Split History of the Battles of Lexington and Concord
GROWING UNREST In the years leading up to the Revolutionary War Boston had become the center of growing unrest Colonists there were fed up with the unfair taxes levied by the British They boycotted goods that were taxed and had harsh words for the British troops who were sent to enforce the new taxes On March 5 1770 those harsh words turned violent On that cold New England night a group of angry colonists insulted a British guard and began throwing snowballs at him Other British soldiers joined the
scuffle and began firing their weapons into the crowd Five Americans were killed The event became known as the Boston Massacre Tensions boiled over with the Boston Massacre in March 1770 Two of the five victims were only 17 years old The Boston Massacre only served to raise the level of anger many in Boston felt and it gave them even more reason to protest After night fell on December 16 1773 members of
the Sons of Liberty moved quietly to Boston Harbor Dressed as Native Americans the men boarded three ships docked in the harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea from the British East India Company into the water to protest the tea tax levied by Parliament own In three hours on the night of December 16 1773 116 protesters destroyed 92 000 pounds 41 730 kilograms of tea
Britain's response to the Boston Tea Party was the Coercive Acts which singled out Massachusetts and Boston in particular for punishment Colonists called them the Intolerable Acts Again this move by the British led the patriots to unite They formed the First Continental Congress in 1774 which was called to discuss a plan of resistance that all the colonies could agree upon
