Along with the Coercive Acts, Britain sent a military governor General Thomas Gage to Massachusetts. In October 1774, the Massachusetts House of Representatives defied Gage’s order and met in assembly. It named John Hancock head of the Committee on Safety. The Committee was empowered to call up a colonial militia. Hancock organized special units of the militia in to squads known as Minutemen. From this point onward, Massachusetts truly is in rebellion.

On April 14th, 1775, Gage received orders to arrest Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were in hiding In Lexington. Gage was also to confiscate weapons in a rebel supply depot in Concord. Four days later, 700 British Marines assembled in Boston Common before setting out to Lexington. The question arose of which route the British intended to take out of town: across the Charles River or along the Boston spit; the route would help determine which way Hancock and Adams would escape.The Boston Committee of Correspondence had spies throughout town, including the sexton of North Church, Robert Newman. Committee member Paul Revere set up a code by which Newman could inform him of the route. As Revere waited in a boat on the river, Newman was to hang lanterns in the church bell tower: “one if by land, two if by sea.” The two lanterns in the tower told Revere that the British were crossing the river. He rowed to Charlestown where a horse awaited him and then he rode through the countryside declaring, “the Regulars (or Redcoats) are coming.” Two others, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, were doing the same thing. Between Lexington and Concord, all three were captured and detained by British roadblock, but Prescott escaped and continued the warning. Dawes also escaped. Revere, however, had his horse confiscated and had to walk back to Lexington. He arrived just in time to see the battle.

Lexington Green

Old North Bridge

The Road Back

Battle of Lexington and Concord

Battle of Lexington and Concord: First battles of the War of Independence: Major General Thomas Gage, British Military Governor, sent troops to capture two rebel leaders: John Hancock and Sam Adams. On April 19th, the redcoats met the Minutemen on Lexington Green, someone fired a shot and war began. British troops routed the militia, but suffered over 250 casualties on their return to Boston. 93 colonials died in the battles. With shots finally fired, all of New England prepared for war.

The other colonial regions were less united in their response to Lexington and Concord. In New York, patriots organized the militia, while loyalists sent a letter to Gage asking him to suspend further attacks until orders came from England. New Jersey was split between patriots and Tories, led by Governor William Franklin. Quaker Pennsylvania divided between pacifists and fighters, while the rest of the colony divided into patriots, led by Franklin, and loyalists, led by John Dickinson.

In the Chesapeake, Maryland opposed revolution, while Virginia (and especially Patrick Henry) supported it. A month before Lexington, Henry urged the House of Burgesses to organize a militia, giving his oft-quoted speech, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

Loyalism was stronger in the Lower South, particularly in the back-country among the Scots-Irish who distrusted the Low Country planters. But a strong patriot contingent also existed in the Carolinas, as well as Georgia. On May 20th, Mecklenburg County issued four resolutions and declared its independence: “We do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent people; are, and of right ought to be a sovereign and self-governing association, under the control of no power, other than that of our God and . . . Congress: To the maintenance of which Independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual co-operation, our Lives, our Fortunes, and our most Sacred Honor.”

“There is something charming to me in the conduct of Washington: a gentleman of one of the first fortunes upon the continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends, sacrificing his ease and hazarding all in the cause of his country.” John Adams

Second Continental Congress: Meeting, beginning in May 1775, after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, it was the first that included delegates from all of the colonies. The delegates were split. There was strong sentiment to avoid further conflict, but preparedness was important. The Congress named George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the proposed Continental Army.

“ Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes.” Colonel William Prescott

Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775): First major battle of the war; 2,200 Redcoats fought to take the heights north of Boston. Overdressed on a blistering hot day and with the colonists holding the better position on Breed’s Hill, wave after wave of British soldiers attacked and was mowed down. The British won the battle but it was a pyrrhic victory; they suffered 1,054 casualties.

After Bunker Hill, John Dickenson tried once again to restore peace. He wrote the “Olive Branch Petition,” sent to England on July 8th, 1775. But showing the split in Congress, Thomas Jefferson wrote a companion piece that explained the action of forming colonial militias: On the Necessity of Taking Up Arms, July 1775.

Ironically, the Olive Branch Petition reduced the colonies’ ability to negotiate because if the king rejected it, then there would be little for the colonies to do but either give in or become independent.

In August, King George III called the colonials rebels and rejected the petition. Instead, he turned to Europe for troops. Prussia, Russia, and Holland rejected his entreaty, but several German principalities and city-states complied, most notably the state of Hesse, which supplied nearly 13,000 Hessian mercenaries.

John Adams: Boston lawyer, led Independence Movement at Second Continental Congress. Although short in stature, he had a strong mind, a huge ego, and a way of driving his colleagues crazy with sheer force of character. He was ambassador to Britain during the Confederation era, 1st Vice-POTUS and 2nd POTUS.

Thomas Jefferson: Main author of the Declaration of Independence, inventor, writer, and musician. He was ambassador to France during the Confederation era, the first Secretary of State, second Vice-POTUS, and third POTUS.

Common Sense (1776): Pamphlet written by radical English Quaker Tom Paine and published in Philadelphia in January 1776. It argued that it made no sense for the colonies to stay part of England. Its fiery language and clear reasoning helped convince the large segment of undecided to join the independence movement

“I HAVE never met with a man, either in England or America, who hath not confessed his opinion, that a separation between the countries would take place one time or other: And there is no instance in which we have shown less judgment, than in endeavoring to describe, what we call, the ripeness or fitness of the continent for independence.” Tom Paine

Declaration of Independence: Founding document of the U.S. signed on July 4, 1776. It was written by committee (Ben Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston) with most of the work done by Jefferson: the document is in four parts:

1. a preamble, offering an introduction as to the purpose of the document

2. explanation of natural rights, based on Locke's “social contract:” life, liberty, pursuit of happiness

3. presentation of the list of complaints against King George III 4. statement of intent, i.e. the actual declaration that the colonies are sovereign and independent

The War in the South: American troops were commanded by Nathaniel Greene (called Washington’s “ablest general”). After Cowpens, King’s Mountain, Greene’s troops chased the retreating British to Guilford Court House (Greensboro) where another pyrrhic victory for the British marked the beginning of the end British control in the U.S.

Battle of Yorktown (1781): Just miles from the site of Jamestown, the U.S., under George Washington and with considerable help from the French, defeated the British after a long siege and Cornwallis surrendered, ending the war.

Treaty of Paris (September 1783): Treaty ending the War of Independence, negotiated by Ben Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens: with it the U.S. gained control of all the land east of the Mississippi River, north of Florida, and south of British Canada; U.S. gained fishing rights in the Grand Banks. In November, the British evacuated New York City. A month later, General Washington resigned his commission as Commander of Continental Army, showing that a civilian government would run the U.S.