Building Colonial Unity, A Call to Arms and Moving Toward

Independence

Essential Questions:

•How did colonists react to British policies?

• What brought about the clash between American colonists and British soldiers at Lexington and Concord?

•Why did the American colonies choose to declare independence?

The Boston Massacre

Main idea: A violent clash between townspeople and British soldiers in Boston intensified anti-British feelings in the colonies.

By 1768, protests by the colonists were making the British colonial officials nervous. Points to consider:

* Colonial officials told Britain that the colonists were on the verge of rebellion, so British sent troops to Boston.

* Now the colonists felt “occupied” by their own army.

* The British soldiers in Boston acted rudely to the colonists. They competed for extra-hours jobs that the Bostonians wanted. The soldiers sometimes stole from the colonists.

On March 5, 1770, a fight broke out when Bostonians gathered in protest and were moving toward the Customs House where the taxes were collected.

The colonists were armed only with sticks and stones but they were shouting angrily at the soldiers who were guarding the Customs House.

A nervous British soldier fired a shot, and the others followed the first, killing 5 Bostonians.

Crispus Attucks was the first to die in the revolution for independence. He was part African American, part Native American. (irony?)

The event was named the Boston Massacre and word spread quickly.

Colonial leaders used the Boston Massacre as propaganda, which is information released in order to influence public opinion.

Propaganda is always slanted in favor of the person releasing it. For example, in Paul Revere’s famous silver engraving of the scene, it showed British soldiers firing into an orderly crowd, which was not a true representation of what actually happened. Propaganda is meant to inflame and excite people toward believing the way you do.

The colonists responded by boycotting British goods even stronger.

Parliament tried to calm tensions down and repealed all the Townshend Acts except for the tax on tea.

Because of this, the colonists ended their boycott on all products…….except tea.

Samuel Adams revived the Boston Committee of Correspondence, which had been a protest organization earlier. Now it was used to write letters to other colonial leaders to air their grievances against Great Britain and seek the other colonies’ support.

In 1773, the British East India Tea Company (a company which exported tea from the East Indies to the rest of the world) was in financial ruin because of cheaper competition and smuggling. In order to save the important company, Parliament passed the Tea Act. This act gave the East India Tea Company exclusive control over the tea trade in America.

In response the Sons of Liberty dumped the tea on the ships in Boston harbor into the water. They three 342 chests of tea overboard in an event that become known as the Boston Tea Party.

Even though the colonists celebrated defiant acts like this, no one yet talked of challenging British rule. Most still saw themselves as British citizens just fighting for more rights.

King George became alarmed at the news of the Boston Tea Party. He felt that they had to either master the colonies or leave them alone.

As punishment for the Boston Tea Party actions, the British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts.

These acts closed Boston Harbor until the colonists had paid for the tea they had ruined. The law also:

* prevented any goods from coming into the Boston harbor* banned town meetings in New England* forced Bostonians to shelter British soldiers in their own

homesThe colonists called these the Intolerable Acts.

Parliament thought this would isolate Boston and “starve” them out, but the other colonies responded by sending food and supplies overland into Boston from their own ports.

In 1774, the Continental Congress was formed.

Comprised of 55 delegates from all the colonies except Georgia, they met in Philadelphia to establish a political group that would represent the interests of the colonies and challenge British control.

Important political leaders to the Continental Congress were:* Samuel Adams, Boston* John Adams, Boston, lawyer, cousin of Samuel Adams* John Jay, New York, lawyer* Richard Henry Lee, Virginia* Patrick Henry, Virginia* George Washington, Virginia

It was Patrick Henry who first crystallized the essence of a unique American conscience when he said at the Congress: “ The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.”

Actions of the Continental Congress:

1) Drafted a statement of grievances calling for the repeal of 13 Acts that Parliament had enforced on the colonies

2) Voted to boycott British trade – no British goods could be brought into the colonies, no colonial goods could be sent to Britain

3) Called on the colonies to arm themselves against the British. The colonies responded by forming militias – groups of citizen soldiers.

Colonists expected that if fighting started, it would begin in New England. They armed and trained themselves to be ready at a moment’s notice if fighting broke out. These militia became known as minutemen.

King George was getting ready too. He sent more troops to Boston under the command of Thomas Gage.

Gage learned that the colonists were storing arms and ammunition at Concord, a town about 20 outside of Boston. He ordered his soldiers to march to Concord to seize and destroy the supply.

On the night of April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren was walking the streets of Boston keeping a watch out for unusual British troop activity. He saw a regiment form up and march out of the city.

Warren rushed to alert Paul Revere and William Dawes, both members of the Sons of Liberty. Revere and Dawes rode to Lexington, a town near Concord, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming.

Revere galloped across the moonlit countryside shouting ‘the Regulars are out” to people he met along the way.

Samuel Adams, upon hearing the news remarked: “What a glorious morning this is!” He was ready for a fight!

The colonists first encountered the British outside of Lexington. A band of 70 colonial militia faced a large British force. Shots were fired back and forth and 8 minutemen were killed. The British marched on to Concord but when they reached their target, the weapons supply depot, they found that most of it had already been removed.

The British began to march back to Boston. Word of the fight was spreading and minutemen were appearing all along the route. They began using guerilla warfare tactics, i.e. firing from behind trees, ambushing at turns, firing in the back, and by the time the British got back to Boston, 174 were wounded and 73 were dead. The war had begun.

The Battle of Bunker Hill

Fought for control of the high grounds overlooking Boston.

Led by British commander Colonel Prescott who ordered his soldiers not to fire “until you see the whites of their eyes.”

The British won the Battle of Bunker Hill but suffered extremely heavy losses.

This battle taught them that the Americans were not going to give up easily without a fight.

Colonists were divided into two groups:

Loyalists: * Wanted to stay British* Felt the taxes were unfair but not a good enough reason for

rebellion* Felt the British were going to win the war and didn’t want to

side with the losers and get in trouble with the British

Patriots: * Colonists who supported a war for independence* British rule had become unbearable* Determined to fight the British until American independence

was won

The American Revolution was not just a war between the Americans and the British. It was also a civil war among colonists – the Loyalists against the Patriots.

Second Continental Congress – May 10, 1775

All the delegates of the First Continental Congress were there along with some new faces like:

* Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, printer and statesman * John Hancock, Massachusetts, wealthy merchant, funded

the Sons of Liberty, was chosen president of the 2nd Continental

Congress* Thomas Jefferson, Virginia, brilliant thinker, writer and

politicianEstablished rules to govern the colonies. Began to:* print their own money* set up their own post office (Ben Franklin in charge)* established committees to communicate with the Native

Americans* created the Continental Army - chose George

Washington to be the first commander.

The delegates sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George.

It was a document assuring the King of the colonists’ desire for peace and giving King George one last chance to NOT go to war with the colonies.

King George refused to receive the document when it was delivered to him.

In early 1776, support for absolute independence was growing.

Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called Common Sense, which called for complete independence in very bold language. It greatly influenced opinions throughout the colonies.

At the Second Continental Congress, a committee was formed to draft a Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson was selected to write the declaration. The Second Continental Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776, which became known as the American Independence Day.

John Hancock was the first to sign in very large script, reportedly so that King George could read the name without his glasses. Eventually 56 delegates signed the document announcing the birth of a new nation, the United States of America.

The Declaration of Independence

Has 4 major sections:

1) Preamble – Introduction which states that the people wanted to form a new government and the reasons why they want to do this.

2) Natural Rights – Lists the rights the colonists believed they should have

3) Grievances – Lists the complaints the colonists had against the British actions

4) Status – announcement of the colonies’ status as a new nation