This journal is from the perspective of John Clyde, age 15 at the time of his first journal entry. He is an only child, as his brother died in war. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, part of England but seen as a colonist in society. He lives alone with his father, due to his mother’s passing in 1761. His father is a merchant, and he plans to work as one in the future as well.

From the beginning of the Revolutionary War until after it, England has changed. It used to consist of British and colonists, but now the colonists have separated to form what we now know as America. Another thing that has changed is that leaders of countries were called Kings and Queens, but now, in America, they are addressed as Mr. or Ms. President. People now can also freely worship their religion, because before it was banned/illegal. Finally, birth doesn’t have to be your destiny. That was a major change from before and after the revolution. If you were born poor, it didn’t mean that you would be a peasant your whole life. If you worked hard and put in the effort, you could pull yourself to a higher position.

Although some things have changed over time, there were still things that stayed the same. Rich white men were in charge of countries. In 1763, the beginning of the revolution, the King, King George III was in charge, and from after the revolution, George Washington was in charge. There wasn’t any place where the citizens lead the country, and even to this day, there still hasn’t been a female American president. Another continuity is that most wealthy landowners and merchants dominated politics, and that has stayed the same before and after the revolution. Slave rights hadn’t changed either. At this time, slavery hadn’t been abolished yet, and nothing during the Revolutionary War caused that to change.