The Road to Freedom Continues

The Road To Freedom

Continues

The Boston Massacre

The British soldiers and American colonists did not like each other. Sometimes
they fought, but no one was hurt until March 1770.

A boy and a British soldier in Boston got into an argument the soldier knocked the boy down. An angry crowd surrounded the soldier. People in the crowd threw snowballs and yelled at him. Other soldiers ran to help him. Someone yelled, “Fire!” The soldiers got scared and fired into the crowd. Five colonists were killed.

These killings came to be known as the Boston Massacre. The colonists were
very angry. Some colonists passed out small pamphlets about how unfair the
British were to Boston colonists. They were sent to other colonies. Some of the
pamphlets stretched the truth in order to stir up anger among the colonists against the British.

Multiple Choice

Which groups made up the sides of the Boston massacre?

• Native American tribes and British soldiers
• Spanish soldiers and British colonists
• British soldiers and American colonists
• French soldiers and American colonists

The Boston Tea Party

As a result of the Boston Massacre, Parliament ended all the taxes the colonists hated- except one. That tax was on tea.

People all over the colonies refused to pay this tax. They stopped buying and drinking tea. Then
on the night of December 16, 1773, a group of colonists boarded a British ship in Boston Harbor.
They dumped more than 300 chests of tea in the water. This event is now called the Boston Tea
Party.

The “tea party” made the British very angry. They wanted the colonists to pay for the ruined tea. Parliament passed several laws that hurt the colonists. One law closed Boston Harbor. No ships could come or go from the harbor. Another law said British soldiers could live in the homes of the
colonists.

These laws made the colonists begin to think about breaking away from Great Britain and
starting their own country. They saw that they would probably have to fight for their freedom.

Multiple Choice

What was the one tax that remained after the Boston Massacre?

• Coffee
• Sugar
• Tea
• Salt

Multiple Choice

What did the American colonists do as a result of the tea tax?

• They held a tea appreciation festival
• They opened a chain of tea shops
• They organized the Boston Tea Party
• They started a coffee revolution

​https://youtu.be/UVufq8celE8

Events that Led to War

In September 1774, some colonial leaders met in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. They decided to write to the British king and ask him to change the tax laws.
At the same time, colonists in Boston were preparing to protect themselves. An army of farmers and store owners was formed to fight the British. They would be ready at a minute's notice. They called themselves the Minutemen.

Multiple Choice

Why were they called Minutement?

• It was just a random name with no specific meaning
• They were known for taking their time to prepare for fights
• They were ready to fight at a minute's notice.

• Because they were always late to the battle

The British soldiers in Boston heard that the colonists were storing gunpowder in the town of Concord. On April 18, 1775, British soldiers left Boston to get the gunpowder. Two colonists, Paul Revere and William Dawes, secretly left Boston on horseback to warn the Minutement. When the British arrived in Lexington on their way to Concord, the Minutemen were waiting for them.
The first shots of the American Revolution were fired and eight colonists were killed. The British pushed on to Concord, but they did not find gunpowder. They colonists had taken it away. As the British marched back to Boston, Minutement fought them all the way.

Multiple Choice

What did the British soldiers find in Lexington on the way to Concord?

• A group of armed American colonists
• An empty village
• A peaceful protest
• A herd of wild horses

Multiple Choice

What happened when the British left Concord and marched back to Boston?

• They were joined by the colonial minutemen and continued their march

• They were fought by colonial minutemen the whole way.

• They were welcomed with a parade
• They safely returned to Boston without any incidents

Multiple Choice

Where were the first shots of the American Revolution fired?

• New York City
• Washington D.C.
• Lexington and Concord
• Philadelphia

​The Call for Independence

News of what had happened at Lexington and Concord spread throughout the colonies. Two months later there was another important battle called the Battle of Bunker Hill.
The colonists who fought were not professional soldiers like the British. They were mostly farmers who had not had any army training. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, the colonists fought until they ran out of gunpowder. Although the British won, the colonists had fought very well. They had killed almost half the British soldiers who fought during the battle.

​In the following video, watch for historically accurate and inaccurate events. You might want to take notes....

In Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress met in May 1775. The members decided the colonies needed a regular army. They had to figure out how to train soldiers and pay for war supplies. They made George Washington the commander, or leader of the new Continental army.
A year later they asked Thomas Jefferson and others to write a statement to declare, or tell, that the colonies were breaking away from Great Britain to become their own country. It was called the Declaration of Independence. It was read aloud to the colonists on July 4, 1776.

Multiple Choice

Who was the first commander of the Continental army?

• Thomas Jefferson
• George Washington
• Benjamin Franklin
• John Adams

Multiple Choice

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

• Thomas Jefferson
• Benjamin Franklin
• Abraham Lincoln
• George Washington

Even after the Declaration of Independence was written, not all colonists were sure they wanted independence. Some jsut wanted the British to stop passing laws that were unfair to the colonies. In a pamphlet called Common Sense, Thomas Paine gave reasons for independence. Many colonists decided to fight for independence because his reasons were so good.
The Declaration of Independence has become one of the most important statements in the world. It is about the rights and freedoms that all people should have. One of its most famous lines states that everyone should have a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Multiple Choice

Who wrote the pamphlet Common Sense?

• Thomas Paine
• Benjamin Franklin
• George Washington
• John Adams

Multiple Choice

What was the effect of Common Sense on the colonists?

• It had no impact on the colonists
• It inspired colonists to support the American Revolution.
• It caused the colonists to remain loyal to the British
• It led to the colonists seeking peace with the British