From Protest to Rebellion

1
From Protest to Rebellion
2
A Dispute Over Tea

• During the early 1770s, protests in America
  began to calm down but the anger continued to
  grow to a point where many spoke of an armed
  rebellion
• In 1773, parliament passed the Tea Act to help
  the British East India Company regain lost
  income, while the Tea Act actually lowered the
  price of Tea for many it required that all Tea be
  shipped to England before America where heavy
  taxes could be added
• In December of 1773, a group of colonists called
  the Sons of Liberty protested the tax by
  boarding British Tea ships in Boston Harbor and
  dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into the water
  costing the British East India Company drastic
  amounts of money, the event became known as The
  Boston Tea Party

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The Intolerable Acts

• The Boston Tea Party outraged the British
  government, King George III called for tough
  action against the people of Boston as punishment
• Parliament passed 4 laws/acts that were so harsh,
  colonists began to arm themselves and train as a
  militia
• The 1st act closed Boston Harbor, the 2nd allowed
  the Governor of Massachusetts to act on the
  Kings behalf against his citizens, the 3rd
  required that all court cases against Americans
  be held in English courts with English
  punishments, the 4th act required the Quartering
  Act be carried out as well as enacting martial
  law in Boston
• The other American colonies attempted to help
  Boston by sneaking supplies and weapons to its
  citizens
• In September of 1774 in Philadelphia
  Pennsylvania, the 1st Continental Congress was
  held to demand that England repeal the
  Intolerable Acts or face military action

4
The Shot Heard Round The World

• The British government had no intention of
  meeting the demands of the 1st Continental
  Congress, instead it chose increase military
  control of the 13 colonies
• In response the colonists began to arm themselves
  and form new militia units called Minutemen
  soldiers who could be ready to fight in a
  minutes notice
• On April 18, 1775 700 Redcoats were sent to
  capture colonial leaders and their weapons in the
  town of Concord Massachusetts, as the troops left
  Boston the Sons of Liberty sent warnings to the
  Minutemen that the attack was coming by hiding
  lit lanterns in the steeple of the Old North
  Church
• 5 miles from Concord, the Redcoats were met by 77
  Minutemen in the town of Lexington, when the
  Minutemen were ordered to leave and refuse the
  first shots of the Revolution were fired this
  is known as the Shot Heard Round The world
• As the Redcoats advanced on Concord, 400
  additional Minutemen waited for a chance to
  defeat the British, The Minutemen win at Concord
  and chase the Redcoats all the way back to Boston