Several ships laden with tea were now sent to the colonies.

At Charleston, South Carolina, the tea was landed, but no one Tea sent to would buy it and it was stored in cellars; later, after the war America is began, it was sold for the benefit of the Revolutionary govern

seized or

returned

ment. A meeting of the citizens of Philadelphia voted that every person who favored unloading, selling, or receiving the tea was an enemy to his country. In both Philadelphia and New York, the tea was sent back to England.

Called "the Cradle of American Liberty." "The Sons of Liberty," often "rocked the Cradle" in their wrath against unjust King George III and his Ministers.

When the tea ships came to Boston the people, led by Samuel Adams, refused to permit the tea to be landed. When The Boston it was seen that the governor would not permit the tea to be Tea Party sent back to England, the people thought that the officers intended to try to land it in Boston by force. Accordingly, a party of about fifty men, disguised as Mohawk Indians, went on board the ships one evening in December, 1773, and threw the tea into the sea. The Boston Tea Party, as this action was called, was not the act of an excited mob, but a carefully planned and deliberate defiance of the authority of England.

colonists

Parliament Punishes Boston and Massachusetts.-The news of the Boston Tea Party aroused great indignation in England. Even the friends of America condemned it, and the England leading members of Parliament denounced it in the harshest indignant terms. It was the general opinion in that body that Boston must be forced to submit, and one member went so far as to say, "The town of Boston ought to be knocked about their ears and destroyed. You will never meet with proper respect to the laws of this country until you have destroyed that nest of locusts." Lord North, the prime minister, promptly introduced a series of bills to inflict the proposed punishment upon Boston and Massachusetts. The first measure, called the Boston Port Parliament Bill, closed the port of Boston to all ships until that rebellious punishes the town should pay for the tea thrown overboard and promise to obey the laws in the future. A second bill practically destroyed free government in Massachusetts. Hereafter most of the officers in that colony were to be appointed by the king or by the governor and, except for elections, the people could not even hold town meetings without the written consent of the governor. A third bill provided that officers accused of murder or other high crimes committed while they were suppressing riots or enforcing the law could be sent to another colony or to England for trial. A fourth required the people to provide quarters for the soldiers stationed in their midst. Last of all came the Quebec Act, which extended the boundaries of the province of Quebec to the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, thus depriving several of the colonies of western land which they claimed to own.

America

These acts, designed to punish the disobedient Americans, were not passed without protest in Parliament. Fox, a great orator and ever a friend of liberty, said that the tea tax ought English to be unconditionally repealed. Edmund Burke, the greatest friends of orator of his time and a firm friend of America, pointed out the folly of trying to coerce the colonies. But Lord North and the king's friends would not listen to these men. The tea tax was not repealed, and the bills to punish Boston and Massachusetts were promptly passed. In the colonies these measures were called the Five Intolerable Acts.

The Growth of Union in America. The passage of the Submission Five Intolerable Acts brought the colonies face to face with the or union

to act

together

alternative of submission to the authority of Parliament or of resistance to the British demands. They were resolved not to submit, but they were also beginning to see clearly that there was little hope of successful resistance unless all the colonies acted together.

It was far more difficult in those days to get the people to act together than it is now. In our time the railroads, It was hard telephone and telegraph lines, newspapers with a wide circulation, and a postal service that reaches every corner of the land tie our country together and make it easy for our people to think and act as one upon any great question of national concern. The colonists lacked all these means of communication and transportation. They seldom traveled far from home, and they knew very little about the country beyond their own immediate vicinity. Consequently, their thoughts, their interests, and their patriotism were local.

Early

union

The colonists of 1774 had never really acted all together though some things in their history had made them think of union. In 1643 four of the New England colonies had united attempts at in order to defend themselves against the Indians and against the encroachments of their Dutch and French neighbors. This New England confederation lasted for about forty years. The long wars with the French and Indians in Canada had brought the troops of different colonies together and taught them something of the strength there is in acting in unison. In 1754 Benjamin Franklin had proposed a plan of union for all the colonies, but, as we have seen, it was rejected. The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 was a more recent example of concerted action.

of corre

spondence

In 1772, Samuel Adams, a keen and practical leader who saw very clearly the necessity of union, proposed in the Boston Committees town meeting that a committee be appointed to write to the other towns in Massachusetts, stating the rights and grievances of the colonists. This scheme was adopted, and soon the other Massachusetts towns appointed similar committees of correspondence. These committees did much to form and guide public opinion in the colony. Governor Hutchinson, who disliked the committees of correspondence, said that they worked "to strike the colonists with a sense of their just claim to independence, and to stimulate them to assert it."

In 1773, intercolonial committees of correspondence were appointed. Led by Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, the legislature of Virginia voted to appoint a permanent committee "to maintain a correspondence with our sister colonies." Several other colonies quickly followed the example of Virginia. The members of the various intercolonial committees of correspondence compared opinions, became better acquainted with one another, and in this way prepared the ground for a union of all the thirteen colonies in their hour of need.

When the news of the passage of the Intolerable Acts reached America, it was felt that the hour for united action had arrived. Several of the colonies suggested that a general congress should be held, and at the call of Massachusetts, all of them, except Georgia, elected delegates to the First Continental Congress, which met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia in September and October, 1774. The colonies sent their ablest men to this meeting. Samuel and John Adams of Massachusetts, John Jay of New York, John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, Patrick Henry and George Washington of Virginia, and John Rutledge of South Carolina, were among the leaders. All these men were destined to play a great part in the coming Revolution. After careful deliberation, the members of the First Continental Congress adopted a Declaration of Rights in which they said that the colonists were entitled to all the rights of English- Its work men and that their own legislatures alone could make laws for them. The Congress also formed an Association whose mem

Results

near

bers agreed not to import any British goods. Addresses stating the American position were sent to the king, to the people of the colonies, and to the people of Great Britain. Before adjourning it was planned to hold a new congress in May, 1775, if the government of England had not righted the wrongs of America before that time.

One of the most important results of the meeting of the First Continental Congress was the opportunity it gave the leaders from the several colonies to get acquainted with one another and to become friends. In this way the Congress greatly strengthened the growing sentiment of union. Patrick Henry, the most eloquent member, finely expressed this feeling when he said, "The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American."

Drifting toward War.-During the winter following the meeting of the First Continental Congress, the country was War draws steadily drifting toward war. Instead of listening to the protests of America, Parliament passed more drastic measures. The trade of New England was further restricted, and Massachusetts was declared to be in a state of rebellion. General Gage had already gone to Boston with four regiments of British soldiers. More troops were now sent to him and he was ordered to suppress the rebels by force.

The people help Boston

The closing of the port of Boston to all commerce caused great suffering among the poor of that city. Every one of the colonies sent supplies to the people of Boston during the winter of 1774-75. This relief was accompanied by letters which reveal the state of mind of the Revolutionary party throughout the colonies. The Connecticut committee wrote, "The people in all this part of the country are, to a man, resolutely determined to yield you all the assistance in our power." The South Carolina patriots declared that "Carolina stands foremost in her resolution to sacrifice her all in your defense." The letters from the other colonies breathed the same sentiments.

In the meantime the colonists were agreed in preparing to defend themselves. In Massachusetts, arms and ammunition Preparation were collected, the militia were organized, and one-fourth of for the com- them-called the "minute-men"-were to be ready to march ing contest at a moment's warning. The other colonies began to follow