The Road to the Revolution

1. THE ROAD TO THE REVOLUTION THE ROAD TO THE REVOLUTION

2. When the British won the French and Indian War, there was a tremendous amount of debt for King George III and Parliament. They had do find a solution to raise money. The EASIEST solution was to pass the cost on to the colonies. Little did they know the trouble the decision would cause would be far more costly.

3. In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This was a tax on ALL printed items and documents. Even playing cards were subject to the tax. Colonists were required to have a stamp like the one below on the items. Outrage quickly erupted. Colonists felt it was unfair to vote the tax on them since they had no representation in Parliament.

4. As anger in the colonies grew, Sam Adams put together a group of men to organize ways to fight back against the Stamp Act. His group, the Sons of Liberty, would unknowingly start the colonies on the path to independence.

5. The Sons of Liberty lead protests in the streets and introduced the idea of scaring the tax collectors out of trying to collect the tax. By hanging puppets from trees in their yards, burning their houses down, and even tar and feathering tax agents, no one dared try and collect the tax.

6. The result was the repeal, or cancellation, of the Stamp Act. Colonists celebrated with parades and fireworks, believing they had stood up to King George III and won. Little did they know, that it was about to get worse.

7. King George and Parliament levied a new, harsher tax on the colonies the following year. This tax covered far more than printed items. It impacted many imported goods the colonists used daily, including clothing and tea. The genius of this tax is that the shop owners, who were against the tax, were the ones forced to collect it. Parliament knew colonists would not harm their friends who owned shops. Now the Sons of Liberty would have to come up with a new plan to get this tax repealed, as they did not want to harm their fellow colonists who also opposed the tax.

8. The solution was an organized boycott. Women, who called themselves the Daughters of Liberty, began weaving cotton into cloth for clothes and used herbs to make American tea (known as Liberty Tea). These clothes and tea would be sold at the shops and would not have to be taxed because they were not imported. That meant all the imported goods sat on the shelf. Because the items weren't purchased, no tax was collected and the businesses back in Britain that sent the items over to the colonies were losing money. Those businesses complained to parliament. The King sent over troops to try and stop the boycotts, but that led to increased tensions between the troops and the colonists. Eventually, there would be trouble.

9. That trouble came in the form of "The Boston Massacre". Colonists and British soldiers skirmished in Boston after one British soldier struck a drunken colonist with the butt of his musket. Others came to protest, and it turned into a riot. At some point, one of the colonists hit a soldier with a club, and a gun went off. Other soldiers fired, and five colonists were killed. Even though colonists were guilty as well, the soldiers were tried for murder. Lawyer John Adams, who was AGAINST the taxes, represented the soldiers in the trial, and they were found not guilty. Adams would, in turn, become a spokesman for the American cause and a champion for independence.

10. • Despite it being an unpopular decision, John Adams elected to defend the British soldiers following the Boston Massacre. Why do you believe he made this decision?

11. The King repealed the Townshend Acts following the Boston Massacre and moved troops outside of Boston. He levied one tax on the colonists, a tax on tea. It was known as the Tea Act. Colonists still resisted taxation without representation. Once more the Sons of Liberty stepped forward, this time dressing as Mohawk Indians and raiding British ships in Boston Harbor. They dumped hundreds of crates of tea, valued in the millions of dollars, into the harbor. While people of Boston celebrated this action, it would be the last straw for King George III and Parliament.

12. Parliament placed the "Intolerable Acts" on Boston. Among these were closing the harbor, preventing exports and costing jobs, the Quartering Act, which forced colonists to feed and house British troops, searches and seizures, and the charter was revoked. This placed General Gage in charge of the colony and he was harsh, delivering severe punishments and placing the colony under Marshall Law.

13. A meeting was called of all the colonies in Philadelphia, which would be called the 1st Continental Congress. The colonies decided to send a list of complaints to the King, and to limit trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed. Many felt this would change the King's mind. Those from Boston, including John Adams and Sam Adams, knew better.

14. Wisely, the Sons of Liberty set up "Committees of Correspondence" to communicate between colonies and towns. These were made up of riders on horseback carrying messages. When the British found out that the Boston militia had gathered a large mass of weapons and stored them in Concord, they decided to seize the weapons and arrest Sam Adams and John Hancock (who was the man with the money to finance the purchase of weapons). When Paul Revere, a rider for the Committees of Correspondence, saw the soldiers preparing to march, he rode and warned the cities of Lexington and Concord.

15. Adams and Hancock escaped Lexington, but a group of about 60 militia stood and waited for the British soldiers to arrive. Captain Parker, the leader of the militia and former British soldier gave the order, "Stand your ground. Do NOT fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have war, let it begin here." Moments later, the shot heard around the world was fired. The 500 British troops quickly overtook the 60 militia, and the American Revolution was underway. The British marched on to Concord.

16. Concord was warned prior to British arrival, so the storage of weapons was hidden in corn fields. The British found virtually nothing. However, as the soldiers prepared to leave Concord, they met up with a group of militia at the Old North Bridge. The militia began inflicting casualties on the British. As the British began to retreat back to Boston, hundreds more colonists lined the hills and trails, firing at them in anger over what had happened at Lexington. Now that British troops had fired on colonists, most saw it as an act of war. The British had to run the entire 20 miles back to Boston, under fire the entire way. This was the first American victory.

17. Realizing there was trouble, the Second Continental Congress was called to meet among the colonies. The debate now was how to either reconcile or break with Britain. George Washington was placed in charge of a "Continental Army," to defend the other colonies.

18. Meanwhile, in Boston, there was more conflict. The Boston militia, under the command of William Prescott, built fortifications on a hill above Boston. The hill, Breeds Hill, would become the site of a great battle. While it was mistakenly called Bunker Hill, we know the actual battle took place on Breed's Hill. When Prescott saw thousands of troops marching up the hill, he commanded, "Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes." This was because of limited ammunition. The British had to charge the hill three times to take it. At the end of the day, the British owned the hill, but had lost over 1000 men. This let everyone know that the Americans were in this war for real.

19. Back in Congress, the colonies offered one last chance at peace to King George III. They sent the Olive-Branch Petition, but he refused to even read it. This meant an all out war to settle the differences between the colonies and Britain.

20. • Although many colonies felt there was no hope of peace with the king, they agreed to sending the Olive Branch Petition. Why do you believe they decided to do this?

21. A committee was put together to draft a document to share with the American colonies, and the world, stating why the colonies were declaring their independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence is one of the most famous documents ever written, and is the foundation of the United States of America.

22. After several defeats, and with morale low, Washington decided on a Christmas day surprise attack. He crossed the Delaware after midnight in a rainstorm and took the British by surprise. The Battle of Trenton was important for momentum and belief for the men fighting in the war.

23. Washington's army achieved victories and defeats over the next several years. One great victory was the surprise raid on Fort Ticonderoga where Ethan Allen led a late night raid, overtaking the one guard on duty, and taking many cannons that would help pave the way for eventual victory.

24. The next great victory came when the Americans fought and defeated over 7,000 British troops at Saratoga. During this battle, Benedict Arnold, who would eventually turn traitor, fought valiantly, leading our men to victory. This was the turning point because France and Spain decided to help us once we defeated such a large force. We needed the French Navy to help.

25. • Why did the French wait until after the Battle of Saratoga to agree to aid the colonies in the war?

26. Nathaniel Green trapped Lord Cornwallis and his thousands of troops in Yorktown, but Cornwallis was not concerned because he knew we had no navy. He was awaiting his own ships to rescue him. Washington secretly took a large portion of his army out of New York to completely surround Cornwallis with Green's army and the French army. Then the French Navy showed up. Cornwallis had nowhere to run. The war would come down to one last great battle. The British had built great fortifications around Yorktown.

27. Washington fired the first shot at the Siege of Yorktown himself, and the bombardment was on. Daytime cannon fire, and night time raids on British redoubts would spell doom for Cornwallis. Eventually, the British general realized he must surrender.

28. Humiliated, Cornwallis sent one of his officers to surrender for him. The last battle of the American Revolution was over. King George III would not sign a treaty until two years later, but the fighting was over. The United States of America was now free to govern itself.

29. • Even though the British had better training and weapons, there were factors they were not prepared to face. Why were the colonists able to pull off this great upset over the greatest army in the world?

30. Thanks to the brave men who took on the greatest power in the world, we have our freedom today!