The American Revolution

There were multiple events that led to the start of the Revolutionary War. After the French and Indian War, Britain and the colonies began to grow apart. It upset the colonies that Britain wanted to govern them and the new territory gained in war. So new laws and restrictions were passed in the colonies. The colonies thought that their freedom was being taken away.

The first law passed by the parliament was the proclamation of 1763. This law said that no one could settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. Britain wanted all this land to belong to the Native Americans so that nothing like Pontiac's Rebellion would happen again. Colonists who wanted to move to the Ohio Valley were angered by the law. Most of them had no land of their own to begin with. It also upset those who had bought land as an investment. In spite of this many ignored the law.

Since people were not following the law, King George III wanted to enforce it. So he sent 10,000 British troops to the colonies. In 1765 he passed the quartering act which forced colonists to quarter, or house, all British soldiers and provide them with food, water, and other supplies. The commander of these troops, Thomas Cage, put most of these troops in New York.

British had a huge debt to pay after the war and putting the troops in the colony raised it even more. Because of this Britain attempted to have the colonists pay back some of the debt and have them pay for the costs of the frontier defense and colonial government. So in 1764, the parliament passed the sugar act. The act put a tax on sugar, molasses, and other products shipped to the colonies. To enforce this act, harsh punishments were put on anyone who tried to smuggle goods into the colonies.

The sugar act was not the end of it. In 1765, the parliament passed the stamp act. This act stated that all legal and commercial documents had to carry an official stamp showing that the tax had been paid. Even newspapers had to be written on a special stamped paper. This act had one of the biggest effects because it had affect on all the colonists.

In 1765, nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress located in New York City. A petition was shown to the congress that stated that the right to tax the colonies belonged to the colonial assemblies. Soon after this a group of merchants organized a boycott of British goods.

Some colonists began to form secret societies to stop British policies. The most famous were called The Sons Of Liberty. Many members of the Sons Of Liberty were lawyers, merchants, and craftsman- the colonists most effected by the Stamp Act. They staged protests against the acts.Some of the things they would do were to burn stamped paper whenever they found it and attacking tax collecters who were then covered in hot tar and covered in feathers then paraded around the towns. Many of these protests actualy had an effect on Britain. So in 1766 the stamp act was repealed.

But at the same time parliament passed a new act called the Declaratory Act. This act stated that parliament had supreme authority over the colonies. After this a great rebellion had begun between the colonies and Britain.

In 1767 the Townshend Acts were passed by Charles Townshend. These acts discontinued New York's asemmbly until soldiers were housed. Also, it placed a tax on various goods bought in the colonies such as glass, paper, led and tea. To enforce this act search warrants were used to search houses for smuggled goods.

Large protest began to start right after the news about the Townshend acts took effect. In October 1767 another boycott of British goods took place. Samuel Adams was the force behind these protests. The Sons Of Liberty pressured shopkeepers to not sell inported goods. As a result of this trade began to fall sharply. More British troops were ordered into the colonies for fear of losing control.

In fall of 1768 1,000 British soldiers arived in Boston. Since most of the soldiers were poor they hired themselfs out as workers. Then on March 5, 1770, violence was finally used. A fight boke out between dock workers and British soldiers. Four of them were killed by gunshot. The Sons Of Liberty called this The Boston Massare. This was used for anti-British propoganda in newspapers, articles, and pamphlets. People in Boston were furious.

After this the townshend acts were repealed. One month later all but the tea act were repealed. Later in Boston the Sons Of Liberty organized what was later called the Boston Tea Party. On the evening of December 16, 1773 men boarded three tea ships disguised as Native Americans. Later that night they dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor. The colonists then asked the king to repeal the tea tax. But the offer was rejected and instead he ordered fir repayment for the lost tea.

In 1774, parliament passed a series of harsh laws as a punishment to the masssachusetts colony as a warning to the other colonies. The first part of the acts was that the port of Boston was closed until all the tea was payed for. It also allowed Britian to house troops whenever needed.

In September 1774, the First Continental Congress Met. They voted to ban al trade with Britain. They also called for each colony to begin to train troops for possble war. This was a very important event in American history.

By the end of 1774, some colonists were ready to fight. The troops continued to train. most leaders thought that fights with Britain would be very short. Few exspected a war.

Later Britain sent troops to Lexington and Concord to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock and to destroy weapons and ammunition in Concord. Paul Revere and William Dawes were then sent off to warn the cities.

April 19, some 700 "British troops had made it to Lexington. John Parker and about 70 minutemen were waiting. The British commander order them to drop their weapons.They refused. No one knows who fired first but after a matter of minutes eight minutes were killed.Later on the British were forced to retreat. Nearly 4,000 minute men arived in Lexington.Only 1,000 British

troops showed up later to savde the remaining British who then retreated back to Boston. These were the first battles of the Revolutionary War. The war had begun.