ey had none to sell. So a
committee of 100 men was appointed to see what could be done. This
committee decided that it would be right for the merchants to import
everything they needed except tea. And the merchants welcomed this
decision and agreed to it.

But the fiery Sons of Liberty refused to listen to any such compromise.
They insisted on keeping the non-importation agreement until the duty
on tea, as well as all other duties, should be done away with once and
for all. So they determined to maintain it until the end, and they did
maintain it well. Day by day the soldiers of King George III. and the
citizens became greater enemies. Although the soldiers tried many times
to drag down the liberty pole, it was well defended, and it stood until
one night in January, 1770, when they tore it down and chopped it into
pieces. This act led to the battle of Golden Hill, which was the first
real battle of the American Revolution.

CHAPTER XXII

FIGHTING the TAX on TEA

A bit of rising ground, not a great way from the Common, was called
Golden Hill. Here there was an inn. To this day the elevation of ground
can be seen (where John Street crosses William), and the inn still
stands. While the thought of the wrecked liberty pole was still fresh
in mind, some of the Sons of Liberty came suddenly upon a number of
soldiers close by this inn. There was a running fight, the soldiers
using their guns and cutlasses and the others beating them back with
staves and sticks. More soldiers came and the fight grew in fury.
Already one man had received his death-blow and a dozen had been
injured, when several officers came galloping up the road and the
soldiers were ordered back to their barracks. This was the battle of
Golden Hill.

Very often after this the soldiers and the citizens clashed and
sometimes came to blows, and progress was at a standstill because of the
turbulence of the times. Public improvements were neglected and very
little business was carried on.

In the third year after the battle of Golden Hill, the British
Government decided to make the colonists buy tea whether they wanted to
or not. So the price was put down until tea could be bought in New York
cheaper than it could be bought in England. This did no good, for though
the tea was cheap the tax was on it and it was the tax and not the price
of which the people complained. The Sons of Liberty, when they heard
that ships loaded with cheap tea were on the wa