In this letter of 1774, Elizabeth Smith (1750–1815), younger sister of Abigail Adams, excitedly informs her brother-in-law John Adams, a delegate at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, that the previously passive local residents have threatened the carpenters who helped build barracks for the British troops in Boston and erected “two immense Liberty Poles.” In the aftermath of the Boston Tea party, Great Britain sent additional troops to occupy Boston and force the rebellious colony into compliance with British rule.