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     The following report covers the events preceding the American
Revolution and illustrates how a single stupid incident, when added
to so many others, can eventually cause an otherwise peaceful climate
to turn warlike in a hurry.  Today, with the marvels of communication
available to us, we learn news faster than our forefathers and
therefore react more quickly, if with nothing more than our emotions.

     Users of ExecuNet are urged to read this material that was
very kindly compiled by Mark Siporen and edited by Richard Bash.

The material for this document came from Arthur Abington,
"Learn United States History The Easy Way" by Arthur Abington
(Bronxville, New York: Cambridge Publishers, Inc., 1959, Revised
1961), pages 60-66.

     With this brief review of American history, I hope that the
reader will take the time to go down to the library, check out a book
on our past and READ IT! This is a 2988 word, 8 page article.  Even
though it is lengthy, you SHOULD read it (please!).

                =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

     The French and Indian War had been an expensive one for the
British.  It had increased their national debt by about
$35,000,000.  The obvious solution was to raise money by taxing
British colonies.  To raise more money in the American colonies a
new English colonial policy, called the Grenville program (1763-
1765), was instituted by Lord Grenville.  This plan ordered an
increase in old taxes and the levying of some new ones on many
goods imported into the colonies.  In order to enforce this taxing
scheme, the "Quartering Act" provided for 10,000 British troops to
be stationed in the colonies.  These soldiers were to be fed and
housed by the American colonists.

     The first direct tax ever levied by England upon the colonists
was the infamous "Stamp Tax" from The Stamp Act of 1765.  This
placed a tax on all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents and even
calendars and playing cards used in the colonies.

     The colonists reacted rather quickly against this tax. Fires
and riots broke out.  Debates took place in many colonial assem-
blies.

     In the Virginia House of Burgesses (equivalent to today's
state legislature), Patrick Henry warned the English king of the
possible effects of such a law.  In answer to the cries of "Trea-
son! Treason!" that were flung at him by Virginians who were still
loyal to England and the King, Patrick Henry uttered the famous
words, "If this be treason, make the most of it!"  The House of
Burgess then drew up the Virginia Resolves condemning the Stamp
Tax.  They stated that only the colonial assemblies had the right
to vote taxes in a colony.

     Opposition to the tax was led by secret organizations known as
the Sons of Liberty.  Including some of the leading citizens in the
colonies, like Paul Revere in Massachusetts, these groups decided
that the tax should not be paid.  They drove out stamp-tax collec-
tors and forced merchants not to buy the stamps. In order to make
England feel the anger of the American colonies ever more, the Sons
of Liberty also enforced an unofficial boycott of English goods.

     Meeting in New York in 1765, representatives from nine colo-
nies met to draw up a protest against the tax.  This meeting later
became known as The Stamp Act Congress of 1765.  Led by John
Dickinson of Pennsylvania, the delegates drew up a "Declaration of
Rights and Grievances." This document explained to the English
government that the American colonists were still loyal to the
British crown but protested the tax.  They claimed that they were
entitled to all the rights and liberties of Englishmen, including
the right to tax themselves through their elected representatives.
In fact, they were, in the majority view, merely Englishmen at some
distance from England.

     When British exports to America fell off because of the
refusal of the American colonists to purchase English goods and
their opposition to the tax, the British Parliament repealed the
tax.  However, at the same time it repealed the Stamp Tax (in
1766), Parliament also passed a "Declaratory Law," in which Parlia-
ment claimed the right to pass any laws on any matter in the
colonies.

     In 1767, the new English Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles
Townshend, proposed a new series of taxes to increase English
revenues from the colonies.  Taxes were to be levied on lead,
glass, paper, paint and tea.  This was known as the "Townshend
Program."

     Part of the money raised from these taxes was to go to pay the
salaries of the officials enforcing the law.  Up to now the assem-
blies had paid these officers, but now colonial control over them
would be weakened.

     To wipe out smuggling, the officials were to be given "writs
of assistance" to enter any place and search for and seize any
goods that had come into the colonies illegally.  Colonists accused
of violating the laws were to be tried without a jury. Any appeal
from these trials was to be taken to England.

     Once again the colonists turned to a boycott of English goods.
In the next two years, more and more merchants refused to buy
English products, and the people backed them up.  Sales of British
products fell off, almost by half, as the boycott spread throughout
the colonies.  England was forced to send troops to Boston to keep
order there, while the Sons of Liberty were winning popular sup-
port.

     Again the British merchants complained to Parliament about
their loss of business.  Again Parliament listened to them and, in
1770, repealed all of the taxes in the Townshend Program, except
the one on tea.  The tax on tea was continued simply to show the
colonists that Parliament could tax them.  The colonists did not
object to this, however, because smuggled tea, which the colonists
bought, was cheaper than English tea, anyway.

     The British troops stationed in Boston found themselves in
trouble with the citizens.  In March, 1770, a small riot broke out
between a group of soldiers and town workers.  As the riot spread,
other soldiers were called out and some fired into the crowd,
killing five and wounding others.  This "Boston Massacre" increased
hatred of the American colonists against the British.

     Lack of good communications was a serious handicap to the
colonists.  Under the leadership of Sam Adams, a committee of
correspondence, consisting of 21 men, was formed in Massachusetts
to keep in touch with similar committees in the other colonies. By
sending fast riders with news of developments, these committees
were able to form a chain of communications that linked the colo-
nies.  Sam Adams was the one who kept the committees in touch with
one another.

     In 1773, the East India Company was faced with bankruptcy. To
prevent failure English King George III gave them the right to sell
tea to the American colonists at a price below that of foreign or
smuggled tea.

     Americans opposed this move because this would have destroyed
the colonial tea business.  The company sent out one ship loaded
with tea to Philadelphia, New York and Boston.  The officials in
Philadelphia and New York refused to allow the ship to dock.  The
governor of Massachusetts, however, allowed the ship destined for
Boston to dock there.

     When the ship entered Boston Harbor, a group of citizens,
disguised as Indians, boarded the ship and threw the tea into the
ocean.  The British government acted swiftly and severely.  This
incident is fondly remembered in American history as the "Boston
Tea Party."

     To punish the colonists, the English Parliament passed a
series of laws against Boston.  The following then became known as
"Intolerable Acts of 1774."

     1.   The port of Boston was closed.  No ship could enter or
          leave it until the tea had been paid for.
     2.   The charter (constitution) of Massachusetts was taken
          away.  No town meeting was permitted without the consent
          of the Governor.  All officials were to be appointed by
          the Governor.
     3.   More troops were moved into Boston and stationed in the
          homes of colonists.  British officers and soldiers who
          were accused of crimes against colonists would be tried,
          not in the colony, but in England.
     4.   The Northwest Territory, partly claimed by Massachusetts,
          was annexed to Quebec.

     These acts only served to unite the colonies.  In answer to an
appeal, food and supplies were rushed to Massachusetts.

     A movement spread among the colonies to call a general con-
gress (meeting).  At this meeting all the colonies would send
delegates who would decide what steps to take.  This was to become
the First Continental Congress of 1774.

     Early in September, 1774, 56 delegates from 12 colonies
(Georgia was not represented) met at Philadelphia.  Many leading
figures were present: Sam and John Adams from Massachusetts,
Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee from Virginia, Joseph Galloway
from Pennsylvania.

     After much debate the Congress drew up a Declaration of Rights
and Grievances, which denounced the Intolerable Acts as unjust and
unconstitutional.  They drew up also a list of colonial rights --
life, liberty and property, the control of taxation by the colonial
legislatures, and others.

     The delegates agreed to organize an American Association which
would buy no goods from England until the Intolerable Acts had been
repealed.  Furthermore, they urged Americans to arm themselves.

     It was hoped that the petition would lead the king to settle
the dispute.  In the meantime, the Congress adjourned until the
following May, to meet then if the colonial grievances were not
settled.

     Sam Adams and John Hancock had been ordered arrested for
stirring up the colonies.  General Gage learned that Sam Adams and
John Hancock were in hiding near Lexington and that large supplies
of cannon and powder were hidden near Concord (about 20 miles from
Boston).  General Gage sent a force to capture the men and seize
the stores.  The Boston Committee of Correspondence learned of his
plans, however, and sent Paul Revere and William Dawes to warn the
leaders and alert the countryside.

     The famous ride of Revere and Dawes on the night of April 18,
1775, lives forever in the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

     When the British troops reached Lexington, they were met by 70
Minutemen.  Shots were fired between the two groups, killing eight
Americans and wounding ten.

     Then the British pushed on to Concord, where the military
supplies were hidden.  Here they found a large force of armed
militiamen and were forced to retreat.  The retreat almost became a
rout, as shots were fired by Americans hidden behind trees, bushes,
stones and houses.  Before they reached safety, 70 Britishers had
been killed and 170 wounded.

                 BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.

The following material was extracted from "American History Before
1877" by Ray Allen Billington (Ames, Iowa: Littlefield, Adams &
Co., 1951; reprinted 1957), pages 59-60.

     When General Thomas Gage, the British commander at Boston,
decided to send troops to Concord to capture rebel supplies, the
militiamen gathered to resist.  They met the redcoats on the
village green at Lexington at daybreak on April 19, 1775, losing
eight men in the skirmish that followed.  The soldiers then marched
on to Concord, only to find that most of the supplies had been
removed.  The British were pursued into Boston by a growing force
of patriots, leaving the countryside inflamed with wrath.

                =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The following material was extracted from "The Structure of Ameri-
can History" by Richard Hofstadter, William Miller, and Daniel
Aaron, (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964),
page 54.

     Before adjourning on October 26, 1774, the First Continental
Congress agreed to meet again in May, a timely date as events
proved.  Unnerved by the gathering of Minutemen around Boston,
British General Gage, on April 19, 1775, sent 700 troops to destroy
the large amount of munitions and supplies that the colonists
appeared to be collecting in Concord, about twenty miles north.
Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott were sent by
Boston patriots to arouse the Minutemen along the way and at
Lexington green, five miles short of Concord, the redcoats encoun-
tered a line of armed farmers and townsmen.  Eight Minutemen fell
here and the British moved on.  Revere and Dawes were halted by the
British before reaching Concord, but Dr. Prescott got through in
time to warn the Minutemen there to get their supplies away, which
they did.  Frustrated at Concord, General Gage's men turned back
toward Boston, but by then thousands of Minutemen lined the road
and shot down the redcoats as they passed.  By the time the British
troops reached Boston the British counted 273 casualties.  Ninety-
three Americans had been killed or wounded.

     There remained many men on both sides who tried, still, to
avert war.  But the battle of pamphlets and protests clearly had
yielded to a battle of rifles and cannon.

                =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The following material was extracted from "The American Pageant,"
volume 1, by Thomas A. Bailey and David M. Kennedy, (Lexington,
Massachusetts / Toronto: D. C. Heath and Co., 1956, 7th ed. 1983),
page 95.

     The petitions of the Continental Congress were rejected, after
considerable debate, by strong majorities in Parliament. In Ameri-
ca, chickens squawked and tar kettles bubbled as violators of The
Association (those who violated the boycott of British goods) were
tarred and feathered.  Muskets were being collected, men were
openly drilling, and a clash seemed imminent.

     In April 1775, the British commander in Boston sent a detach-
ment of troops to nearby Lexington and Concord.  They were to seize
stores of colonial gunpowder, and also to bag the "rebel" ringlead-
ers, Samuel Adams and John Hancock.  At Lexington, the colonial
"Minute Men" refused to disperse rapidly enough, and shots were
fired which killed eight Americans and wounded several more.  The
affair was more the "Lexington Massacre" than a battle.  The
Redcoats pushed on to Concord, whence they were forced to retreat
by the homespun Americans, whom Emerson immortalized:

          By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
          Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
          Here once the embattled farmers stood,
          And fired the shot heard round the world.

     The bewildered British, fighting off murderous fire from
militiamen crouched behind thick stone walls, finally regained the
sanctuary of Boston.  Licking their wounds, the British could count
about 300 casualties, including some 70 killed.  England now had a
war on her hands.

                =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The following material was extracted from "Review Text in United
States History" by Paul M. Roberts,  Revised 1978, (New York, N.Y.:
Amsco School Publications, Inc., 1966), pages 76-77.

             THE FIRST SHOT IS FIRED (APRIL 19, 1775)

     Anticipating war, the citizens of Massachusetts began to
organize themselves into an army, or militia.  They called them-
selves Minutemen, since they stood ready for action at a minute's
notice.  They drilled regularly and armed themselves with ammuni-
tion and weapons.  In defiance of General Gage, the British mili-
tary governor, the Massachusetts assembly met secretly and prepared
for war.  Gage sent troops to capture the "rebel" ringleaders, John
Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were rumored to be in Lexington, and
to seize stores of gunpowder hidden in Concord.

     The colonials, however, learned of Gage's plans.  Two Patri-
ots, Paul Revere and William Dawes, rode through the night and
warned the countryside of the oncoming British.  When the British
troops arrived at Lexington, they were met by the local Minutemen.
In an exchange of shots, 18 colonials were killed or wounded.  The
British then proceeded to Concord, and another skirmish took place.
As the English marched back to their base in Boston, the aroused
colonials, hiding behind houses, trees, and stone walls, poured a
steady fire into the redcoats. Almost 4,000 Americans participated
in the action that day.  The British suffered 273 casualties, the
colonials 93.

     In March, 1775, just before the outbreak of hostilities in
Massachusetts, Patrick Henry delivered a speech urging that Virgin-
ia prepare for war.  He closed with "Is life so dear, or peace so
sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God!  I know not what course others may take;
but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"

          "Disperse, ye rebels; lay down your arms." -- British
          officer to Minutemen at Lexington.

          "Stand your ground.  Don't fire unless fired upon; but if
          they mean to have a war, let it begin here!" -- Captain
          John Parker's order to the Minutemen at Lexington.

The following material was extracted from "Common Sense" by Thomas
Paine, Edited by John Seelye with introduction by Isaac Kramnick,
(first published 1776; paperback reprint from England: Penguin
Books Ltd., 1976, reprinted 1982), page 92.

     "....on the breaking out of hostilities, it was not worth the
while to have disputed a matter, which time would have finally
redressed, unless we meant to be in earnest; otherwise, it is like
wasting an estate on a suit at law, to regulate the trespasses of a
tenant, whose lease is just expiring.  No man was a warmer wisher
for reconciliation than myself, before the fatal nineteenth of
April 1775 (massacre at Lexington), but the moment the event of
that day was made known, I rejected the hardened, sullen tempered
Pharaoh of --- for ever; and disdain the wretch that with the
pretended title of Father of His People can unfeelingly hear of
their slaughter, and composedly sleep with their blood upon his
soul."

Note:     Thomas Paine used "----" or "k---" in referring to "king"
          or "England" or any representative of same, probably to
          avoid charges of libel or worse.

                =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

     These were the events that preceded the American Revolution of
1776. Review these words carefully and consider the events of
today. A government is tested when it attempts to exert unreason-
able controls over its citizenry. Are we nearing that threshold
again, beyond which the American people will take no more?


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