From Protest to Rebellion The Boston Tea Party

The Tea Act - 1773 During the early 1770s, the colonies’ protests quieted down However, in 1773 England passed the Tea Act The act was meant to help the British East India Company and actually lowered tea prices Colonists were angry because this created a monopoly and hurt colonial merchants The colonists responded with the Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party – 1773

The Intolerable Acts as Approved by King George III Britain’s response to the Boston Tea Party was to pass the Intolerable Acts Port of Boston closed Increased power of the royal governors Abolished the upper house of the Massachusetts legislature Strengthened the Quartering Act The Intolerable Acts as Approved by King George III

The First Continental Congress The colonies were outraged at the Intolerable Acts and many people wanted to help Boston The Committee of Correspondence organized the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774 The Congress accomplished: Demanded a repeal of the Intolerable Acts Declared colonies had a right to tax and govern themselves Called for the training of militias A new boycott of British goods

The Midnight Ride The British government had no intention of meeting colonial demands British general Thomas Gage was going to capture colonial arms in Concord, Massachusetts but the colonists learned of the plan Paul Revere and William Dawes rode through the night to warn the minutemen to be ready to confront the British A Statue of a Minuteman

The Battle of Lexington and Concord When the British arrived in Lexington, Massachusetts, they were confronted by the minutemen on April 18th 1775 Nobody knew who shot first, but this was the first battle of the American Revolution This is referred to as “The Shot Heard Around the World” Another battle took place near Concord. The British ultimately retreated A Portrait of the Battle of Lexington Created Years Later