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tax on all paper
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formation of sons of liberty
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troops arive at boston
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5 Mar 1770 Building tension between American colonists and British troops came to a head after a day of rioting in Boston. British officers, surrounded by an angry mob, fired into the crowd killing 3 men outright and mortally wounding 2 others. The Boston governor, Lt. Gov. Hutchinson, avoided further confrontation by removing all British troops to islands in Boston harbor.
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Perhaps the most interesting group of Loyalists were enslaved African-Americans who chose to join the British. The British promised to LIBERATE slaves who fled from their Patriot masters. This powerful incentive, and the opportunities opened by the chaos of war, led some 50,000 slaves (about 10 percent of the total slave population in the 1770s) to flee their Patriot masters.
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16 Dec 1773 In protest over the Tea Act, members of the Sons of Liberty dressed as Indians boarded three British ships in Boston harbor and threw the valuable tea overboard.
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5 Sep 1774 - 25 Oct 1774 "Twelve colonies, all but Georgia, sent 56 delegates to Philadelphia to participate in the First Continental Congress. The purpose of the First Continental Congress was to debate and plan a unified response to British policy and actions. It was the first time many of these influential men had met face to face."
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18 Apr 1775 General Gage planned a secret night march on Concord to seize the colonists' store of weapons. Paul Revere immediately rode out over Boston towards Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams, fellow members of the Sons of Liberty. After Revere reached Lexington, he went to Concord where he was caught and questioned by six British officers.The officers left Revere horseless and stranded near Lexington.
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Published anonymously in Philadelphia in January 1776, “Common Sense” appeared at a time when both separation from Great Britain and reconciliation were being considered. Through simple rational arguments, Thomas Paine focused blame for Colonial America’s troubles on the British king and pointed out the advantages of independence.