1770Boston Massacre takes place

1772Samuel Adams sets up a committee of correspondence

1773Boston TeaParty occurs

1774Parliament passes theIntolerable Acts

Main IdeaAs tensions between colonists and theBritish government increased, protestsgrew stronger.

Key Termspropaganda, committee of correspondence

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information As you readthe section, re-create the diagrambelow and describe how the Intolera-ble Acts changed life for colonists.

Read to Learn• why Boston colonists and British

soldiers clashed, resulting in theBoston Massacre.

• how the British government tried tomaintain its control over the colonies.

Section ThemeGroups and Institutions Colonistsbanded together to protest British laws.

Building Colonial Unity

In the spring of 1768, British customs officials in Boston seized the Liberty, a shipbelonging to John Hancock, a merchant and protest leader. The ship had docked inBoston Harbor to unload a shipment of wine and take on new supplies. The customsofficials, however, charged that Hancock was using the ship for smuggling. As news ofthe ship’s seizure spread through Boston, angry townspeople filled the streets. Theyshouted against Parliament and the taxes it had imposed on them. The Liberty affairbecame one of the events that united the colonists against British policies.

Trouble in BostonProtests like the Liberty affair made British colonial officials nervous. In the

summer of 1768, worried customs officers sent word back to Britain that thecolonies were on the brink of rebellion. Parliament responded by sending tworegiments of troops to Boston. As angry Bostonians jeered, the newly arrived“redcoats” set up camp right in the center of the city.

136 CHAPTER 5 Road to Independence

IntolerableActs

American protest banner

Preview of Events

Guide to Reading

✦ 1770 ✦ 1773 ✦ 1776

137CHAPTER 5 Road to Independence

Many colonists, especially those living inBoston, felt that the British had pushed them toofar. First the British had passed a series of lawsthat violated colonial rights. Now they had sentan army to occupy colonial cities.

To make matters worse, the soldiers stationedin Boston acted rudely and sometimes even vio-lently toward the colonists. Mostly poor men,the redcoats earned little pay. Some of themstole goods from local shops or scuffled withboys who taunted them in the streets. The sol-diers competed off-hours for jobs that Bostoni-ans wanted. The townspeople’s hatred for thesoldiers grew stronger every day.

The Boston MassacreRelations between the redcoats and the

Boston colonists grew more tense. Then onMarch 5, 1770, the tension finally reached apeak. That day a fight broke out between towns-people and soldiers. While some British officerstried to calm the crowd, one man shouted,

“We did not send for you. We will not have youhere. We’ll get rid of you, we’ll drive you away!”

The angry townspeople moved through thestreets, picking up any weapon they couldfind—sticks, stones, shovels, and clubs. Theypushed forward toward the customshouse onKing Street.

As the crowd approached, the sentry on dutypanicked and called for help. The crowdresponded by throwing stones, snowballs, oystershells, and pieces of wood at the soldiers. “Fire,you bloodybacks, you lobsters,” the crowdscreamed. “You dare not fire.”

After one of the soldiers was knocked down,the nervous and confused redcoats did fire. Sev-eral shots rang out, killing five colonists. OneBostonian cried out:

“Are the inhabitants to be knocked down in thestreets? Are they to be murdered in this manner?”

Among the dead was Crispus Attucks, adockworker who was part African, part NativeAmerican. The colonists called the tragicencounter the Boston Massacre.

The Word SpreadsColonial leaders used news of the killings as

propaganda—information designed to influenceopinion—against the British. Samuel Adams putup posters describing the “Boston Massacre” as aslaughter of innocent Americans by bloodthirstyredcoats. An engraving by Paul Revere showed aBritish officer giving the order to open fire on an orderly crowd. Revere’s powerful imagestrengthened anti-British feeling.

The Boston Massacre led many colonists to callfor stronger boycotts on British goods. Aware ofthe growing opposition to its policies, Parliamentrepealed all the Townshend Acts taxes except theone on tea. Many colonists believed they hadwon another victory. They ended their boycotts,except on the taxed tea, and started to trade withBritish merchants again.

Some colonial leaders, however, continued to call for resistance to British rule. In 1772Samuel Adams revived the Boston committee ofcorrespondence, an organization used in earlierprotests. The committee circulated writings aboutcolonists’ grievances against Britain. Soon othercommittees of correspondence sprang up through-out the colonies, bringing together protestersopposed to British measures. ; (See page 962 of the

Primary Sources Library for readings about colonial resistance.)

Explaining How did the BostonMassacre contribute to the repeal of the Townshend Acts?

The British soldiers never stood trial for the massacre.Eight soldiers and the commanding officer at the BostonMassacre were jailed and tried for murder. Many Patriotsthought it was an act of disloyalty to defend the soldiers.The soldiers’ hopes for justice rested in the hands ofJohn Adams, who believed that even the enemy shouldbe given a fair trial. Two of the soldiers were foundguilty of manslaughter. The others were found not guiltyon grounds of self-defense. Some Patriots questionedAdams’s loyalty; others argued that the trial showedeven the hated redcoats could receive a fair trial.

The Boston Massacre

A Crisis Over TeaIn the early 1770s, some Americans consid-

ered British colonial policy a “conspiracyagainst liberty.” The British government’sactions in 1773 seemed to confirm that view.

The British East India Company faced ruin. Tosave the East India Company, Parliament passedthe Tea Act of 1773. This measure gave the com-pany the right to ship tea to the colonies withoutpaying most of the taxes usually placed on tea. Italso allowed the company to bypass colonial mer-chants and sell its tea directly to shopkeepers at alow price. This meant that East India Companytea was cheaper than any other tea in the colonies.The Tea Act gave the company a very favorableadvantage over colonial merchants.

Colonial DemandsColonial merchants immediately called for a

new boycott of British goods. Samuel Adams

and others denounced the British monopoly.The Tea Act, they argued, was just anotherattempt to crush the colonists’ liberty.

At large public meetings in Boston andPhiladelphia, colonists vowed to stop the EastIndia Company’s ships from unloading. TheDaughters of Liberty issued a pamphlet declaringthat rather than part with freedom, “we’ll partwith our tea.”

Parliament ignored warnings that another crisiswas brewing. The East India Company shippedtea to Philadelphia, New York, Boston, andCharles Town. The colonists forced the ships sentto New York and Philadelphia to turn back. Thetea sent to Charles Town was seized and storedin a warehouse. In Boston, a showdown began.

The Boston Tea PartyThree tea ships arrived in Boston Harbor in

late 1773. The royal governor, whose house hadbeen destroyed by Stamp Act protesters, refused

138 CHAPTER 5 Road to Independence

“Fellow countrymen, we cannot afford to give a single inch! If we retreat now, everything we have donebecomes useless!” — Samuel Adams,

December 1773

The Boston Tea PartyThe Boston Tea Party is one of the significant events leading

ultimately to American independence.

Most of the Townshend Acts are repealed. The tax

on tea remains.

In November 1773, the citizens of Boston refuse to allow

three British ships to unload 342 chests of tea. On the evening of

December 16, Boston citizens disguised as Native Americans board

the ships and empty the tea into Boston Harbor.

King George III and Parliament respond by

closing the city port.

to let the ships turn back. When he ordered thetea unloaded, Adams and the Boston Sons ofLiberty acted swiftly. On December 16, a groupof men disguised as Mohawks and armed withhatchets marched to the wharves. At midnightthey boarded the ships and threw 342 chests oftea overboard, an event that became known asthe Boston Tea Party.

Word of this act of defiance spread throughoutthe colonies. Men and women gathered in thestreets to celebrate the bravery of the Boston Sonsof Liberty. Yet no one spoke of challenging Britishrule, and colonial leaders continued to think ofthemselves as members of the British empire.

The Intolerable ActsWhen news of the Boston Tea Party reached

London, the reaction was quite different. KingGeorge III realized that Britain was losing con-trol of the colonies. “We must master them ortotally leave them alone.” Not prepared to giveup, the king and Parliament vowed to punishBoston. In the spring of 1774, Parliament passedthe Coercive Acts, very harsh laws intended topunish the people of Massachusetts for theirresistance.

The Coercive Acts closed Boston Harbor untilthe Massachusetts colonists paid for the ruinedtea. This action prevented the arrival of food andother supplies that normally came by ship. Worse,

Checking for Understanding1. Key Terms Use these terms in sen-

tences that relate to the Boston Mas-sacre: propaganda, committee ofcorrespondence.

2. Reviewing Facts How did colonialleaders use the Boston Massacre totheir advantage?

Reviewing Themes3. Groups and Institutions Why were

the committees of correspondencepowerful organizations?

Critical Thinking4. Drawing Conclusions Do you think

the Boston Tea Party was a turningpoint in the relationship between theBritish and the colonists? Explain.

5. Organizing Information Re-createthe diagram below and describe howcolonists showed their opposition toBritish policies.

Analyzing Visuals6. Picturing History Examine the

material about the Boston Tea Partyon page 138. What artifacts areshown? When did the “tea party”take place?

CHAPTER 5 Road to Independence 139

Art Draw a cartoon strip showingthe story of the Boston Tea Party.Use at least four cartoon frames topresent the sequence of eventsfrom your point of view. Compareyour cartoon to a classmate’s anddescribe his or her point of view.

Increased colonial opposition

the laws took away certain rights of the Massa-chusetts colonists. For example, the laws bannedmost town meetings, an important form of self-government in New England. Another provisionpermitted royal officers to be tried in othercolonies or in Britain when accused of crimes.

The Coercive Acts also forced Bostonians toshelter soldiers in their own homes. Parliamentplanned to isolate Boston with these acts.Instead the other colonies sent food and clothingto demonstrate their support for Boston. Thecolonists maintained that the Coercive Acts vio-lated their rights as English citizens. Theseincluded the rights to no quartering of troops inprivate homes and no standing army in peace-time without their consent.

The Quebec Act, passed shortly after theCoercive Acts, further angered the colonists.This act set up a permanent government forQuebec and granted religious freedom to FrenchCatholics. Colonists strongly objected to the pro-vision that gave Quebec the area west of theAppalachians and north of the Ohio River. Thisprovision ignored colonial claims to the area.The feelings of the colonists were made clear bytheir name for the new laws—the IntolerableActs.

Summarizing List the effects of theCoercive Acts on the citizens of Boston.