The road to Lexington and Concord

In this section you will learn that tensions between Britain and the colonies led to armed

conflict in Massachusetts.

The following colonial actions led to the Declaration of Independence:

First Continental Congress, 1774

Declaration of Independence, 1776

Second Continental Congress, 1775

Battle of Lexington and Concord, 1775

In 1774, Parliament passed a series of laws to punish the

Massachusetts colony for the Boston Tea Party. The

colonists called these laws, the Intolerable Acts.

Provisions of the Intolerable Acts:• Boston Harbor would be

closed until the colonist paid for the destroyed tea.

• British officials accused of crimes in the colonies would stand trial in Britain.

• Committees of correspondence were banned.

• British troops would be allowed to be housed wherever necessary.

• Parliament appointed General Thomas Gage, governor of Massachusetts.

In September 1774, delegates from all the colonies except

Georgia met in Philadelphia. This First Continental

Congress voted to ban all trade with Britain until the

Intolerable Acts were repealed.

First ContinentalCongress

When trade boycotts failed to repeal the Intolerable Acts, some colonists prepared to

fight. John Hancock was put in charge of the Committee of

Safety, which had the power to call out the militia.

John Hancock

FOR UNDERSTANDING

In 1774, Parliament passed a series of laws to punish the Massachusetts

colony for the Boston Tea Party. The colonists called these laws,

the______.• 1) Boston Massacre

• 2) Declaratory Acts

• 3) Intolerable Acts

• 4) Insufferable Acts

Provisions of the Intolerable Acts included all the following except:

• 1) Boston Harbor would be closed until the colonist paid for the destroyed tea.

• 2) Committees of correspondence were banned.

• 3) British troops would be allowed to be housed wherever necessary.

• 4) Parliament appointed General George Washington, governor of Massachusetts.

The meeting of delegates from all the colonies except Georgia in September

1774 was called:

• 1) the American Revolution

• 2) the Boston Massacre

• 3) the Boston Tea Party

• 4) the First Continental Congress

______ was put in charge of the Committee of Safety, which had the

power to call out the militia.

• 1) Samuel Adams

• 2) John Adams

• 3) James Otis

• 4) John Hancock

Although most colonists believed that war could be avoided, in March 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his most famous

speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses which ended with the words “give me liberty or give

me death.”

Patrick Henry

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The

next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding

arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that

gentlemen wish? What would they have? 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!

British spies had learned that the Massachusetts militia was storing

arms and ammunition at Concord. They also heard that Samuel

Adams and John Hancock were in Lexington, and sent troops to arrest

them. Paul Revere and others spread the news about the British

troop movements.

John Hancock

Samuel Adams

Paul Revere

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now aliveWho remembers that famous day

and year. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Nearly 4000 Minutemen and militiamen defeated the British

regulars at Lexington and Concord on the morning of April 19, 1775. The war for

American independence had begun.

Minutemen

Those who supported the British were called Loyalists.

Those who sided with the rebels were called Patriots.

Loyalists were British North American colonists who remained loyal subjects of the British crown during the American

Revolution. They were also called Tories, King's Men, or Royalists. Their colonial

opponents, who supported the Revolution, were called Patriots, Whigs, Rebels,

Congress Men, or, in view of their loyalty to the new United States of America, just

Americans.

FOR UNDERSTANDING

Although most colonists believed that war could be avoided, in March 1775, ______ delivered his most

famous speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses urging action.

• 1) Patrick Henry

• 2) James Otis

• 3) John Hancock

• 4) Samuel Adams

______ and others spread the news about British troop movements.

• 1) John Hancock

• 2) James Otis

• 3) Paul Revere

• 4) John Adams

Nearly 4000 Minutemen and militiamen defeated the British

regulars at ______ on the morning of April 19, 1775.

• 1) Yorktown and Saratoga

• 2) Jamestown

• 3) Bunker Hill

• 4) Lexington and Concord

Those who supported the British during the Revolutionary War were

called:

• 1) Minutemen

• 2) Separatists

• 3) Patriots

• 4) Loyalists

Those who sided with the rebels during the Revolutionary War were

called:

• 1) Patriots

• 2) Loyalists

• 3) Tories

• 4) Suffragists

Which of the following is a quote from Patrick Henry?

• 1) “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

• 2) “Give me liberty or give me death!”

• 3) “All men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

• 4) “Taxation without representation is tyranny!”