1. “The War Begins”
Chapter 8 section 1

2. The War Begins
-The Intolerable Acts led many New Englanders to join militias. They called themselves minutemen because they were ready to fight in a moment’s notice.
minutemen- volunteers who were ready to fight on a moment’s notice.
The Revolutionary War’s first shots were fired in April at Lexington and Concord, where British troops marched to seize colonists’ weapons

3. Battle of Lexington and Concord April 1775
-The governor of Massachusetts, General Thomas Gage,
Believed the minutemen were preparing for war. Gage’spies reported that gums and powder were being stored in the village of Concord. Gage ordered 700 British soldiers to Lexington, a town on the way to Concord to try to capture John Hancock and Sam Adams. Then the soldiers were to go to Concord and seize colonial weapons
The colonists had spies as well. Gape’s troops left Boston on April 18,1775. Paul Revere and William Dawes galloped through the countryside spreading the word, “The British are coming.”

4. April 1775
Adams and Hancock escaped from Lexington. 70 minutemen and their leader Capt. John Parker, gathered in front of the tavern in Lexington.
The redcoats approached as the minutemen headed for cover. A shot rang out. Both sides started to shoot. When the shots stopped 8 minutemen lay dead or wounded.
Each side claimed the other fired first at Lexington. We can never know for sure.
The British left Lexington and went to Concord but only found two or three small cannons. After a brief battle with minutemen at concord’s North Bridge, the redcoats headed back to Boston.

5. Back to Boston
The march for the British back to Boston was a nightmare for them.
A British officer reported that “heavy fire came from all sides, from walls, fences, houses, trees, and barns.”
By the time the British reached Boston, 74 had been killed and 200 wounded. American losses totaled 49 killed 41 wounded
The Revolutionary War had begun.

6. Second Continental Congress
Shortly afterward the battle of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775.
The Second Continental Congress created a Continental Army and appointed George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army.

7. Continental Army’s Actions
An invasion of Canada by the Continental Army failed when Canadians refused to fight against Britain.
In Boston, the Battle of Bunker hill proved that colonists could fight and stop British soldiers. More than British troops were killed or wounded, compared to 400 Continentals. The only reason that the British took the hill was because the Americans ran out of gunpowder and were forced to throw stones.
A week after Bunker Hill, Washington arrived in Boston to take command. He brought heavy artillery (59 loaded cannons). On March 4,1776 the city was surrounded by cannons. Rather than risk another Bunker Hill, the British abandoned Boston.