Page 95 - Foy

Radicals such as SAMUEL ADAMS and PATRICK HENRY encouraged citizens
in and around Boston to riot and these citizens began to attack agents of the
Crown. Often groups like the Sons of Liberty and other secret societies caused
mobs to physically attack these officials, sometimes sacking and burning their
houses.

Ships sent from England to prevent entry of smuggled goods were also attacked.
Everyone remembers reading in their high school American History book about
the Boston Tea Party where an organized mob, dressed as Indians, boarded an
East India Company ship at a Boston wharf on December 16, 1773, and tossed
overboard $90,000.00 worth of tea. This act convinced KING GEORGE III that
it was high time to punish Boston and on May 17th Lieutenant General THOMAS
GAGE arrived in Boston as commander of His Majesty’s Forces in America and
governor of Massachusetts. His orders were to close the Port of Boston, bringing

the colonial government under the control of the Crown, and legalize quartering
of English troupes in public buildings.

The other American colonies were very concerned when they learned of GAGE’s
restrictive measures. On September 5, 1774, representatives of these colonies,
except Georgia, met in Philadelphia as the First Continental Congress. During
that session, PAUL REVERE arrived with a copy of the Suffolk Resolve, drawn
up by representatives of Massachusetts, recommending that the colony form its
own government to collect taxes and to withhold those taxes from the Crown until
certain restrictive acts were repealed. The First Continental Congress adopted
this resolve and called for a boycott on English goods.

Massachusetts was now preparing to defend its position with force, if needed, and

all military affairs were put into the hands of a Committee for Safety. Arms,
ammunition, and cannons were collected and stored in relatively safe places.
Militia-men, living on farms and in villages around Boston, were alerted and told
to be ready in a minute (they became known as “minutemen”) to assemble with
their muskets and powder horns when the church bell sounded the alarm. By
April 1775, the countryside around Boston had a sizable number of men ready to
fight as soon as they received the word.

The battles began in the Boston area in April 1775. There were battles in
Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill. At first these battles were fought by

Ch. 10 Pg. 2