Unit 3 The Revolution Begins The American Revolution

COLONIES STRIKE BACK Response to Boston Massacre Thomas Jefferson, then a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses, urges colonies to form committees of correspondence Responsible for communicating events to other colonies Keep the rebellious mood among colonists Samuel Adams starts the first committee Key to keeping the revolution spirit rolling

COLONIES STRIKE BACK Sons & Daughters of Liberty Led by Samuel Adams Colonists taking the law into their own hands Intimidated tax collectors by attacking their homes, burning them and even tarring and feathering them

colonists furious over a new tax on imported tea BOSTON TEA PARTY Boston Tea Party (1779) colonists furious over a new tax on imported tea Will refuse to purchase any tea or allow Britain to collect any revenue 150 men (dressed as Indians) sneak aboard British ships filled with tea and dump 342 chests of tea in Boston Harbor Samuel Adams and John Hancock among the men involved

THE INTOLERABLE ACTS (Coercive Acts) Spring 1774 Parliament passes to punish Mass. Immediate response to the Boston Tea Party Act 1- Port of Boston closed until city paid for destroyed tea. Act 2- Self-government limited All judges, sheriffs, and council members in Massachusetts to be appointed by governor, not elected. Restrict citizens rights Put Mass. Colony under direct control of the Crown (King of England) Act 3- British soldiers in trouble in America could be transported to Britain for trial Became known as “Intolerable Acts”

Quebec Act 1774 Quebec Act 1774 Allowed the former French region to be self-sufficient and expanded it borders Takes away potential land from colonists in the Ohio River Valley Allowed people in Quebec to practice Catholicism freely

REVOLUTION NEARS Sept. 5, 1774- First Continental Congress 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies meet In Philadelphia to discuss how to deal with these taxes and acts imposed by England Declaration of Rights and Grievances Expressed loyalty to the King Condemned the Coercive Acts Urge King to correct the wrongs incurred by the colonists Do not want independence yet!! Agree to meet again in May 1775 if no progress made King ignores request

Prelude to War Massachusetts Provisional Congress Oct. 1774 - England suspends the Massachusetts assembly Mass. Decides to begin forming militias, other colonies followed Minutemen

DIVISON IN COLONIES 2.5 million people in colonies at time of Revolution British soldiers – “Redcoats” “Lobsterbacks” Loyalists (Tories) Americans who remained loyal to Britain Patriots (Whigs) Americans who believed that the British were tyrants The forgotten majority? Those who favored neither side, but would support the winner Roughly 1/3 of colonists loyalists, 1/3 patriot, 1/3 uncommitted

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD April 1775 British General Gage ordered to arrest members of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress John Hancock, Samuel Adams April 18, 1775 - 700 British troops head to Concord Go through Lexington Paul Revere’s Ride alerting the minutemen

LEXINGTON AND CONCORD April 19, 1775 Lexington British encounter 70 minutemen in Lexington “The shot heard ‘round the world” British fire shots, 8 killed and 10 wounded Colonist overmatched, retreat Concord Head to Concord; encounter 400 minutemen British lose 99 men, 174 wounded Colonial militias lose 49 men, 46 wounded May 1775 – Militia push the Redcoats back to Boston REVOLUTIONARY WAR HAS BEGUN!!

Preparations for War