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Revolutionary Ideas
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The Albany Congress
The Albany Congress was the first attempt by the colonists to unify the colonies. While it was regarded as a failure, it laid the groundwork for ways to organize the colonies and their militia. -
The Sugar Act
The first of many taxes the British used in an attempt to gain back money lost in teh French and Indian War, this was imposed upon sugar. The colonists reacted harshley to this new tax, bbut it stayed in place due to the lack of colonists in Parliament. -
The Stamp Act
Another tax levied upon the colonists, this one was targeting mail, and the stamps requiered to send it. Meeting the same reaction from the colonists as the sugar act did only a year ago, this greatly upset the colonists. It only pushed them further towards revolution. -
The Boston Massacre
While the way this event is written makes it seem like the true start of the war, this was truely an act of self defence. A mob of colonists surrounded British soldiers and attacked them with rocks, snowballs and sticks. The British soldiers only fired to defend themselves, but the stories was warped to further stir the colonists towards revolution. -
Boston Tea Party
The colonists were sick of British taxes. The latest one was the tea act, and although it was truely a tax, the idea of only being able to buy tea from one placed pushed the colonists to extremes. One night, the extremists dressed as indians and boarded a ship containing tea. With a large crowd gathered to watch, they then dumped all the tea on the ship into the harbor, greatly inspiring their fellow colonists, but only further infuriating the British. -
First Continental Congress
Another attempt to unify the colonies, this attempt was leaps and bounds ahead of any previous try. Once successful in uniting the colonies, the Continental Congress then determined the plan of action, in case of a war. The meetings were held in secret, and the British had no idea what was happening. -
Lexington and Concord
The British were becoming worried, a revolution was now a very real threat. To attempt and sieze the upper hand, soldiers wqere sent from Boston to towns farther west to seize weapons and gunpowder. The announcement that "The British are Coming" stirred the colonists to action. At Lexington, when colonists and British met, a single shot was fired. No one knows who fired the shot but it is widely regarded as the true start to the Revolutionary War.
