Boston Massacre (March 1770)

- A mob of angry colonists harassed British troops assigned to protect tax collectors in Boston

- The troops eventually fired into the crowd, killing five people including African-American Crispus Attucks.

- Sam Adams & the Sons of Liberty used the incident to build anti-British attitudes

Paul Revere’s Engraving

Regulator Movement (1764-1771)- In North Carolina colonists took up arms against unfair taxation by corrupt government officials- They demanded a more fair tax system and a more democratic government- Defeated by the state militia in 1771

Gaspee Incident (June 1772)- Colonists attacked the British ship Gaspee, an aggressive anti-smuggling ship, when it ran in Rhode Island

- The ship was burned and the captain shot

- Britain threatened to try the men involved in England, but there was not enough evidence to charge anyone

- The threat of a British trial stirred even greater anti-British feelings

Committees of Correspondence (1772)

- The Gaspee incident contributed to the formation of groups who wrote letters to each other telling about the actions of the British against the colonists (Sam Adams helped form these groups)

Tea Act (1773)- The British gave a monopoly on imported tea to the failing British East India Company, including the collection of a tax

- Even though it made tea cheaper, if colonists bought the tea it was an admission they could be taxed

Boston Tea Party (Dec. 1773)- Throughout the colonies there were protests against the Tea Act- In Boston the Sons of Liberty, led by Sam Adams, dressed as Mohawk Indians and dumped a shipment of 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor in protest against the Act

Coercive Acts and Quebec Act (“Intolerable Acts”) 1774- Britain’s government responded to the ‘Tea Party’ by punishing Boston, hoping to isolate them from the other colonies - Boston Port Act – closed Boston Harbor - Massachusetts Government Act – strengthened the royal governor - Administration of Justice Act – allowed trials of officials in Britain instead of the colonies - Quartering Act – expanded the quartering of troops in all colonies - Quebec Act – extended Canada’s boundary south to the Ohio River and established Catholicism as the official religion of Quebec

First Continental Congress - Sept.-Oct. 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- 55 Delegates from 12 colonies (all except Georgia) - Sam Adams, John Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington- Suffolk Resolves – supporting Boston- Declaration of Rights and Grievances- Continental Association - a complete non-importation agreement against British goods- Plan for Second Congress in May 1775

Patriots/Whigs and Loyalists/Tories

- Not all colonists favored resisting the British

- Approximately 1/3 were Patriots, favoring anti-British action

- Approximately 1/3 were Loyalists, favoring loyalty to Britain

- The other third were unsure

“Give me liberty or give me death” – Patrick Henry, March 1775- Speaking in the Virginia House of Burgesses Henry predicted the conflict that was coming and gave the reasons for it

Lexington & Concord (April, 1775)- The British sent troops out from Boston to confiscate colonial weapons and arrest Sam Adams & John Hancock- Paul Revere and others rode out to warn the colonial ‘minutemen’- At Lexington British troops fired on colonial militia killing eight - Remembered as the “Shot heard ‘round the world”, because it began the American Revolutionary War- The British troops marched to Concord & found nothing -On the way back to Boston colonial minutemen attacked the British inflicting over 250 casualties & embarrassing the British- The American Revolutionary War had begun