1. The Road to Lexington and Concord
Chapter 6, Section 3

2. The Intolerable Acts
1774, outraged by the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts).
Direct attack on colonists’ traditional rights and liberties:
1.) closed the port of Boston until destroyed tea was paid off.
2.) altered Massachusetts charter to ban town meetings.
3.) increased the governor's power over the colonists.
4.) allowed British officers to house troops in private dwellings.

3. Intolerable Acts

4. The First Continental Congress
September 1774, delegates from all the colonies (except Georgia) met in Philadelphia.
Voted to ban trade with Britain until Intolerable Acts were repealed.
Called upon each colony to begin training troops.
The First Continental Congress marked a key step for independence.

5. The Revolution Begins
British spies learned that the Massachusetts militia was storing arms and ammunition in Concord, (about 20 miles northwest of Boston).
April 18, 1775, British General Gage ordered:
1.) for the supplies to be destroyed, and
2.) for the arrests of Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

6. The Midnight Ride
Paul Revere and William Dawes, Sons of Liberty members, rode out to spread the news of the British advancement.
Revere setup a signal system:
1.) One lantern burning in the Old North Church steeple signaled that the British were taking the land route out of Boston and
2.) two lamps meant that the troops were leaving Boston by water.
Revere and Dawes galloped the countryside on their “midnight ride,” spreading their news.

7. Calling the Minutemen

8. Lexington and Concord
Dawn of April 19, 1775, more than 700 British troops reached Lexington.
Capt. John parker and about 70 militiamen were waiting.
The British ordered the Americans to put their muskets down, they refused.
Within a few minutes eight militiamen lay dead.
The British marched forward to Concord, where they destroyed military supplies.
A small skirmish broke out, causing the British to retreat.

9. Lexington and Concord

10. Lexington and Concord cont…
Nearly 4,000 Minutemen lined the road from Concord to Lexington and peppered the retreating Redcoats with musket fire.
Only the arrival of 1,000 more Redcoats saved them from a total British defeat.
Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary War.
Known as the “shot heard ‘round the world.”

11. Choosing Sides Americans would now have to chose their sides.
Patriots- those who sided with the rebels.
Loyalists- those who supported the British.