VOCABULARY
om Protest to Revolu
First Continental Congress the meeting in Philadelphia of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies
militia army of citizens who serve as soldiers during an emergency
minutemen volunteer soldiers
ready to fight at a minute's
notice
SUMMARY
In 1773, the British passed the Tea
Act
, a law that taxed
tea shipped to the
American colonies. The
colonists believed
that even
though the law actually made
tea less expensive
,
it
was a trick to make
them accept
taxes passed by the British
government.
Colonists protested the tax
with a boycott
on tea and other actions.
On the night of December 16, 1773, a
group of colonists boarded British ships
in Boston harbor. Working quickly, they
dumped
valuable tea into the bay. This
act, the Boston Tea Party, outraged the
British. Britain responded by passing
the Quebec Act, which set aside valuable
western land for French Canadians. The
CAUSES
British Parliament also handed down a set
of extremely
harsh laws meant to punish
the colonists
for their protests
. Colonists
called these
laws the Intolerable
Acts.
In response to the Intolerable Acts,
colonial leaders
formed the First
Continental Congress
. The
colonies
united and began to
organize militias
.
Early in 1775, the
British learned that
Massachusetts colonists
had been storing
weapons. On April 18, British
soldiers
marched to capture the
weapons. In
the
villages outside Boston, the
British
fought
groups of colonial minutemen.
The
Battles of Lexington and Concord were
the beginning of the American Revolution
.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BEGINS
Britain passes the Tea Act.
EFFECTS
Americans hold Boston Tea Party.
Britian passes the Intolerable Acts.
First Continental Congress meets