INTRODUCTION Through the hardships of life in a wild new land English citizens who had settled in the American colonies gained strength and a firm belief in the rights and liberties of the indi vidual Especially important to them was freedom of religion which is what drove many of them to America in the first place The settlers also became used to taking a share in government Each colony had elected an assembly to govern them England however had other ideas Deeply in debt after the French and Indian War which ended in 1763 Britain decided to make its American colonies share the cost of their defense from Indians and the Spanish To make the col onies profitable the British Parliament imposed several new taxes Among them was the Stamp Act This measure levied a direct tax on all newspapers printed in the colonies and on most commercial and legal documents used in business The colonists grew increasingly angry because Britain interfered with their trade and 6
This map shows the 13 American colonies at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 7 INTRODUCTION
8 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION industry demanded what they saw as unjust taxes and sent British troops to make them obey In the summer of 1765 groups of colonists formed the Sons of Liberty to oppose the Stamp Act Made up largely of merchants and tradesmen the Sons of Liberty also counted many well-known patriots including Samuel Adams and John Hancock among their numbers These groups rallied support for colonial resistance through the use of petitions assemblies and propaganda At times they would use violence against England’s officials The Sons of Liberty were instrumental in prevent ing the enforcement of the Stamp Act which was repealed in 1766 They remained an active pre Revolutionary force against the crown participating in such events as the Boston Tea Party in 1773 Early in 1775 General Thomas Gage the military governor of Massachusetts received orders from England to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were accused of stirring up rebellion in the colony On the night of April 18 Gage sent a detachment of 800 troops to Lexington where the traitors were staying The troops were to arrest the two men then push on to Concord to destroy military supplies stored there by the colonists Warned that British troops were coming Hancock and Adams had already fled the town Instead when the troops reached Lexington they found about 50 members of the American militia called minutemen in the center of the town John Pitcairn the British
INTRODUCTION 9 commander ordered the rebels to disperse Soon shoot ing broke out Eight Americans were killed and 10 were wounded The others scattered and the British went on toward Concord The soldiers arrived at Concord at 7 am During the night the colonists had hidden most of their stores and ammunition What they had not been able to hide the British set about destroying When they met minute men at the Old North Bridge over the Concord River the soldiers fired upon them The Americans fired back and the Revolution had begun
