Unit Four: Road to Revolution

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Unit Four Road to Revolution

• Colonial Tensions

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The Intolerable or Coercive Acts of 1774

• In response to the Boston Tea Party and other
  incidents, Parliament passed the Intolerable or
  Coercive Acts of 1774 meant to directly punish
  the colonies especially Boston.
• The Intolerable Acts were actually a series of
  five laws Second Quartering Act, Quebec Act
  ,Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of
  Justice Act, Boston Port Act.

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The Intolerable or Coercive Acts of 1774

• The Intolerable Acts closed Boston Harbor (until
  tea destroyed was repaid), shutdown the colonial
  courts in Massachusetts, did not allow any local
  government or town meetings, forced Bostonians to
  quarter (house) soldiers, and stretched the
  Canadian border to the Ohio River.
• All of the other colonies felt for Massachusetts
  and Boston, which cemented a patriotic feeling
  among the colonists for their fellow colonials.
  

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Take Your Medicine
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First Continental Congress

• In 1774 to address the growing tensions between
  the American Colonies and the British Parliament
  an Intercolonial meeting was called in
  Philadelphia at Carpenters Hall called the First
  Continental Congress .
• All the colonies but Georgia
  sent delegates to the meeting.
• The delegates met to discuss
  their problems and how to fix
  them without going to war.

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First Continental Congress

• The delegates agreed to the Suffolk Resolves from
  Massachusetts stating that the Intolerable Acts
  were illegal, no taxes to be paid to the British,
  formation and arming of militias (minutemen) and
  a general boycott of British goods to be run by
  the Continental Association.
• The Continental Congress added to these that
  Colonists had the right to natural rights and
  Parliament had no right to tax, they were
  compound in the Declaration and Resolves or
  Declaration of Rights and Grievances. (mostly a
  list of complaints)
• It was not a declaration of Independence or war,
  but was a very bold statement to Parliament and
  George III.

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First Continental Congress

• The First Continental Congress also debated the
  formation of a central government by Joseph
  Galloway (Galloway Plan) like proposed by the
  Albany Plan of Union, but was tabled (not
  discussed anymore).
• The First Continental Congress agreed to meet
  again a year from then and assess if their
  complaints had been heard and fixed and if not
  what steps to take from there.
• After receiving the document from the Colonies,
  George III stated that The New England colonies
  are in a state of rebellion, blows must decide.
  

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Preparations

• The people of Massachusetts chose to defy the
  Intolerable Act and formed a Provincial Congress
  and a Committee of Safety headed by John Hancock
  to lead the militia.
• Also Virginia discussed the possibilities of War
  and the creation of a Committee of Safety with
  Patrick Henrys Treason Speech as the prime
  example with his famous statement Give me
  Liberty or Give me Death.

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Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter.
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!
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The Revolution Begins

• To gain back control over the Massachusetts
  colony the Royal Military Governor Thomas Gage
  sent a unit of 700 soldiers in 1775 to Lexington
  (to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock) and to
  Concord (to acquire a small arsenal of arms).
• While the army was marching Paul Revere, William
  Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott went on a midnight
  ride to warn Adams, Hancock, and to raise the
  minutemen to arms.
• Both Adams and Hancock escaped and a small
  militia force was alarmed to wait for the British
  in Lexington.

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The Midnight Ride

• Revere setup a signal system in the North Church
  for one lantern by land or two if by sea to warn
  the militia, because the British are coming, the
  British are coming.

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Shot Heard Round the World

• A unit of seventy minutemen (mostly 17 to 18 year
  old boys) commanded by Captain John Parker waited
  for the British on Lexington Common.
• The Minutemen were instructed to Lay down your
  arms, you ____ rebels, and disperse, which the
  minutemen began to do.
• At that time someone fired a shot known as the
  shot heard round the world starting the
  Revolutionary War.

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Shot Heard Round the World
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Chose a Side

• At the time of the start of the Revolutionary war
  people had to chose a side Patriot or Tory.
• A Patriot or Whig was a person fighting for their
  independence and the creation of a new nation or
  was a rebel committing treason against England.
• A Tory or Royalist was a person who aided the
  hated British or was a Loyalist who was a loyal
  subject of their country and crown.
• Many people chose to be neutral hoping that the
  conflict would not bother them at all.
• During the conflict about a 1/3 were Patriots,
  1/3 Tory, and 1/3 Neutral, so there was not a
  general unity over the conflict.

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Revolutionary War

• From 1775 to 1783 when the war ended America
  fought bloody battles to win Independence from
  England.
• The Revolutionary War was not a war with England,
  but also a civil war between the colonials who
  were loyal and not.
• The conflict incorporated many nations, the
  natives, and colonials making it truly a conflict
  that affected the history of the Western World.