Massachusetts’ role in igniting the American Revolution

Anchor/Reporter

LEXINGTON, Mass. —

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Massachusetts’ central role in sparking the American Revolution is being highlighted, from the first musket shots to the Boston Tea Party.

In Lexington, the revolution began with the first musket volleys. In Concord, the “shot heard round the world” followed, and months later, patriots and British troops clashed in Charlestown during the first major battle of the war.

“The battle fought here was very much like a European-style set-piece battle,” said Patrick Boyce, of the National Park Service.

Years of unrest preceded the revolution, driven by outrage over British taxes imposed without colonial representation. Propaganda inspired action, including Virginia’s 1765 resolution declaring the British Stamp Act illegal. In Boston, the Sons of Liberty, led in part by Samuel Adams, escalated violent clashes.

By 1770, tensions culminated in the Boston Massacre, where five colonists were killed by British troops.

“We believe it was right here basically in the middle of this very busy intersection,” said Kevin Bleyle of Boston By Foot. “It was the first time that representatives of the king had killed colonists.”

Faneuil Hall, nicknamed the “Cradle of Liberty,” became a hub for meetings and protests.

“By 1772, we were writing through the committees of correspondence and then not too far after that was when we had the meetings in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress that really started to coordinate across the different colonies,” Bleyle said.

In Rhode Island, colonists destroyed a British customs ship in 1772. Back in Massachusetts, the Boston Tea Party further turned the tide toward independence.

Video below: Who was the “Mother” of the Boston Tea Party?

“Once that tea touches land, we have to pay the tax,” said Kelly Horan Galante, of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.

“It took 3 to 3 ½ hours to destroy 340 chests of the East India Company tea,” Galante said.

The British responded fiercely, closing Boston Harbor and 40 miles of surrounding coastline.

“They closed Boston Harbor and 40 miles of coastline surrounding that was meant as a chokehold on Boston,” Galante said.

In 1774, women in North Carolina organized boycotts of taxed goods, while in New Hampshire, colonists staged one of the first armed acts of rebellion by raiding a British fort.

The following year, Paul Revere’s midnight ride warned that the British were coming, and full conflict erupted.

“The army stayed intact. It stayed intact in order to fight another day,” Boyce said.

The revolution had begun, and the patriots proved they would not relent.