The Boston Tea Party
The Shot Heard Round the World
Patrick Henry had been correct: the war had begun. British troops flooded Boston under strict orders from General Thomas Gage to find the leaders of the rebellion, including Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The soldiers searched the colonists’ homes for weapons and smuggled goods. By mid-April 1775, most of the leaders of Sons of Liberty managed to escape Boston.
Gage sent a battalion of soldiers to Lexington, a town twelve miles northwest of Boston, where Adams and Hancock were rumored to be hiding. Others were sent to Concord, where Patriots had stockpiled muskets, bullets, gunpowder, and other weapons. They wanted to show the Patriots who was in charge.
The Sons of Liberty had heard about Gage’s plans on April 18, and they sent Paul Revere along with other messengers to warn colonial minutemen about the planned British attack.
The messengers’ warnings helped the colonists prepare, but they were still vastly outnumbered by British soldiers. On April 19, 1775, seventy-five colonial fighters confronted several hundred British Redcoats in Lexington Green. At first, it seemed harmless enough. There were orders, grumbling, and the tensions settled. And then, a gunshot suddenly pierced the air, followed by more gunfire.
Eight Patriots lay dead, nine more wounded, and a British soldier injured. No one knows who fired the first bullet, but it became known as “the shot heard round the world.”
Later that morning, British soldiers marched on Concord. By that time, more Patriots had arrived, and there were now seven hundred British soldiers against thousands of colonists. As they retreated to Boston, the Patriots continued to shoot at them from behind trees, walls, and houses. The British were easy targets for men hidden from sight. All in all, 73 British soldiers were killed, and 174 wounded. By comparison, 49 colonists died, and only 39 were wounded.
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, in which the colonies formally declared their independence from England. For the next eight and half years, the British and American militaries would take part in a horrific war. There were continued setbacks for the Patriots. Victory was never guaranteed, and nearly seven thousand Patriots would lose their lives. Even more died as prisoners of the British or from disease.
Although the British army and navy were larger and better trained, the colonists were more committed to the cause. The French and Spanish helped out, too. In the end, the colonists’ desire for self-rule proved stronger than the King’s desire for control. In 1781, the British army surrendered in Yorktown, but the British still occupied places like Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, and New York, New York.
When the Treaty of Paris of 1783 was signed, the thirteen colonies were no more. Instead, the thirteen colonies became a new country, the United States of America. In time, the U.S. would grow to fifty states, and its democratic spirit would be a model for many other nations around the world.
July 28, 1776 – in Williamsburg, Virginia
The war Father and Felicity predicted came faster and more furiously than they had imagined. The colonies have been at war for over a year now, and the shelves in Father’s store look very different. Since ships from England stopped arriving, they’ve learned to get by with less. They also learned to make many items that they used to import. Felicity is proud that Father’s store sells fabrics woven in America and tea made with local rose hip. Felicity even knits with wool she spins herself, just like the Daughters of Liberty.
Today, the declaration written by the First Continental Congress was read aloud on the steps of the courthouse. It declared their independence from British rule. They’d no longer have to be subjects of the King or pay taxes they didn’t agree to. Felicity felt shivers run down her spine when she heard the words:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Father says the war for independence will be long and hard, with lots of loss and sorrow. Felicity believes he is right. But she also knows it’ll be worth it in the end. After all, Felicity was a part of it all at the very beginning, standing up for her beliefs with the very first Patriots who stood up for freedom.