The Revolution Begins Chapter 4, Section 1
Colonists Resist Taxes and Military Rule I. Most effective resistance: Boycott a. Protest Stamp Act b. Protest Townshend Acts Daughters of Liberty Made homemade products
2. Secret resistance: a. Sons of Liberty 1. Group of common shopkeepers, laborers organized by wealthy men - protests against Stamp Act – sometimes violent against stamp collectors 2. Organized Boston Tea Party 3. Leader – Sam Adams b. Committees of Correspondence 1. Secret communication network to tell colonies what was happening in Boston – liberties being taken away – colonists sent to trial in Gt Britain
Sons of Liberty Tar and Feathering a Stamp Collector
Intolerable Acts 1774 Response to Tea Party (Colonists destroyed 18,000 pounds of tea and refused to pay for it) 2. Quartering of soldiers in colonists’ homes 3. Closed Boston harbor = no shipping 4. “Martial Law” = stopped meeting of colonial governments British soldiers ruled local governments
Colonists’ Reaction to Intolerable Acts First Continental Congress A. Where? Philadelphia B. Who? 56 representatives from 12 colonies (More than 9 at the Stamp Act Congress) C. What? 1. Wrote a declaration of rights that colonists had as British citizens 2. Stated had right to run own governments 3. Supported protests in Boston 4. If British used force, colonists should fight back
Battle of Lexington and Concord: 1775 Importance? First battle of the American Revolution Where? Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts When? 1775 Why? 1. Colonists called “Minutemen” were getting ready for war by storing gunpowder and guns in Concord 2. British solders marched to seize and destroy it and to find Sam Adams and John Hancock hiding in Lexington 4. Paul Revere, William Dawes, Samuel Prescott rode to tell colonists British coming
What happened? a. 79 Lexington militiamen formed on the green b. Between 800 – 1,000 “redcoats” stopped at Lexington c. British commander ordered men to leave d. Men stood on green with muskets e. Someone fired – no one knows who fired the first shot f. British fired and killed 8 minutemen – wounded 10 g. 1,000 – 2,000 minutemen gathered to chase British back down Monotomy Road