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Some Americans thought the Boston Tea Party was wrong. Some businessmen even offered to pay for the damages. King George wanted to punish the Americans. The British Parliament passed a new set of laws called the Intolerable Acts. |
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Some Americans thought the Boston Tea Party was wrong. Some businessmen even offered to pay for the damages. King George wanted to punish the Americans. The British Parliament passed a new set of laws called the Intolerable Acts. |
The Intolerable Acts closed the Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for in full. They said the Americans could not hold town meetings. The Americans were forced to house the British soldiers. Any British subjects who committed a crime in America would be tried in England. Americans had virtually NO rights at all ! They were subservient to England. Americans could not even hold their own meetings or try anyone in any type of American court - England would not recognize any of it ! Americans had NO voice at all as far as the British were concerned !
This lead to many problems. With the port closed no food could be shipped to Boston. Boston asked the colonies for help. Many colonies sent food overland.
All colonies except Georgia sent men to Philadelphia to talk about what to do about the "Intolerable Acts". This group was called the First Continental Congress. They met in September 1774 in Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. The Congress decided they must force the British to repeal the acts. They also decided to cut off all trade between England and the colonies until the acts changed.
The Minutemen
In New England the men began arming themselves. They were called Minutemen because they could be ready to fight in a minute. Some practiced fighting and marching with wooden guns. Others had real guns.
| On April 18, 1775 the British commander in Boston sent soldiers to Concord to find guns and powder. They were also ordered to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were hiding in Lexington. Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn the citizens that the British army was on its way. Revere was captured, but he escaped safely. |
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The next day the battle of Lexington and Concord took place. The first shot fired was later known as "The shot heard 'round the World" because to the impact of the war that followed. |
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The colonists took a hill that overlooked the Boston Harbor. The hill was called Breed's Hill after its owner. The army thought they were on a different hill named Bunker Hill which was nearby. The battle that took placed was called the Battle of Bunker Hill because of this mistake. |
| The battle began when the British commander sent soldiers up the hill to take it from the colonists. The British were forced back by the Americans muskets. They charged again and were again driven back by colonial guns. |  |
On the third charge the colonists were almost out of ammunition so the British were able to take over Breed's Hill. The colonial army lost 140 men in the battle. The British army lost many more. Nearly 1000 British were killed or wounded.
Who Would Win the Revolutionary War ?
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British |
Americans |
| British government strongest in world | American government did not yet exist |
| lots of money | no money |
| army strongest in the world | American army made up of citizen-soldiers who were badly trained; mostly farmers. |
| many officers | few officers with any experience France helped by sending money and trained officers |
| British navy ruled the seas | no navy |
| fighting 3000 miles away form home - had to ship men and supplies | fighting at home - English might lose because couldn't get soldiers over quickly. |
| fight was over a large area | |
| British army had trouble getting soldiers because many people had family members and friends in America. |
