Lead Up to the Revolutionary War

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Lead Up to the Revolutionary War

For more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions had been building between

colonists and the British authorities. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies

(notably theStamp Actof 1765, the Townshend Tariffs of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773) met with heated protest

among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as

other British subjects. Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob ofcolonists, killing five men in what was known as theBoston Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of

Bostonians dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, an

outraged Parliament passed a series of measures (known as the Intolerable, or Coercive Acts) designed to reassert

imperial authority inMassachusetts.

In response, a group of colonial delegates (includingGeorge WashingtonofVirginia, John and Samuel Adams of

Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give

voice to their grievances against the British crown. This FirstContinental Congressdid not go so far as to demand

independence from Britain, but it denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of the British

army in the colonies without their consent, and issued a declaration of the rights due every citizen, including life,

liberty, property, assembly and trial by jury. The Continental Congress voted to meet again in May 1775 to consider

further action, but by that time violence had already broken out. On April 19, local militiamen clashed with British

soldiers in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, marking the first shots fired in the Revolutionary War.

Declaring Independence (1775-76)

When the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, delegates--including new additionsBenjamin

FranklinandThomas Jefferson--voted to form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief. On

June 17, in the Revolution's first major battle, colonial forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British regiment of

General William Howe at Breed's Hill in Boston. The engagement (known as the Battle of Bunker Hill) ended in British

victory, but lent encouragement to the revolutionary cause. Throughout that fall and winter, Washington's forces

struggled to keep the British contained in Boston, but artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga inNew Yorkhelped shift

the balance of that struggle in late winter. The British evacuated the city in March 1776, with Howe and his men

retreating to Canada to prepare a major invasion of New York.

By June 1776, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, a growing majority of the colonists had come to favor

independence from Britain. OnJuly 4, the Continental Congress voted to adopt theDeclaration of Independence,

drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin andJohn Adamsbut written mainly by Jefferson. That same

month, determined to crush the rebellion, the British government sent a large fleet, along with more than 34,000

troops to New York. In August, Howe's Redcoats routed the Continental Army on Long Island; Washington was

forced to evacuate his troops fromNew York Cityby September. Pushed across theDelawareRiver, Washington

fought back with a surprise attack in Trenton,New Jersey, onChristmasnight and won another victory at Princeton to

revive the rebels' flagging hopes before making winter quarters at Morristown.

The American Revolution was a political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century inwhichthirteen coloniesinNorth Americajoined together to break free from theBritish Empire, combining

to become theUnited States of America. They first rejected the authority of theParliament of Great

Britainto govern them from overseas without representation, and then expelled all royal officials. By

1774, each colony had established aProvincial Congress, or an equivalent governmental institution, to

govern itself, but still within the empire. The British responded by sending combat troops to re-impose

direct rule. Through theSecond Continental Congress, the Americans managed the armed conflict
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against the British known as theAmerican Revolutionary War(also:American War of Independence,

177583).

The British sent invasion armies and used their powerful navy to blockade the coast. George

Washingtonbecame the American commander, working with Congress and the states to raise armies

and neutralize the influence of Loyalists. Claiming the rule ofGeorge III of Great Britainwastyrannicaland

thereforeillegitimate, Congress declared independence as a new nation in July 1776, whenThomas

Jeffersonwrote and the states unanimously ratified theUnited States Declaration of Independence. The

British lost Boston in 1776, but then captured New York City.

After a British army was captured by the American army atSaratoga, the French balanced naval power

by entering the war in 1778 as allies of the United States. A combined American-French force captured a

second British army atYorktownin 1781, effectively ending the war. A peace treaty in 1783 confirmed the

new nation's complete separation from the British Empire, and resulted in the United States taking

possession of nearly all the territory east of the Mississippi River.

The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in

early American society and government, collectively referred to as theAmerican Enlightenment.Americans rejected theoligarchiesandaristocraciescommon in Europe at the time, championing instead

the development ofrepublicanismbased on theEnlightenmentunderstanding ofliberalism. Among the

significant results of the revolution was the creation of a democratically-elected representative

governmentresponsible to the will of the people. However, sharp political debates erupted over the

appropriate level ofdemocracydesirable in the new government, with a number ofFoundersfearingmob

rule.

Many fundamental issues of national governance were settled with the ratification of theUnited States

Constitutionin 1788, which replaced the relatively weaker first attempt at a national government adopted

in 1781, theArticles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. In contrast to the looseconfederation, the

Constitution established a strongfederatedgovernment. TheUnited States Bill of Rights(1791),

comprising the first ten constitutional amendments, quickly followed. It guaranteed many "natural rights"

that were influential in justifying the revolution, and attempted to balance a strong national government

with relatively broadpersonal liberties. The American shift to liberal republicanism, and the gradually

increasing democracy, caused an upheaval of traditional social hierarchy and gave birth to the ethic that

has formed a core of political values in the United States.[1][2]

Contents

[hide]

1 Origins

o 1.1 Summary

o 1.2 Ideology behind the Revolution

1.2.1 Natural rights

1.2.2 Republicanism

1.2.2.1 Fusing republicanism and liberalism
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erican_Revolution#Fusing_republicanism_and_liberalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#Fusing_republicanism_and_liberalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#Fusing_republicanism_and_liberalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#Republicanismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#Natural_rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#Ideology_behind_the_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#Summaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#Originshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-Wood.2C_1992-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-Wood.2C_1992-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_and_legal_rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rightshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_Confederationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochlocracyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ochlocracyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consent_of_the_governedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism_in_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristocracyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Enlightenmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktownhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saratogahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jeffersonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimacy_(political)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_Great_Britainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washingtonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washingtonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War


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1.2.3 Impact of Great Awakening

o 1.3 Controversial British legislation

1.3.1 17331763: Navigation Acts, Molasses Act and Royal Proclamation

1.3.2 17641766: More provocative legislation 1.3.3 17671773: Townshend Acts and the Tea Act

1.3.4 17741775: Quebec Act and the Intolerable Acts

o 1.4 American political opposition

2 Factions

o 2.1 King George III

o 2.2 Patriots

2.2.1 Role of women

2.2.2 Class and psychology

o 2.3 Loyalists

o 2.4 Neutrals

3 Other participants

o 3.1 France

o 3.2 Spain

o 3.3 Native Americans

o 3.4 African Americans

4 Military hostilities begin

o 4.1 Prisoners

5 Finance

6 Creating new state constitutions

7 Independence and Union

8 Defending the Revolution

o 8.1 British return: 17761777

o 8.2 American alliances after 1778

o 8.3 The British move South, 17781783

8.3.1 Yorktown 1781

o 8.4 The war winds down

9 Peace treaty

o 9.1 Impact on Britain

10 Concluding the Revolution
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o 10.1 Creating a "more perfect union" and guaranteeing rights

o 10.2 National debt

11 Impressions the Revolution made

o

11.1 Loyalist expatriationo 11.2 Interpretations

o 11.3 As an example or inspiration

12 See also

13 Notes

14 References

15 Bibliography

o 15.1 Reference works

o 15.2 Surveys of the era

o 15.3 Specialized studies

o 15.4 Primary sources

16 External links

Origins

Before the Revolution: TheThirteen Coloniesare in pink

The American Revolution was predicated by a number of ideas and events that, combined, led to a

political and social separation of colonial possessions from the home nation and a coalescing of those

former individual colonies into an independent nation.

Summary
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The American revolutionary era began in 1763, after a series of victories by British forces at the

conclusion of theFrench and Indian War(also,Seven Years War) ended the French military threat to

British North American colonies. Adopting the policy that the colonies should pay a larger proportion of

the costs associated with keeping them in the Empire, Britain imposed a series ofdirect taxes(later

known as the "Stamp Act"), followed byother lawsintended to demonstrate British authority, all of which

proved extremely unpopular in America.Benjamin Franklin, appearing before the British Parliamenttestified "The Colonies raised, clothed, and paid, during the last war, near twenty-five thousand men, and

spent many millions."[3]

Becausethe colonies lacked elected representationin the governing British Parliament,many

colonistsconsidered the laws to be illegitimate and a violation of theirrights as Englishmen. The opinion of

the British Government, which was not unanimous, was that the colonies enjoyed "virtual representation."

In 1772, groups of colonists began to createCommittees of Correspondence, which would lead to their

own Provincial Congresses in most of the colonies. In the course of two years, the Provincial Congresses

or their equivalents rejected the Parliament and effectively replaced the British ruling apparatus in the

former colonies, culminating in 1774 with the coordinatingFirst Continental Congress.[4]In response to

protests inBostonover Parliament's attempts to assert authority, the British sent combat

troops,dissolvedlocal governments, and imposed direct rule by Royal officials.

Consequently, the Colonies mobilized theirmilitias, and fighting broke out in 1775. First ostensibly loyal

toKing George IIIand desiring to govern themselves while remaining in the empire, the

repeatedpleasby the First Continental Congress for royal intervention on their behalf with Parliament

resulted in thedeclaration by the Kingthat the states were "in rebellion", and the members of Congress

were traitors.

In 1776, representatives from each of the original 13 states voted unanimously in the Second Continental

Congress to adopt a Declaration of Independence, which now rejected the British monarchyin addition to

its Parliament, and established thesovereigntyof the new nation external to the British Empire. The

Declaration established the United States, which was originally governed as a loose confederation

through arepresentative democracyselected by state legislatures (seeSecond Continental

CongressandCongress of the Confederation).

Ideology behind the Revolution

Main articles:American Enlightenment,Liberalism in the United States, andRepublicanism in the United

States

The ideological movement known as the American Enlightenment was a critical precursor to the American

Revolution. Chief among the ideas of the American Enlightenment were the concepts of liberalism,

republicanism and fear of corruption. Collectively, the acceptance of these concepts by a growing number

of American colonists began to foster an intellectual environment which would lead to a new sense ofpolitical and social identity.

Natural rights

Main articles:Jean-Jacques Rousseau,Thomas Hobbes,John Locke,David Hume, andThomas Paine

This section

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In this c.1772 portrait byJohn Singleton Copley, Samuel Adams points at theMassachusetts Charter, which he viewed as a

constitution that protected the peoples' rights.[5]

John Locke's (16321704) ideas on liberty greatly influenced the political thinking behind the revolution.

John Locke'sTwo Treatises of Government, published in 1689, was especially influential. The theory of

the "social contract" influenced the belief among many of the Founders that among the "natural rights" of

man was theright of the people to overthrow their leaders, should those leaders betray the historicrights

of Englishmen.[6][7]In terms of writing state and national constitutions, the Americans heavily

usedMontesquieu's analysis of the "balanced" British Constitution.

Republicanism

A motivating force behind the revolution was the American embrace of a political ideology called

"republicanism", which was dominant in the colonies by 1775. The republicanism was inspired by the

"country party" in Britain, whose critique of British government emphasized thatcorruptionwas a terrible

reality in Britain.[8]Americans feared the corruption was crossing the Atlantic; the commitment of most

Americans to republican values and to their rights, energized the revolution, as Britain was increasingly

seen as hopelessly corrupt and hostile to American interests. Britain seemed to threaten the established

liberties that Americans enjoyed.[9]The greatest threat to liberty was depicted as corruptionnot just

inLondonbut at home as well. The colonists associated it with luxury and, especially, inherited

aristocracy, which they condemned.[10]

The Founding Fathers were strong advocates of republican values, particularlySamuel Adams,Patrick

Henry,John Adams,Benjamin Franklin,Thomas Jefferson,Thomas Paine,George Washington,James

MadisonandAlexander Hamilton,[11]which required men to put civic duty ahead of their personal desires.

Men had a civic duty to be prepared and willing to fight for the rights and liberties of their countrymen and

countrywomen. John Adams, writing toMercy Otis Warrenin 1776, agreed with someclassicalGreek and

Roman thinkers in that "Public Virtue cannot exist without private, and public Virtue is the only Foundation

of Republics." He continued:
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"There must be a positive Passion for the public good, the public Interest, Honour, Power, and Glory,

established in the Minds of the People, or there can be no Republican Government, nor any real Liberty.

And this public Passion must be Superior to all private Passions. Men must be ready, they must pride

themselves, and be happy to sacrifice their private Pleasures, Passions, and Interests, nay their private

Friendships and dearest connections, when they Stand in Competition with the Rights of society. "[12]

For women, "republican motherhood" became the ideal, exemplified byAbigail AdamsandMercy Otis

Warren; the first duty of the republican woman was to instill republican values in her children and to avoid

luxury and ostentation.

Fusing republicanism and liberalism

Thomas Paine's pamphletCommon Sense, published in 1776

While some republics had emerged throughout history, such as theRoman Republicof the ancient world,

one based on liberal principles had never existed. Thomas Paine's best-seller pamphletCommon

Senseappeared in January 1776, after the Revolution had started. It was widely distributed and loaned,

and often read aloud intaverns, contributing significantly to spreading the ideas of republicanism and

liberalism together, bolstering enthusiasm for separation from Britain, and encouraging recruitment for the

Continental Army.[13]

Paine provided a new and widely accepted argument for independence, by advocating a complete break

with history. Common Sense is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an

immediate choice. It offered a solution for Americans disgusted and alarmed at the threat of tyranny.[14]

Impact of Great Awakening

Main article:First Great Awakening
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Dissenting(i.e. Protestant, non-Church of England) churches of the day were the "school of

democracy.[15]PresidentJohn Witherspoonof the College of New Jersey (nowPrinceton University)

wrote widely circulated sermons linking the American Revolution to the teachings of the Hebrew Bible.

Throughout the colonies, dissenting Protestant congregations (Congregationalist,Baptist,

andPresbyterian) preached Revolutionary themes in their sermons, while most Church of England

ministers preached loyalty to the King.[16]

Religious motivation for fighting tyranny reached acrosssocioeconomic lines to encompass rich and poor, men and women, frontiersmen and townsmen, farmers

and merchants.[15]

The historianBernard Bailynargues that the evangelism of the era challenged traditional notions of

natural hierarchy by teaching that the Bible taught all men are equal, so that the true value of a man lies

in his moral behavior, not his class.[17]

Kidd argues that religious disestablishment, belief in a God as the

guarantor of human rights, and shared convictions about sin, virtue, and divine providence worked

together to unite rationalists and evangelicals and thus encouraged American defiance of the Empire.[18]

Emphasizing the intense opposition to sending an Anglican bishop to the colonies, and anger at the pro-

CatholicQuebec Act of 1774, Kidd argues that the reactions reflected the long-term influence of the Great

Awakening, in terms of apocalyptic warnings, religious egalitarianism, and antiCatholicism. He said that

the result was that by 1773, when British challenges to American's perceptions of their rights as

Englishemen escalated, Patriots were prepared to defy British administrators.[19]

Controversial British legislation

The Revolution was in some ways incited by a number of pieces of legislation originating from the British

Parliament that, for Americans, were illegitimate acts of a government that had no right to pass laws on

Englishmen in the Americas who did not have elected representation in that government. For the British,

policy makers saw these laws as necessary to rein in colonial subjects who, in the name of economic

development that was designed to benefit the home nation, had been allowed near-autonomy for too

long.

17331763: Navigation Acts, Molasses Act and Royal Proclamation
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Eastern North America in 1775. TheBritish Province of Quebec, theThirteen Colonieson the Atlantic coast and theIndian

Reserveas defined by theRoyal Proclamation of 1763. The 1763 "Proclamation line" is the border between the red and the

pink areas, while the orange area represents theSpanish claim.

Main articles:Navigation Acts,Molasses Act, andRoyal Proclamation of 1763

Further information:Parson's Cause

The British Empire at the time operated under themercantile system, where all trade was concentrated

inside the Empire, and trade with other empires was forbidden. The goal was to enrich Britainits

merchants and its government. Whether the policy was good for the colonists was not an issue in

London, but Americans became increasingly restive with mercantilist policies[20]

Britain implemented mercantilism by trying to block American trade with the French, Spanish or Dutchempires using theNavigation Acts, which Americans avoided as often as they could. The royal officials

responded to smuggling with open-ended search warrants (Writs of Assistance). In 1761, Boston

lawyerJames Otisargued that the writs violated theconstitutional rightsof the colonists. He lost the case,

but John Adams later wrote, "Then and there the child Independence was born." [21]

In 1762, Patrick Henry argued theParson's Causein theColony of Virginia, where the legislature had

passed a law and it was vetoed by the king. Henry argued, "that a King, by disallowing Acts of this
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salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all right to his

subjects' obedience".[22]

Following their victory in theFrench and Indian Warin 1763, Great Britain took control of the French

holdings in North America, outside the Caribbean. The British sought to maintain peaceful relations with

those Indian tribes that had allied with the French, and keep them separated from the American

frontiersmen. To this end, theRoyal Proclamation of 1763restricted settlement west of theAppalachian

Mountainsas this was designated anIndian Reserve.[23]Disregarding the proclamation, some groups of

settlers continued to move west and establish farms.[24]The proclamation was soon modified and was no

longer a hindrance to settlement, but the fact that it had been promulgated without their prior consultation

angered the colonists.[25]

17641766: More provocative legislation

Main articles:Sugar Act,Currency Act,Quartering Acts,Stamp Act 1765, andDeclaratory Act

Further information:No taxation without representationandVirtual representation

Britain did not expect the colonies to contribute to the interest or the retirement of debt incurred during its

wars, but they did expect a portion of the expenses for colonial defense to be paid by the Americans.

Estimating the expenses of defending the continental colonies and theBritish West Indiesto be

approximately 200,000 annually, the British goal after the end of this war was that the colonies would be

taxed for 78,000 of this amount. The colonists objected chiefly on the grounds not that the taxes were

high (they were low)[26]but that they had no representation in the Parliament. Parliament insisted it had

the right to levy any tax without colonial approval, to demonstrate that it had authority over the colonies.[27]

Modern American economic historians have challenged the view that Britain was seeking to place a

heavy new burden on the colonies and have suggested the real cost of defending the North American

colonies from the possibility of invasion by France or Spain was 400,000, five times the maximum

income from them.[28]On the other hand, the colonists felt the heavy military presence as an unwelcome

burden in other ways besides taxation. Perhaps, most notably, the British military was determined to carryon withrequisitioningpractices in the colonies in much the same way they had during the French and

Indian War. This did not require any specific Parliamentary sanction established law permitted

commanders to acquire goods and livestock from local suppliers at prices the military deemed to be fair,

but what had been an understandable and tolerated arrangement during wartime quickly became a

serious irritant in the colonies once the hostilities with France were over.

The colonists did not object to the principle of contributing to the cost of their defense (colonial

legislatures spent large sums raising and outfitting militias during the French and Indian War), but they

disputed the need for the Crown to station regular British troops in North America. In the absence of a

French threat, colonists believed the colonial militias (which were funded by taxes raised by colonial

legislatures) to be sufficient to deal with any trouble with natives on the frontier. Officer positions were inhigh demand among the British aristocracythe rank of captain or major sold for thousands of pounds,

and could be resold once an officer purchased an even higher rank.[29]

The British wanted all the commissions for themselves, and were unwilling to commission colonial officers

(who would pay nothing for their commissions) and further asserted that officers with colonial

commissions must submit to the authority of any regular British officer, regardless of rank. This effectively

negated the will or the legal authority of the colonies to contribute to defense through their militias. With
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some 1,500 well-connected British officers who would have become redundant in the aftermath of the

Seven Years' War, London would have had to discharge them if they did not assign them to North

America.[30]Therefore the main reason for Parliament imposing taxes was to prove its supremacy, and

the main use of the tax funds would be patronage for ambitious British officers.[31]

London responded

thatthe colonists were "virtually represented"; but most Americans rejected this.[32]

In 1764 Parliament enacted theSugar Actand theCurrency Act, further vexing the colonists. Protests led

to a powerful new weapon, the systematicboycottof British goods. The following year, the British enacted

theQuartering Acts, which required British soldiers to be quartered at the expense of residents in certain

areas. Colonists objected to this, as well.

In 1765 the Stamp Act was the first direct taxlevied on the colonies by British Prime MinisterGeorge

Grenvilleand the Parliament. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets decks of

playing cardswere required to have the stamps. The colonists still considered themselves loyal subjects

of theBritish Crown, with the same historic rights and obligations as subjects in Britain.[33]Nevertheless,

representatives of all 13 colonies protested vehemently, as popular leaders such as Patrick Henry in

Virginia and James Otis in Massachusetts, rallied the people in opposition. A secret group, the "Sons of

Liberty" formed in many towns and threatened violence if anyone sold the stamps, and no one did .[34]

In Boston, the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice-admiralty court and looted the home of the

chief justice,Thomas Hutchinson. Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent

delegates to theStamp Act CongressinNew York Cityin October 1765. Moderates led byJohn

Dickinsondrew up a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" stating that taxes passed without

representation violated theirRights of Englishmen. Colonists emphasized their determination by

boycotting imports of British merchandise.[22]

In London, theRockinghamgovernment came to power and Parliament debated whether to repeal the

stamp tax or send an army to enforce it. Benjamin Franklin made the case for repeal, explaining the

colonies had spent heavily in manpower, money, and blood in defense of the empire in a series of wars

against the French and Indians, and that further taxes to pay for those wars were unjust and might bring

about a rebellion. Parliament agreed and repealed the tax, but in theDeclaratory Actof March 1766

insisted that parliament retained full power to make laws for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever".[22]

17671773: Townshend Acts and the Tea Act

Main articles:Townshend ActsandTea Act

Further information:Massachusetts Circular Letter,Boston Massacre, andBoston Tea Party
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ki/Declaratory_Acthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Watson-Wentworth,_2nd_Marquess_of_Rockinghamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-Miller1943-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_Englishmenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Rights_and_Grievanceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dickinson_(delegate)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dickinson_(delegate)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Act_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hutchinson_(governor)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-34http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Libertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Libertyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-33http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_the_United_Kingdomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Grenvillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Grenvillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_taxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartering_Actshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_Acthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Acthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-32http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_representationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-31http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#cite_note-30


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Burning of theGaspe

In 1767 the Parliament passed theTownshend Acts, which placed a tax on a number of essential goods

including paper, glass, and tea. Angered at the tax increases, colonists organized a boycott of British

goods. In Boston on March 5, 1770 a large mob gathered around a group of British soldiers. The mob

grew more and more threatening, throwing snowballs, rocks and debris at the soldiers. One soldier was

clubbed and fell.[35]

All but one of the soldiers fired into the crowd. 11 people were hit; three civilians were killed at the scene

of the shooting, and two died after the incident. The event quickly came to be called the Boston

Massacre. Although the soldiers were tried and acquitted (defended by John Adams), the widespread

descriptions soon became propaganda to turn colonial sentiment against the British. This in turn began a

downward spiral in the relationship between Britain and the Province of Massachusetts.[36]

This 1846lithographbyNathaniel Currierwas entitled "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor"; the phrase "Boston Tea

Party" had not yet become standard.[37]
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Documents

Lead Up to the Revolutionary War