers that have been breaking our sledding hill. General Gage promised that we would have the right to our sledding hill and that his men will never break it down again.”
General Gage did honor the children’s freedom to sledding, but he offered no similar freedom to their parents and others living in danger of their lives.
Read the full account of the incident found in the letters of John Andrews, a Boston merchant.
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
