Significant Events

The Boston Tea Party

Perhaps the most famous event from the American Revolution is also it's most significant. As the taxes piled up on the colonists, they began to act out against the British and its enforcers in the colonies. There were numerous isolated incidences where tax collectors were harassed - homes vandalism, tarring and feathering - but the colonists had yet to make a grand statement. That all changed on December 16th, 1773 when colonial protestors boarded British ships and threw its cargo of tea into the harbor.

While the colonists had lived through things like the Stamp Act and Sugar Act, the imposition of the Tea Act became one of the final straws. More than anything it was the principal of the continuing taxation on the colonists without conversations and possible compromises. The Tea Act also brought back some taxes that had been repealed in previous years. The patriots in Boston demanded that Governor Hutchinson not accept the tea, but he refused. By throwing the tea overboard, the colonists made their first and most important move in standing up for the rights that had been violated.

Declaring Independence

While it is easy to assume that the colonies were fully united in their fight against the British, this was hardly the case. Many colonists - particularly in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions - remained loyal as their livelihoods were in large part dependent on trade with the British. As colonial leaders convened in Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress, the room was deeply split as the sides argued over what to do. The Northern representatives pitched the human rights abuses that they were facing back home and looked for the other regions to support them. They did not receive that support until King George declared that anyone found participating in insurrection against the British monarchy, they would be convicted of treason.

The King's decision angered many of the loyalists because they saw themselves as fellow Englishmen looking to compromise to assure their rights. Now it appeared as if King George had made them out to be criminals within their own nation. In order to state their rights and explain how they were being abused by the crown, the colonists set forth in writing the Declaration of Independence. The goal was also to alert the colonies to the widespread violations that had been occurring, which would hopefully bring united support for a war against the British. Thomas Jefferson began crafting the Declaration and with the aid of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, the colonies had a document that listed each of their problems with King George. It also described the ways in which they attempted to work with the king to fix these violations. The Declaration of Independence highlights why this event was much more than a political event. People had felt violated in many ways, and this document proves that human rights were not secondary cause of the war.

Sons of Liberty

One of the most important groups to come out of the American Revolution was the Sons of Liberty. Led by Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere, the Sons of Liberty was a group of patriots that formed in Boston to protest British taxes. They focused their protests in three forms - intellectual economic, and violent. In addition to writing essays and spreading around pamphlets to try and persuade other colonists to speak against the British, the Sons of Liberty also spearheaded boycotts.

Given their resources - John Hancock was the wealthiest man in the colonies - the Sons of Liberty could go at the British in many ways. They weren't afraid to use force to express their displeasure in the violation of their rights. They tarred and feathered some tax collectors, destroyed homes, and led the Tea Party. Their goal was to have the burdensome and, according to them, unfair taxes repealed. This was a group that was not afraid to stand up for their liberties against the most powerful monarchy in the world. Their dedication to the cause helped spark the greater movement that would eventually release the colonies from the crown and give them independence.