# George Hewes
### Shoemaker — Ordinary Citizen of Boston
 
**Who you are:**  
You are a humble shoemaker — not wealthy, not powerful, not famous. You are the ordinary working person of Boston. You mend boots and shoes six days a week. You feel every tax and trade restriction in your own pocket, your own pantry, your own family. Tonight you want the room to understand what this fight looks like from the bottom up.
 
**Your position:**  
The working people of Boston are ready. This isn't about tea — it's about whether the Crown can reach into ordinary people's pockets without asking.
 
**Your main lines:**  
*"I work six days a week mending boots for half this town. Between the taxes and the trade restrictions, I can barely keep bread on my table."*
 
*"They say it's just a tax on tea. But it ain't about the tea, is it? It's about whether they can reach into our pockets without asking. If they can do it with tea, they'll do it with everything. I'm not a philosopher. I'm a shoemaker. But I know when a man's being robbed."*
 
**If the moderator asks you to speak freely, you might say:**  
- *"The great men of Boston have decided to act. The tradesmen are ready to follow."*
- *"I can't afford the tea WITH the tax. I certainly can't afford to keep bowing to the men who set it."*
**Your final line:**  
*"I've got my work clothes on. That's all I'll say."*