Topic 3Lesson 3: Taking Up

Arms

Guiding Questions

1. What was the Boston Tea Party, and

how did later British actions heighten

tensions among the colonists?

2. What actions were taken at the Frist

and Second Continental Congress?

3. What advantages and disadvantages

did each side have as the Revolutionary

War began?

I. The Boston Tea PartyA. Parliament gave the British East India

Company exclusive rights to sell tea to the

American colonies.

B. Mercantilist system met resistance due to

taxation of tea in the American colonies.

C. As a result, many colonists refused to buy

British tea and directly purchased less

expensive tea from the Dutch and French

smugglers.

D. British East India Company found itself in deep

financial troubles.

1. 15 million lbs of tea sat unsold in

warehouses.

E. Parliament tries to help the company by passing

the Tea Act of 1773.

1. Allowed company to bypass the merchants

and sell directly to colonists.

2. Gave company a rebate on tea taxes.

(Colonists still pay taxes on tea, just not

as much as before.)

3. Colonists protest the Tea Act- are against

anything that taxes colonists for the

benefit of England.

4. Tea merchants angry because they

were cut out of the trade.

F. Colonists boycotted the new law.

1. Daughters of Liberty made “liberty tea” out

of raspberry leaves.

2. Sons of Liberty kept BEI Company ships

from unloading.

G. 3 Ships loaded with tea reached Boston Harbor

in late Nov. 1773.

1. Sons of Liberty did not want to unload tea.

2. Dec. 16, sent message to governor

(Thomas Hutchinson) demanding the

ships leave the harbor; he refuses.

3. Colonists disguised as Native Americans

proceeded to board the ships, open

the tea chests, and dump the tea into

the harbor.

4. 342 chests of tea floated in Boston

Harbor.

H. The Boston Tea Party was an important act of

civil disobedience.

Primary Source

“ This destruction of tea is so bold, so

daring, so firm…it must have such

important and lasting results that I can’t

help considering it a turning point in

history.”

- Diary of John Adams

Dec. 17, 1773

II. British Strike Back at Boston

A. British were outraged by Boston’s lawless

behavior.

B. Parliament passes the “Intolerable Acts,” a

series of 4 laws meant to punish the

colonists.

1. Shut down Boston Harbor. (Would remain

closed until colonists paid for the tea

they destroyed & damage to personal

property.)

2. Forbade MA colonists to hold town

meetings more than once a year

without governor’s permission. Public

officials no longer elected but chosen

by king.

3. Allowed customs officers & other officials

to be tried in Canada or Britain.

(Meant to prevent officials from

breaking laws because they thought

they would get a sympathetic colonial

jury.)

4. Quartering Act made the colonists house

British troops when no other housing

was available.

C. Parliament also passes the Quebec Act.

1. Set-up gov’t in Canada & gave complete

religious freedom to French Catholics.

2. Also extended the boarders of Quebec,

angering some colonies who claimed

these lands.

D. Committees of correspondence spread news of

the Intolerable Acts to other colonies.

1. People responded by sending rice, corn

and flour to help the starving of

Boston.

E. September 1774, colonial leaders called a

meeting in Philadelphia.

1. Delegates from 12 colonies in what

became known as the First

Continental Congress.

2. Only Georgia sent no delegates.

3. Passed a resolution backing MA.

4. Agreed to boycott all British goods & stop

exporting goods to Britain until

the Intolerable Acts were

repealed.

5. Urged each colony to create

& train its own militia.

III. Battles of Lexington and Concord

A. MA colonists were already preparing to resist.

1. “Minutemen” trained regularly for battle.

2. Collected weapons & gunpowder.

B. Britain built up its forces.

1. 4,000 soldiers in Boston.

C. Britain heard about the minutemen stockpile in

Concord, MA.

D. April 18, British troops quietly left Boston at night

with the goal of seizing the colonial

stockpile.

1. Sons of Liberty were watching. A series of

lanterns and riders signaled to

colonists where the British were

going.

E. Daybreak April 19, redcoats (British) reached

Lexington, near Concord.

1. Minutemen were waiting.

2. British ordered them home, and

outnumbered, they began to leave.

3. A sudden shot rang out and a battle

ensues, killing 8 colonists.

4. As the British attempted to go back to

Boston, colonial sharpshooters took

advantage of the terrain and fired

from the woods. Colonial women also

fired from their windows.

5. The British lost 73 soldiers and another

200 were missing/injured.

F. The battles of Lexington and Concord ended any

hope of finding a peaceful resolution.

IV. The Revolutionary War Begins

A. May 10, 1775, Second Continental Congress

met in Philadelphia.

1. All 13 colonies represented. Most still

hoped to avoid a break with Britain.

2. Sent the Olive Branch Petition to King

George, declaring their loyalty and

asking for a repeal of the

Intolerable Acts.

3. Some colonial leaders did not believe war

could be avoided.

4. King reacted harshly and sent another

20,000 soldiers to the colonies.

B. Ethan Allen did not wait for war to begin.

1. Led Green Mountain Boys of Vermont in a

surprise attack on British Fort

Ticonderoga.

2. Knew the fort held cannons the colonists

could use, and location was strategic.

3. Quickly overpowered the guards and

entered the fort.

4. British commander forced to surrender the

fort and the colonists won a valuable

supply of cannons & gunpowder.

C. Second Continental Congress appoints George

Washington of VA as commander of the

Continental Army.

D. Patriot Advantages:

• owned rifles

• good shots

• leader was experienced

• determined to defend homes/property

E. Patriot Disadvantages:

• poorly organized/trained

• few cannons

• little gunpowder

• no navy

• few colonists wanted to enlist in the army

(wanted to stay close to home in militia)

F. British Advantages:

• powerful army

• highly trained/experienced

• Navy was the best in the world

G. British Disadvantages:

• army was 3,000 miles from home

• news/supplies took months to travel across

ocean

• risked attacks by colonial militia

when they left the cities

H. Colonists who remained loyal to Britain were

called Loyalists.

1. Included wealthy merchants and former

royal gov’t officials.

2. Some farmers/crafts workers included as

well.

3. More Loyalists from Middle and Southern

Colonies than New England.

4. Faced hard times during the war. (Patriots

tarred and feathered people known to

favor the British)

5. Many fled to England/Canada or found

shelter in British-controlled cities, but

lost everything they left behind.