In the bustling Boston of 1773, Johnny Tremain is a fourteen-year-old apprentice to a silversmith. He is gifted and knows it. He cheerfully lords it over the other apprentices until the tragic day when a crucible of molten silver breaks and Johnny's right hand is so burned as to be useless. After a period of despair and humiliation, Johnny becomes a dispatch rider for the Committee of Public Safety, a job that brings him in touch with the infamous Boston patriots, and with all the exciting currents that were to lead to the Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington.