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    3 The Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts First Continental Congress

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    The document summarizes the events leading up to the American Revolutionary War, including the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts passed by British Parliament in response, and the convening of the First Continental Congress. Specifically, it discusses how the Tea Act led to the Boston Tea Party protest. In response, Britain passed the Intolerable Acts, angering the colonies and leading them to unite and send delegates to the First Continental Congress to assert their rights and condemn Britain's actions.

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    3 The Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts First Continental Congress

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    The document summarizes the events leading up to the American Revolutionary War, including the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts passed by British Parliament in response, and the convening of the First Continental Congress. Specifically, it discusses how the Tea Act led to the Boston Tea Party protest. In response, Britain passed the Intolerable Acts, angering the colonies and leading them to unite and send delegates to the First Continental Congress to assert their rights and condemn Britain's actions.

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    The document summarizes the events leading up to the American Revolutionary War, including the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts passed by British Parliament in response, and the convening of the First Continental Congress. Specifically, it discusses how the Tea Act led to the Boston Tea Party protest. In response, Britain passed the Intolerable Acts, angering the colonies and leading them to unite and send delegates to the First Continental Congress to assert their rights and condemn Britain's actions.

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    89 views4 pages

    3 The Boston Tea Party Intolerable Acts First Continental Congress

    Uploaded by

    api-377621969
    The document summarizes the events leading up to the American Revolutionary War, including the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts passed by British Parliament in response, and the convening of the First Continental Congress. Specifically, it discusses how the Tea Act led to the Boston Tea Party protest. In response, Britain passed the Intolerable Acts, angering the colonies and leading them to unite and send delegates to the First Continental Congress to assert their rights and condemn Britain's actions.

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    The Boston Tea Party, Intolerable


    Acts & First Continental Congress

    Lesson Transcript Report an Error

    Three years of calm followed the Boston Massacre and the repeal of most Townshend duties. But no sooner
    had Parliament passed a new tax on tea than the colonies were in an uproar again about taxation without
    representation. What followed were the Boston Tea Party and the fateful last steps leading to war.

    Calm Before the Storm


    In the thirteen colonies, the concept of republicanism had been evolving since the Enlightenment, reminding
    Americans of their rights as Englishmen. One of those rights was representation in government. Each of the
    colonies had a legislature, serving as the only representation the Americans had because they had no member
    of Parliament.

    The Stamp Act, the first tax on the Americans that didn't go through their assemblies first, offended their
    belief in republicanism. When the legislature of Massachusetts was dissolved, it began a downward spiral in
    the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies.

    Still, few Americans were calling for independence. By most accounts, the majority of colonists were loyal
    British citizens. A few educated, bold leaders spoke out about real problems in the political system, but they
    weren't trying to depose the king. They believed the most realistic solution at the time was for them to have an
    elected representative in Parliament.

    So, why did they form the Sons of Liberty? It was partly because they realized that mere discussion and protest
    weren't getting them anywhere with the leaders in London, and it's also likely that they were scared to speak
    out against the government publicly. Attempting to overthrow the king was a crime punishable by death.

    After the Boston Massacre in 1770, even the Sons of Liberty quieted down. There were a few scattered
    incidents, like the burning of the Gaspee, but the violence was limited, and nearly three years passed without
    a major confrontation. Most of the Townshend Acts had been repealed, and the colonists weren't protesting
    the remaining tax on tea because it was easy enough to avoid. They just stopped importing tea from Britain
    and smuggled it in from Dutch colonies. If England had overlooked this problem, we might still be loyal to the
    British monarch today, but they couldn't let it go for two reasons.

    The Tea Act


    Of course, the government wasn't collecting much tax money, and smuggling had left the British East India
    Company in serious trouble. This joint-stock company had warehouses full of tea from Asia that no one
    wanted to buy. In 1773, the Prime Minister believed he could solve everyone's problem. He wrote a new Tea
    Act allowing the Company to bring shiploads of tea directly to America. They didn't have to go through English
    merchants, and they didn't have to pay export duties on the shipments. So, even though the colonists would
    have to pay an import tax, the tea was still less expensive.

    The Prime Minister expected the colonists to be happy, buy the tea and save the company. He was wrong.
    American merchants stirred up opposition to the Tea Act, saying that they were still being taxed without
    representation. In October 1773, a group of colonists in Philadelphia managed to force the resignation of
    British tea agents after being threatened with tar and feathering. Many ports would not allow ships carrying
    tea to enter the harbor. They were forced to sail back to England.

    The Boston Tea Party


    Boston, normally the trend-setter in protesting the
    British, was unable to duplicate the success of other
    colonies. Massachusetts had a loyal governor who
    insisted that three ships be allowed to anchor and
    demanded that the tea be paid for, tax and all. But
    laborers on the docks wouldn't unload it, and
    merchants wouldn't pay for it. The ships sat in Boston
    harbor for a month before the Sons of Liberty finally Tea sat in the Boston harbor for a month before the Sons
    decided to take action. On December 16, 1773, as of Liberty decided to dump it

    many as one hundred and fifty men (a few of whom


    were dressed as Indians) dumped the ships' cargo - valued at nearly one million dollars today - overboard into
    the sea.

    The event has come to be known as the Boston Tea Party, and it stands out as one of the defining moments
    of American history. But at the time, it was controversial, even in the colonies. Benjamin Franklin insisted that
    the money had to be repaid. And, in fact, four New York merchants approached the Prime Minster and offered
    to compensate the Company. But their offer was refused, and Boston was in big trouble.

    The Intolerable Acts


    In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed a series of resolutions in 1774 called the Coercive
    Acts. Massachusetts was placed under martial law, and the Quartering Act was reinstated. All forms of local
    legislation were forbidden, and the commander of the British army in America was appointed governor of
    Massachusetts. Perhaps most importantly, Boston Harbor was closed until the people responsible for the
    destruction of the tea stepped forward and paid its full value.

    A piece of unrelated legislation revealed profoundly bad judgment on London's part. The Quebec Act allowed
    French Canadian Catholics the right to settle in the land west of the Proclamation Line. This aroused the ire of
    many people in the colonies that had otherwise been unconcerned about what was happening in Boston. The
    Coercive Acts together with the Quebec Act were dubbed the Intolerable Acts, and many Americans decided
    that regional protests weren't working. It was time to unite.

    The First Continental Congress


    Each of the colonies had organized secret governments, called the committees of safety, to direct their
    militias. Delegates from twelve colonies were chosen from among them to meet in Philadelphia because it was
    the most centrally located city. Only Georgia wasn't present, though historians debate the reason. During the
    months of September and October 1774, the First Congressional Congress met to assert their rights within
    the British government, not to rebel against it.

    The Congress was contentious, characterized by


    heated debates, but the delegates were able to get a
    better feel for the needs of the other colonies and
    demonstrated an ability to cooperate that would be
    critical in the years to come. More importantly, they
    took several important actions. First, they sent the
    Declaration and Resolves to King George III in which
    they condemned the Intolerable Acts as a violation of
    British law. They sanctioned the colonial militias and
    William Pitt was one of the few in England who defended a Patriot government in Massachusetts and endorsed
    the First Continental Congress a boycott of British goods, including slaves. Finally,
    they agreed to meet again the following spring if
    England had not granted them full representation and undone some of the wrongs they had committed.

    Many in England were incensed by the Congress and its work, but William Pitt (for whom Pittsburg is named)
    defended the colonies. Parliament passed the Conciliatory Resolution, relieving taxes for colonies that
    supported the government. But before news of the law could reach the colonies, war had broken out.

    Support
    Lesson Summary
    Tension between England and its colonies had calmed down following the Boston Massacre in 1770. Three
    years passed without serious incident, and England decided it was time to try and collect some tax money. The
    Tea Act would have lowered the price of tea while still collecting the Townshend duty, and it would have
    helped bolster the nearly-bankrupt British East India Company, but colonists protested yet another example of
    taxation without representation.

    Many colonies refused shipments of tea and successfully bullied the tax agents into resigning, but the
    Massachusetts governor insisted on allowing three shiploads of tea into the harbor. During the Boston Tea
    Party, the Sons of Liberty threw the cargo overboard rather than allow the tea to be unloaded and the tax
    paid.

    Britain responded by passing the Coercive Acts aimed at punishing Boston. They simultaneously passed the
    Quebec Act that angered Americans because it allowed Canadians to settle in land west of the Proclamation
    line. Together, these actions were called the Intolerable Acts. Delegates from twelve colonies met at the First
    Continental Congress to lodge a formal protest. Parliament responded with the Conciliatory Acts, but before
    word of the compromise reached the colonies, war had broken out.

    Lesson Objectives
    After watching this lesson, you should be able to:

    Understand the state of the colonies' relationship with Britain before the Tea Act in 1773

    Describe the Tea Act and the colonies' reaction to it, including the Boston Tea Party

    Identify and describe the Intolerable Acts

    Explain what was accomplished in the First Continental Congress

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