Road to Revolution: Boston Tea Party & Coercive Acts

• Study notes on the events leading up to the Revolutionary War

The Boston Tea Party

• In 1773, the Tea Act was passed by Parliament, granting the British East India Company a tea monopoly, which meant they controlled the price of tea.
• The East India Company was the only company allowed to sell tea to the colonies.
• Colonists boycotted tea to avoid buying it from the East India Company given the tax on tea.
• In November 1773, three ships loaded with tea arrived in Boston.
• On December 16, 1773, about 150 members of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk tribe members, marched to Boston Harbor.
• The Sons of Liberty boarded the ships and dumped over 300 chests of tea into the harbor as a protest.
• Colonists refused to pay for the tea they destroyed.

The Coercive Acts

• In March 1774, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish Massachusetts colonists as a result of the Boston Tea Party.
• The Coercive Acts forced the colonists to follow laws they felt were unfair.
• One of the laws closed the port of Boston until colonists paid for the destroyed tea.
• The British navy blockaded Boston Harbor to enforce the law, preventing ships from entering or leaving.
• Britain stopped the Massachusetts legislature from meeting and put the colony under British General Thomas Gage’s control.
• All town meetings had to be approved by General Gage.
• Colonists were forced to quarter British soldiers, providing them with food and housing.
• Colonists referred to the Coercive Acts as the Intolerable Acts because they were unacceptable

The First Continental Congress

• In June 1774, William Pitt, a member of Parliament, advised British leaders to be patient with the colonies.
• In September 1774, colonial leaders met in Philadelphia to address their concerns, this was known as the First Continental Congress.
• The Congress was the first meeting of its kind on the North American continent.
• The congress sent a petition to King George III, reminding him of the colonists' basic rights as British citizens, like the right to life, liberty, assembly, and trial by jury.
• Congress set May 10, 1775, as the deadline for Parliament to respond, and voted to stop trade with Britain.
• The colonies were asked to form militias, or armies of citizens.

Lexington and Concord

• Colonists in Massachusetts formed militia units called Minutemen, who were ready to fight quickly.
• In April 1775, General Gage learned that Samuel Adams and John Hancock were meeting in Lexington and that the Minutemen had weapons in nearby Concord.
• Gage sent over 700 British soldiers to Lexington and Concord to arrest the two leaders of the Sons of Liberty and seize weapons.
• Paul Revere, another member of the Sons of Liberty, warned Adams, Hancock, and the townspeople by riding to Lexington ahead of the British.
• When the British arrived in Lexington, the Minutemen were waiting, led by John Parker.
• Eight Minutemen were killed, and shots rang out, but it is unknown which side fired first.
• The British marched to Concord to find the weapons, but the weapons had already been moved.

The Second Continental Congress

• News of the fighting spread, and colonial leaders called for the Second Continental Congress to meet in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775.
• The delegates met at the Pennsylvania State House, the delegates were divided about what the colonies should do.
• By June, Congress agreed that the colonies should prepare for war.
• The Congress formed the Continental Army, made up of full-time soldiers.
• George Washington was chosen as the army's commander in chief, and suggested by John Adams which was partly due to his participation in the French and Indian War.
• Congress asked each colony to give money to pay for guns, food, and uniforms to supply the Continental Army.
• Paper money, known as Continental currency, was printed to pay the soldiers.

The Battle of Bunker Hill

• The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775.
• Israel Putnam and William Prescott, colonial commanders, arrived at Breed's Hill across the Charles River from Boston, after sunset on June 16.
• To assist the colonists in defending themselves, the commanders gave the order for their soldiers to construct earthworks (walls made of earth and stone).
• British General Thomas Gage sent General William Howe and 2,400 British soldiers to capture Breed's Hill upon learning of the colonist plans.
• When the British approached, the 1,600 colonists behind the earthworks started shooting to conserve bullets Putnam gave the order to wait until you see the whites of their eyes before firing.
• The British made it over the earthworks and the colonists retreated after running out of ammunition.
• The battle, which the British capture Breed's Hill, was wrongly named for nearby Bunker Hill.
• More than 1,000 British soldiers were killed or wounded, while about 350 colonists were killed or wounded.

Trying for Peace

• Both sides learned the British learned fighting the colonists would not be as easy as they had thought, even though the colonists did not win the Battle of Bunker Hill.
• On July 5, 1775, Congress sent a petition to King George III called the Olive Branch Petition, this was done because it requested peace.
• The Olive Branch Petition could do little good by the time it reached London.
• King George III promised to do whatever was necessary to crush the colonists' rebellion, and he was further angered by The Battle of Bunker Hill