1. Building Colonial Unity
Chapter 5, Sections 2 and 3

2. Questions What happened at the Boston Massacre?
How did colonists use the massacre to their favor?
Why did colonists dress like Mohawks at the Boston Tea Party?
What were the “Intolerable Acts”?
What were 2 things Continental Congress called for?
What happened at the Battle of Lexington?
What happened at the Battle of Concord?
Who were Loyalists and Patriots?

3. The Boston Massacre
Colonists felt that military soldiers stationed in Boston violated their rights and freedom.
On March 5, 1770 the tension between colonists and the British soldiers (redcoats) erupted.
Angry townspeople began throwing snowballs, stones, oyster shells and wood at the soldiers on duty. The colonists also came armed with sticks, shovels and clubs.

4. The Boston Massacre
When one British soldier was knocked down by a stone, the soldiers became nervous and fired on the colonists.

5. The Boston Massacre
After several shots were fired, five colonists lay dead. One victim was an African free man named Crispus Attucks

6. The Boston Massacre
Colonial leaders used news of the killings as propaganda (information designed to influence opinion) against the British.
Samuel Adams placed posters all over Boston that described the incident as a slaughter of innocent Americans by bloodthirsty redcoats.
The Boston Massacre led colonists to boycott against British goods.

7. The Crises Over Tea
Due to colonists boycotting British goods the King of England removed all of the taxes on the colonists… except for one…
TEA
Colonists again felt their rights were being infringed upon.
The Sons of Liberty organized the Boston Tea Party because they objected to paying a tax on tea.

8. The Boston Tea Party
On December 16th, 1773 the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians. Armed with hatchets they marched to Boston harbor, boarded the ships, and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water.

9. The King’s Response
To punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, the king and parliament passed the Coercive Acts.
Many colonists called these acts the “Intolerable Acts” because they were so harsh and could not be ignored.
The Coercive Acts closed Boston Harbor until the ruined tea was paid for.
The Coercive Acts also prevented the arrival of certain supplies to come by ship.
The Quartering Act forced citizens of Boston to shelter soldiers in their home.

10. The Continental Congress
In September 1774, 55 men arrived in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Their purpose was to establish a political body to represent American interests and challenge British control.
They called this new organization the Continental Congress.
Members of the Continental Congress included: Samuel Adams, John Adams, Patrick Henry and George Washington.

11. The Continental Congress
First, the Continental Congress drafted a statement of grievances against the king.
Second, they voted to boycott all British products.
Thirdly, they called for the formation of militias (citizen soldiers) to defend colonists against the British.

12. The First Battles of the War
When the colonists began forming militias, both colonists and British redcoats knew that war was near.
Many colonists referred to themselves as minutemen because they said they were prepared to fight on a minutes notice.
Britain knew that the colonies were forming militias and were stockpiling weapons and ammunition.
The British soldiers (700) in Boston were ordered to march to Concord (a town 20 miles west of Boston) and destroy artillery and ammunition.

13. The First Battles of the War
On April 18, 1775 a man by the name of Paul Revere received word that the British were marching towards Lexington and Concord. He rode along the moonlit countryside yelling “the regulars are out!”

14. Lexington
700 British troops were sent to Lexington in order to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams.
When they reached Lexington, Hancock and Adams had already evacuated.
In Lexington, British soldiers were greeted by 70 minutemen.
No one knows who fired the first shot at Lexington. By the time the smoke cleared eight minutemen lay dead.
Lexington was the first battle of the American Revolution. It was known as “the shot heard around the world.”
The 700 British troops left Lexington and headed to Concord.

15. Concord
When the 700 British troops reached Concord they found that the gunpowder they were looking for had already been removed.
On their march back to Boston the British forces came under heavy fire by minutemen.
The attacks began at Concord’s North Bridge and would last for a 20 mile march all the way back to Boston!

16. Concord
Farmers, blacksmiths, saddle makers and clerks hid behind trees, rocks, fences and picked the British troops off one by one.
By the time the British troops made it back to Boston 174 were wounded and 73 were dead.

17. Choosing Sides
As American colonists heard about these battles taking place, they faced a major decision. Should they join the rebels or remain loyal to Britain?
Those who remained true to Britain were known as Loyalists.
Those who took the side of the rebels for independence were known as Patriots.