An American Liberty Elm took its name from the Liberty Tree, regarded as the country's first symbol of freedom. On the morning of August 14, 1765, people in Boston found two effigies hanging from an elm in protest of the Stamp Act, and from that day the tree became known as the Liberty Tree. It stood through countless meetings, speeches, and celebrations and served as the rallying place for the Sons of Liberty. In August 1775, in a final act of violence before evacuating Boston, British soldiers cut it down because it bore the name Liberty.