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Required colonists to purchase special stamped paper for every legal document, license, newspaper, pamphlet, and almanac, and imposed special “stamp duties” on packages of playing cards and dice. The colonists reacted to this by harassing stamp distributors, boycotting British goods, and preparing a Declaration of Rights and Grievances.
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In Boston, there was a competition for jobs between colonists and poorly paid soldiers who looked for extra work in local shipyards during off-duty hours. On March 5, 1770, a fist-fight broke out over jobs and a mob gathered in front of the Customs House and taunted the guards. When several dockhands appeared on the scene, an armed clash erupted, and 5 colonists were killed. Samuel Adams presented this as a British attack on defenseless citizens.
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In response to the Tea Act, Boston colonists dumped 18,000 pounds of the East India Company’s tea into the Boston Harbor. Parliament reacted by passing the Intolerable Acts and General Thomas Gage placed Boston under martial law to keep the peace.
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Assembled by the committees of correspondence. 56 Delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of colonial rights. They defended the colonies’ right to run their own affairs. They supported the protests in Massachusetts and stated that if the British used force against the colonies, the colonies should fight back. Minutemen began to quietly stockpile firearms to step up military preparations.
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These battles signaled the start of the American Revolutionary War. The British Army set out from Boston to capture rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington as well as to destroy the Americans store of weapons and ammunition in Concord. Paul Revere organized a network of riders who spread the alarm.
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In May of 1775, colonial leaders convened a second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next move. The loyalties that divided colonists sparked endless debates (Loyalists versus Patriots). John Adams suggested that each colony set up its own government and that the Congress declare the colonies independent. He also argued that the Congress should consider the militiamen besieging Boston to be the Continental Army and name a general to lead them.
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While in Boston, British General Thomas Gage decided to strike at militiamen who had dug in on Breed’s Hill, north of the city and near Bunker Hill. On June 17, 1775, Gage sent out nearly 2,400 British troops. The colonists held their fire until the last minute, then began to shoot down the advancing redcoats. The surviving British troops made a second attack, and then a third. The third assault succeeded, but only because the militiamen ran low on ammunition.
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By July, the Second Continental Congress was readying the colonies for war while still hoping for peace. Most of the delegates, like most colonists, felt deep loyalty to George III and blamed the bloodshed on the king’s ministers. On July 8, 1775, the Congress sent the king the Olive Branch Petition, urging a return to “the former harmony” between Britain and the colonies.
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In "Common Sense," an anonymous 50-page pamphlet, the colonist Thomas Paine attacked King George III. Paine declared that the time had come for colonists to proclaim an independent republic, which would allow America to trade freely with other nations for guns and ammunition and win foreign aid form British enemies. He also stated that independence would give Americans the chance to create a better society with equal social and economic opportunities for all. It sold nearly 500,000 copies.
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By early summer 1776, events pushed the Continental Congress toward a decision. Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee moved that “these United Colonies are, and of a right ought to be, free and independent states.” Thomas Jefferson was chosen to express the committees’ points, so he wrote the Declaration of Independence. It stated that everyone has the right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
