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    A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution April 19, 1775
    A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution April 19, 1775
    A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution April 19, 1775
    Ebook305 pages2 hours

    A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution April 19, 1775

    By Phillip S. Greenwalt and Robert Orrison

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    A concise history of the “shot heard round the world”—and the dramatic day that began America’s war for independence. Includes maps and photos.
     
    When shots were fired at Lexington and Concord on a spring day in 1775, few, if any, fully grasped the impact they would ultimately have on the world.
     
    This concise book offers not only a guide to the historical sites involved but a lively, readable history of the events, a culmination of years of unrest between those loyal to the British monarchy and those advocating for more autonomy and dreaming of independence from Great Britain. On the morning of April 19, Gen. Thomas Gage sent out a force of British soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. Francis Smith to confiscate, recapture, and destroy the military supplies gathered by the colonists and believed to be stored in the town of Concord. Due to the alacrity of men such as Dr. Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, and William Dawes, utilizing a network of signals and outriders, the countryside was well aware of the approaching British—setting the stage for the day’s events.
     
    From two historians, this is an outstanding introduction to a momentous battle, and the events that led up to it.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateJul 19, 2017
    ISBN9781611213805
    A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution April 19, 1775
    Author

    Phillip S. Greenwalt

    Phillip S. Greenwalt is the co-founder of Emerging Revolutionary War and historical editor for the Emerging Revolutionary War Series. He is also a full-time contributor to Emerging Civil War. Phillip is the co-author of A Single Blow: The Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Beginning of the American Revolution, April 19, 1775, with Robert Orrison and three books in the Emerging Civil War Series. He is currently a park ranger for the National Park Service.

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      A Single Blow - Phillip S. Greenwalt

      Boston Harbor a teapot This night!

      P

      ROLOGUE

      The public meeting held on the night of December 16, 1773, at the Old South Meeting House was no ordinary meeting. Boston was well known for its public meetings, but this one was different. Frequently city leaders called town meetings to discuss important political, economic, and social decisions facing the city or colony. The town meeting was a foundation of the political process for Massachusetts and much of the New England colonies. Royal authorities had watched these meetings more closely since the 1760s during the opposition to the Stamp Act. Colonial Whigs (anti-Royal leaders) used these meetings to protest British policies that they saw as threats to their liberties.

      This meeting was not an official town meeting, as it was less restrictive of who could attend. It was a follow-up assembly to previous meetings held in November, originally called for Faneuil Hall. The large turnout, however, required the crowd to move to the more spacious Old South Meeting House. Nearly 5,000 people attended the meeting to discuss the city and colony’s response to a new tax on tea and, more directly, the ships in the harbor that held tea from the East India Company. The colonial Whigs did not want the cargo unloaded, but the captains of the ships could not leave the harbor with the tea unless they had approval from the governor. Governor Thomas Hutchinson said that he did not have the authority to allow the ships to leave without unloading the tea. Adding to that decision, Hutchinson was more than frustrated with those who had rejected Royal authority over the years. He was just not interested in assisting the Whig cause. Thus, a legal and theoretical standoff ensued. That night, the people of Boston took the matter into their own hands.

      Originally built in 1743, Faneuil Hall has always served as a public meeting space and/or market. Samuel Adams and other colonial leaders conducted speeches and debates here on opposing Royal policies. On November 29, 1773, leaders called a meeting here to discuss the tea ships in Boston Harbor; turnout was so large that it had to be moved to the Old South Meeting House. (loc)

      On the surface, the Tea Act of 1773 was rooted in helping pay off the debt of the British Empire, caused in part by fighting the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) with France. Also, the revenue raised would pay British officials in the colonies, thus making them more loyal to Parliament and the British Crown. The Tea Act was one of many Parliamentary laws or acts passed to raise revenue in the colonies. More importantly, the underlying purpose was for Parliament to display its authority to pass laws that were binding in the British colonies. Due to colonial opposition and resistance, many of these acts were repealed. However, the Tea Act sparked an immediate response throughout the colonies.

      The Tea Act was also seen as a mode for saving a British-held company, the British East India Company. Before 1773, the company had to sell its tea in London and was subject to duties. The company had collected large quantities of tea in warehouses in London and was looking for a way to disperse it at a bargain. The Tea Act allowed the company to sell directly to American ports without paying the duties. This also forced American buyers to only purchase their tea from the East India Company, which was subject to a tax. The good news was the price of tea was reduced because the company no longer had to pay the duties in London. Colonists resisted the notion that Parliament could force them to buy tea from the East India Company and more so that they were required to pay a tax on it. Many in Boston made a good living off of smuggling tea from other parts of the globe and this potentially hurt their business.

      The original site of Griffin’s Wharf is now in an office complex. The shoreline of Boston has changed dramatically since 1773, with much of the harbor and rivers filled in with landfill. The exact location is still debated by historians; this plaque marks one possible site. (pg)

      The popular notion, taxation without representation, had been around since 1768 in response to the highly unpopular Sugar Act. Colonial Whigs believed they had no representation in Parliament because they did not elect representatives to Parliament. British political theory and law believed in the model of virtual representation, which meant the colonists did not vote for individual members of Parliament though that body, as a whole, acted in the best interest for all British subjects. Colonial leaders, who for decades were allowed to vote for their representative bodies in their respective colony, did not accept this theory. The opposing views on representation began to open opposition to British authority over colonial

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