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England’s officials The Sons of Liberty were instrumental in prevent ing the enforcement of the Stamp Act which was repealed in 1766 They remained an active pre Revolutionary force against the crown participating in such events as the Boston Tea Party in 1773 Early in 1775 General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
CHAPTER ONE 1010 SUGAR STAMPS AND TEA The treaty that ended the French and Indian War in 1763 made Great Britain master of Canada and of the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River The whole cost of governing this vast region was suddenly shifted from France to Britain The British government therefore decided to station British troops in the colo nies to prevent the French from recovering Canada and to defend the colonies against the Indians British officials believed that the country had made great sacrifices in order to expel the French from Canada The British people staggered under an immense national debt and their taxes were higher than ever before Most thought it only right that the colonies should help pay for the support of these troops Beginning in 1764 the British Parliament imposed a series of taxes intended to make the colonies profitable at the least expense to Britain
James Otis helped formulate the colonists grievances against the British government in the 1760s
