Events that Sparked a Revolution
"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!"
--Patrick Henry
--Patrick Henry
1754-1753—The French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War)
1763—The Proclamation of 1763
April 5th, 1764—The Sugar Act
March 22nd, 1765—The Stamp Act
March 24th, 1765—The Quartering Act (The First)
October 1765—Stamp Act Congress
June 29th, 1767—Townshend Acts
August, 1768—The Boston Non-Importation Agreement
March 5th, 1770—The Boston Massacre
June 9th, 1772—The Gaspee Affair
May, 1773—The Tea Act
December 16th, 1773—The Boston Tea Party
And tell King George, we’ll pay no taxes.”
1774—The Intolerable Acts (The Coercive Acts)
§ Basically a modern-day siege
§ In direct violation of the rights surrounding Criminal Justice
§ All trials would surely end in favor of the British if conducted in England.
o Troops were to be quartered and provisioned by the Colonists
o Expanded the border of the Quebec Province
o Declared Roman Catholicism as the official religion of Quebec
§ The Colonists became angered and fearful over the precedent Britain was setting for establishing and regulating religion in the Colonies.
§ Violated religious freedom, the original reason for fleeing Europe
o Solidified the fact the Boston was under an army of occupation
September 5th – October 26th, 1774—The First Continental Congress
March 23rd, 1775—Patrick Henry’s Speech: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!
April 18th, 1775—Paul Revere and William Dawes ride to warn of the British
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year…
I am a wandering, bitter shade,
Never of me was a hero made;
Poets have never sung my praise,
Nobody crowned my brow with bays;
And if you ask me the fatal cause,
I answer only, "My name was Dawes"
'TIS all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear --
My name was Dawes and his Revere.
WHEN the lights from the old North Church flashed out,
Paul Revere was waiting about,
But I was already on my way.
The shadows of night fell cold and gray
As I rode, with never a break or a pause;
But what was the use, when my name was Dawes!
HISTORY rings with his silvery name;
Closed to me are the portals of fame.
Had he been Dawes and I Revere,
No one had heard of him, I fear.
No one has heard of me because
He was Revere and I was Dawes.
April 19th, 1775—Battles of Lexington and Concord
May 10th, 1775—The Second Continental Congress
o George Washington named as Commander in Chief and the Continental Army is formed
§ Both proposed by John Adams
o August 1775: The King refused even to read the petition, and instead sent an edict declaring the Colonies to be in open rebellion, and all the leaders thereof to by traitors whose punishment would be death by hanging.
o After receiving the final blow to their attempts at reconciliation, the Colonists began moving slowly toward Independence.
January 10th, 1776—Common Sense by Thomas Paine published
July 4, 1776—The Declaration of Independence is signed.
- Britain fights alongside and for the American Colonies to ward off the French and their Native American allies.
- Britain incurs debt. To repay this debt, she levies heavy taxes on the Colonies. After all, the War was fought to protect the Colonies, so they should pay for it.
1763—The Proclamation of 1763
- Following the French and Indian War, Britain issues a Proclamation creating a border along the frontier of English settlements and closing the great expanse of wilderness beyond to further settlement. They did this to better the relationship with the Indians.
- To “protect” the Colonies, they established posts all along the border, a very expensive endeavor. Of course, this was done for the “benefit” of the Colonies and therefore was to be funded by them.
April 5th, 1764—The Sugar Act
- Placed taxes on goods such as sugar, molasses, and coffee
- Purpose: “defraying the expences of defending, protecting, and securing the said colonies and plantations.”
March 22nd, 1765—The Stamp Act
- Placed taxes on all paper items, newspapers, playing cards, dice, almanacs, calendars, and everything else they could think of. The Act contains a list of 54 taxable items as well as the price of the tax on each.
March 24th, 1765—The Quartering Act (The First)
- Declared that the Colonies would be subject to a standing army, even in times of Peace, and that the Colonists would help provision and house the army
October 1765—Stamp Act Congress
- First example of Colonial unity and government
- Delegates from 9 Colonies met in New York and formally denounced the Stamp Act and called for its reveal
- March 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act
June 29th, 1767—Townshend Acts
- Named for its creator, Charles Townshend, the head of the British Treasury
- Tax on items such as glass, paint, paper and tea
- Also strengthened the search warrants that were used (and abused) by customs officials to search for taxable goods
August, 1768—The Boston Non-Importation Agreement
- One example of Colonial boycott of British taxable goods.
- In this agreement, Boston Colonists agreed to not import any British taxable goods until the repeal of the taxes.
March 5th, 1770—The Boston Massacre
- The climate in Boston was explosive. The Bostonians were fearful and irritated over the constant presence of the British Army. On the evening of March 5th, a mob of Colonists began taunting a band of seven British soldiers under the command of Captain Thomas Preston. The Colonists hurled insults, stones, clamshells, and ice at the soldiers. One soldier, Hugh Montgomery, was struck by a stick or club and fell to the ice. As he fell, the soldier claimed that his musket misfired, a possible accident which began a deadly volley of musket-fire into the crowd of Colonists.
- Five Colonists were killed and the soldiers were taken into custody. Their fate was certain death by the court of the angry Colonists.
- However, John Adams, at the time an acclaimed attorney, agreed to defend them in court and they were determined not-guilty by the Colonial jury.
June 9th, 1772—The Gaspee Affair
- As an act of retaliation against British customs and taxes, the Colonists launched a full-scale attack against Her Majesty’s Ship the Gaspee.
- Lieutenant William Duddington of the Gaspee was known as an overzealous enforcer of British revenue collections. He often boarded, detained, conducted searches of and confiscated cargoes of Colonial vessels.
- Duddington was patrolling along the coast of Rhode Island when a local vessel lured the Gaspee into shallow waters where the ship ran aground. While the Gaspee was stranded on this point (now known as Gaspee Point), a band of fifty locals led by John Brown came to attack the ship. They captured Duddington and the crew and looted and burned the Gaspee.
May, 1773—The Tea Act
- The East India Company, once Britain’s most profitable trade company, was suffering financially. The company had warehouses in England storing seventeen million pounds of tea that they were unable to sell. To support them, the British government gave the company a monopoly on tea trade in the American Colonies.
- Although taxes were not high on the tea, and the English tea was still cheaper than smuggled products, it was the principle that angered the American Colonists.
December 16th, 1773—The Boston Tea Party
- On November 28th, a shipload of British tea carried by the Dartmouth arrived in Boston Harbor. By law, the tea was to be unloaded, auctioned and taxes collected within twenty days of its arrival. The Colonists attempted in vain to have the tea returned to England, but were thwarted by the staunch governor Hutchison who refused.
- On midnight of December 16th, the twentieth day, a band of up to 150 Colonists, disguised as Indians, boarded the Dartmouth and two other tea ships, declaring, “Boston Harbor a teapot tonight!” For three hours, they dumped tea over the side of the ship. The total amount of tea that the Harbor swallowed up that night was 342 large cases of tea worth £10,000. The Colonists were very careful to damage no other cargo or property than the tea. As the returned to the city, the band sang,
And tell King George, we’ll pay no taxes.”
1774—The Intolerable Acts (The Coercive Acts)
- The Intolerable Acts was Britain’s retaliation against the Boston Colony following the Tea Party and their punishment of the unruly Bostonians
- Boston Port Act
§ Basically a modern-day siege
- Administration of Justice Act
§ In direct violation of the rights surrounding Criminal Justice
§ All trials would surely end in favor of the British if conducted in England.
- Massachusetts Government Act
- Quartering Act of 1774
o Troops were to be quartered and provisioned by the Colonists
- Quebec Act
o Expanded the border of the Quebec Province
o Declared Roman Catholicism as the official religion of Quebec
§ The Colonists became angered and fearful over the precedent Britain was setting for establishing and regulating religion in the Colonies.
§ Violated religious freedom, the original reason for fleeing Europe
- Replacement of Governor Hutchison with General Gage
o Solidified the fact the Boston was under an army of occupation
September 5th – October 26th, 1774—The First Continental Congress
- The First Congress meets in Philadelphia
March 23rd, 1775—Patrick Henry’s Speech: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!
April 18th, 1775—Paul Revere and William Dawes ride to warn of the British
- Paul Revere and William Dawes set out to warn the towns of Lexington and Concord of the British army’s advancement. They reached Lexington around the same time and warned John Hancock and John Adams of the approaching British forces so that the two leaders might avoid arrest. They decided to proceed to Concord, but were intercepted by British soldiers who captured Revere. Only their third companion, Samuel Prescott made it to Concord to warn of the British Army.
- A poem is written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow praising Revere’s part in the Midnight Ride:
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year…
- In the fame of Longfellow’s poem, the other riders Dawes and Prescott were virtually forgotten. In 1896, Helen F. Moore wrote “The Midnight Ride of William Dawes” to correct the historical misconception born of Longfellow’s poem.
I am a wandering, bitter shade,
Never of me was a hero made;
Poets have never sung my praise,
Nobody crowned my brow with bays;
And if you ask me the fatal cause,
I answer only, "My name was Dawes"
'TIS all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear --
My name was Dawes and his Revere.
WHEN the lights from the old North Church flashed out,
Paul Revere was waiting about,
But I was already on my way.
The shadows of night fell cold and gray
As I rode, with never a break or a pause;
But what was the use, when my name was Dawes!
HISTORY rings with his silvery name;
Closed to me are the portals of fame.
Had he been Dawes and I Revere,
No one had heard of him, I fear.
No one has heard of me because
He was Revere and I was Dawes.
April 19th, 1775—Battles of Lexington and Concord
- The Shot Heard Round the World
- The Colonial “army” wins their first victory
May 10th, 1775—The Second Continental Congress
- The Second Congress convenes in Philadelphia
o George Washington named as Commander in Chief and the Continental Army is formed
§ Both proposed by John Adams
o August 1775: The King refused even to read the petition, and instead sent an edict declaring the Colonies to be in open rebellion, and all the leaders thereof to by traitors whose punishment would be death by hanging.
o After receiving the final blow to their attempts at reconciliation, the Colonists began moving slowly toward Independence.
January 10th, 1776—Common Sense by Thomas Paine published
July 4, 1776—The Declaration of Independence is signed.
- June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia officially proposes a resolution of Independence
- June 11, 1776: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston are appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence. The final copy was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson.
- July 2, 1776: A final vote is taken for Independence in Congress. The outcome is unanimous in favor, save the colony of New York who abstained from voting.
- July 4, 1776: The Declaration of Independence is signed.