Topic E & F
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Committees of Correspondence
Started by Samuel Adams
Goal to help unite the colonies
By keeping them informed
In an era before modern communications, news was generally
disseminated in hand-written letters that were carried aboard ships or by
couriers on horseback. Those means were employed by the critics of
British imperial policy in America to spread their interpretations of current
events.
Trouble over tea
• 1773 British Government past the tea act
• Goal was to help the British East India Tea
Company, which had 15 million tons of unsold tea
in its warehouse.
This act left a small tax on all tea EXCEPT the
British East India Tea Company’s
This gave them a large advantage over all other
companies including American company’s
Colonist boycotted again- it has worked well in the
past—The issue of Parliaments right to tax has
never been solved.
Tea act
• The Tea Act, passed by Parliament in May of 1773,
would launch the final spark to the revolutionary
movement in Boston. The act was not intended to raise
revenue in the American colonies, and in fact imposed
no new taxes. It was designed to prop up the East India
Company which was floundering financially and
burdened with eighteen million pounds of unsold tea.
This tea was to be shipped directly to the colonies, and
sold at a bargain price. The Townshend Duties were still
in place, however, and the radical leaders in America
found reason to believe that this act was a maneuver to
buy popular support for the taxes already in force. The
direct sale of tea, via British agents, would also have
undercut the business of local merchants.
Tea act
• he so-called Tea Act was an Act of the Parliament of
Great Britain (13 Geo III c. 44), passed in May, 1773,
which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea
to the British colonies in North America without the usual
colonial tax, thereby allowing them to undercut the prices
of the colonial merchants and smugglers. This was
primarily intended to aid the finances of the East India
Company, which were close to collapse due to famine in
India and economic weakness in European markets. The
British government intended to give the East India
Company an effective monopoly on tea imports to the
Thirteen Colonies.
• The Tea Act did not add any more taxes to tea; however,
it backfired anyway. Because many Americans earned
their living from smuggling, they disliked the commercial
advantages granted by the government to the Company.
This act led to widespread boycotts of tea throughout the
colonies, and, eventually, to the Boston Tea Party
Tea Party
Tea Party
• protests in the colonies against the Stamp Acts had died
down when Parliament passed the Tea Act. The new act
granted a monopoly on tea trade in the Americas to the
East India Tea Company.
• The Governor of Massachusetts, Thomas Hutchinson,
insisted that tea be unloaded in Boston, despite a
boycott organized by the Sons of Liberty.
• On the evening of December 16th, thousands of
Bostonians and farmers from the surrounding
countryside packed into the Old South Meeting house to
hear Samuel Adams. Adams denounced the Governor
for denying clearance for vessels wishing to leave with
tea still on board. After his speech the crowd headed for
the waterfront. From the crowd, 50 individuals emerged
dressed as Indians. They boarded three vessels docked
in the harbor and threw 90,000 pounds of tea overboard.
Tea Party
Events
• 3 ships loaded with tea
• Colonist did not want it unloaded
• Colonist went to Governor Hutchinson
and insisted the ships be turned away
• Hutchinson insisted the ships be unloaded
• Sons of Liberty had other plans
• Meeting at old south church Boston
• Short time after Sam Adams meeting
• 50 dressed as Indians rowed out to the
ships and dumped 342 chests of tea
Events
• Many cheered these actions, others feared
the British response.
• Sons of Liberty have enforced the boycott
• Will the British Punish the Colonies?
• Ship names Beaver, Darmouth,Eleanor
• Today's value over $90,000
Questions
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1-What was the goal of the comm. Of correspondence?
Keep the colonies informed and united them
2- give examples of their actions?
Paul Revere
3- Why did the British care so much about the Br. East India Co.
Lots of unsold tea—British owned Inida at this time
4- If the price went down why did the colonist object to the tea act?
Cut American tea companies out of the trade / gave unfair
advantage to British tea company
5- How did the Americans try to avoid the tea party?
Went to governor Hutchinson and asked for ships to leave
6- Explain the tea party
12/16 / sons of liberty / 342 chests of tea
7- Do you feel the colonist should be punished for destroying Br.
Property?
This was the first time they destroyed property, other protest did not
Topic F
• Intolerable Acts
• Four laws designed to punish the colonies
• Laws will be in effect until the tea is paid
for----Ben Franklin offered to pay but
colonist did not want him to
• British felt Colonist should pay the cost
• Colonist refused
• The colonist felt these laws were harsh
Intolerable Acts
• 1- Boston Port Act– closed the Boston
harbor—which will affect everyone's
employment in the Boston area.
• 2- Government Act– Suspended all town
and local meetings – local powers also
reduced
• 3-Crimes Act– Made British immune to
colonial laws, and if problem trials would
be in England
• 4-More British soldiers sent to enforce
these rules / more quartering act
At same time as Int. Acts
• Quebec Act in Canada
• Gave them more rights and freedoms at
the same time as reducing the rights in
Boston.
• This makes the colonist even madder.
• Colonist started to form militia and groups
of minutemen.
• Colonist for the first time start to talk of
Independence
• Committees of Correspondence working
hard to keep other colonies informed.
1st Continental Congress
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Sept. 5 1774
Delegates from all but Georgia (12)
Philadelphia
Most still loyal to King
Lasted 7 weeks
Loyalist - loyal to king
Patriot- resist British control
Results of 1st CC
Declaration of Rights (like a letter to King)
1- loyal to King
BUT felt their rights were violated
2-Will boycott until unfair laws repealed
3-Agreed to meet again May 1775
Urged colonies to set up militia’s
(note – stating loyalty, but threat and time
limit with further threat)
Kings Reaction
• “I wish nothing but goodtherefore everyone who
does not agree is a traitor”
• “ The die is cast, the
colonies must submit or
triumph”
Lexington and Concord
• Lexington and Concord, battles of, opening engagements of
the American Revolution, Apr. 19, 1775. After the passage
(1774) of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament, unrest
in the colonies increased. The British commander at Boston,
Gen. Thomas Gage, sought to avoid armed rebellion by
sending a column of royal infantry from Boston to capture
colonial military stores at Concord. News of his plan was
dispatched to the countryside by Paul Revere, William Dawes,
and Samuel Prescott. As the advance column under Major
John Pitcairn reached Lexington, they came upon a group of
militia (the minutemen). After a brief exchange of shots in
which several Americans were killed, the colonials withdrew,
and the British continued to Concord. Here they destroyed
some military supplies, fought another engagement, and
began a harried withdrawal to Boston, which cost them over
200 casualties.
map
Concord and Lexington
Paul Revere’s Ride
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
http://www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm
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THE FAMOUS RIDE
British troops were planning a march to Lexington to arrest John Hancock
and Sam Adams, then on to Concord to seize colonial munitions. At nightfall
on April 18, Paul Revere hung a two-lantern signal in the steeple of Old
North Church, alerting his comrades that the Redcoats were crossing the
harbor. Revere then galloped to Lexington and pressed on to Concord,
where he was captured by a British patrol. Questioned at gunpoint, Revere
was released after divulging nothing but misinformation.
LEXINGTON and CONCORD
"The shot heard 'round the world"
Over 700 Redcoats marched through the night of April 18, 1775, reaching
Lexington near dawn. Awaiting them were 77 Minutemen - farmers and
laborers trained to be "ready in a minute." One musket went off. Historians
still debate which side fired the first shot, but within seconds, eight colonists
lay dead on Lexington Green.
On to Concord, 400 Minutemen exchanged gunfire with 120 Redcoats at
the North Bridge. Pealing church bells spread the alarm and colonial
numbers grew to 5,000. The British would have been massacred, but
reinforcements arrived as they fled back to Boston. April 19, 1775 … the
war had begun!
lexington
lexington
lexington
North bridge
British retreating
Views
• From the British view they had been
attacked by the colonist.
• From the Colonial view innocent colonist
were murdered in cold blood.
• War was now unavoidable !
Questions
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1- What were the goals of the Intolerable Acts?
Punish the colonies
2-list the four parts of the Intolerable Act?
Port / Gov’t / Crime / More troops
3- How did the Colonies respond to the Intolerable Acts?
Held the 1st continental congress
4-Facts on 1st Continental congress
12 all but Georgia
Philadelphia
Loyal to king / unfair laws / Meet again / set up militia
5- Why was Gage planning to arrest Adams &Hancock?
Storage of weapons
6- Explain the role of the midnight ride?
Warn colonist (Dawes, Prescott, Revere)
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Questions
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7- Explain the events in Lexington?
8killed
75 vs. 700
“ shots heard around the world”
8- Explain the events in Concord?
Town empty
North Bridge
9- What is meant by the “shot heard
around the world”
• Point of no return as far as war is
concerned.