Ebenezer Mudgett and the Pine Tree Riot

What does it take for law-abiding men to risk their lives and their families' livelihoods in favor of rising against the long arm of a powerful king and government? The odious pine tree law had pushed Ebenezer Mudgett, a forty-six-year old liquor merchant, and his friends, normally circumspect and honorable colonists, to the breaking point. On April 14, 1772, Ebenezer and a small group of resolute settlers helped to ignite the fuse that would lead to a bloody revolution, and ultimately, the independence of millions of Americans.