American Revolution Podcast

Gen. Gage retreats with his regulars into Boston in the summer of 1774. Patriots take control of all of the rest of Massachusetts. They form their own government, independent of royal authority. The Provincial Congress organizes a militia army, develops minutemen as a rapid reaction force, and names generals, led by Artemas Ward, for its independent army. The Congress also organizes logistics and...

Parliament closed the Port of Boston following the Boston Tea Party. In response, colonial leaders met in Philadelphia in a "Grand Congress." Tories supported the Congress as a way of putting off local talk of boycotts. They hoped emotions would cool after a few months. The Patriots hoped to use the Congress to enact a continent-wide boycott and present a united front in opposition to Parliament. ...

Gov. Gage decides he does not have a large enough army to control the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The armed colonists who confronted his regulars in the summer of 1774 are too numerous. Gage barricades his army in Boston and sends frantic letters to London calling for reinforcements. With that, royal authority over the colony is limited to Boston itself. Patriots control everything else. The Suffolk...

On September 1, 1774, Gen. Gage sends a regiment to secure gunpowder stored at a powder house several miles from Boston. The regulars also seize several cannons, returning to Boston with the guns and ammunition. Rumors spread that the regulars had shot and killed several colonists during the raid. By the following day, thousands of armed militiamen have gathered outside Boston demanding answers. T...

Governor Gage moves the colonial government to Salem and begins enforcing his policy of firmness, ignoring colonial protests and implementing the Coercive Acts. When the colonists refuse to obey, he attempts to use regulars to shut down a town meeting Salem.  He arrests several leaders who held an illegal town meeting anyway. When the militia takes up arms to release those arrested, Gage realizes...

In late 1774 Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore leads militia into Western Virginia. He hopes to stop local tribes who are attacking colonists. Tribes are upset that colonists are moving into their lands in violation of the King's Proclamation of 1763. After the Battle of Point Pleasant, Gov. Dunmore forces Chief Cornstalk to sign the Treaty of Camp Charlotte, giving up all claims to land east of...

Gen. Gage travels to Boston to replace Hutchinson as the new Governor of Massachusetts. The tough talking Gage had assured officials in London he could use firmness to enforce colonial compliance with the Coercive Acts, most of which were still under debate when he left London. Gage soon discovers that the threat of force only goads the heavily armed colonsits to threaten force of their own. Gage...

In response to the Boston Tea Party, Parliament gets tough by passing several acts designed to punish Massachusetts. The Boston Port Act closes Boston Harbor until the city compensates everyone for damages related to the destruction of tea. The Government Act gives power to the Crown appointed Governor to fill most government positions and bans town meetings to discuss issues. The Administration o...

Despite the open destruction of private property, the colonies generally seem to approve of Boston's reaction to the tea ships. When another tea ship arrives a few months later, locals dump its chests in Boston Harbor as well. Other towns up and down the coast destroy or force the removal of tea. Soon, even drinking untaxed tea becomes unacceptable. Colonists hold tea burnings and refuse to allow...

Parliament tries to win the fight over tariffs by greatly reducing the cost of tea, and maintaining only a nominal three pence per pound tax on tea.  Officials hope the lower prices will end the tea boycott. Radical colonial leaders see this, correctly, as London's attempt to establish that tariffs on imports to raise revenue are legal. Patriots are caught off guard as the tea arrives only weeks a...

After several years of calm in the colonies, Parliament changes the way tea is distributed and taxed throughout the Empire. Mostly, this is an attempt to bail out the East India Company which had too much tea and not enough cash. The Tea Act of 1773 reduced or eliminated almost all taxes on tea, and also allowed the East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies, rather than having to go...

After New Hampshire issues thousands of land grants in a disputed region, New York gets the King to declare the land part of the New York colony. New York then declares all the property owners living on land grants from New Hampshire to be illegal squatters who need to buy their land again or leave. After legal and political efforts lead nowhere, the land owners with New Hampshire grants form a mi...

As events quiet down after 1770, London tries to make many minor behind the scenes changes to the colonial power structure, making it harder for the colonies to resist the next confrontation. Samuel Adams works with others to set up Committees of Correspondence, so Patriots can keep track of these changes across the colonies and develop strategies to resist. Also, land speculators attempt to set u...

Rhode Island colonists, like just about all other colonists, greatly resented the new tough enforcement of trade laws by British officials. It made profitable trade virtually impossible. The HMS Gaspee and its commander Lt. Dudingston developed a reputation for being one of the worst in terms of strict enforcement and poor treatment of civilians. One night in 1772, the Gaspee ran aground on a sand...

In both North and South Carolina, colonists on the western frontier run into conflicts with the east coast dominated government. Westerners in each state form Regulator movements to enforce the law locally as they see fit. In North Carolina, this leads to open warfare with the colonial government. Regulators and militia do battle in 1771 near Alamance Creek. For more text, pictures, maps, and sour...

After British Regulars kill five colonists and injure others at what becomes known as the Boston Massacre, local radicals force the government to relocate the soldiers to Castle Island, out in Boston Harbor. The Massacre becomes an example for why standing armies should not be maintained among a free people. For months following, both sides prepare for trials, in which John Adams, among other patr...

Over the winter of 1769-70, locals in Boston make life as uncomfortable as possible for the British Regulars occupying the city. Fights break out regularly. The local courts would not punish locals and the army would not punish soldiers for fighting. Street brawls become more frequent. A mob chases customs informer Ebenezer Richardson into his house and threatens his life. He fires into the crowd,...

During the winter of 1769-70, New Yorkers fight with British Regulars. When New York failed to come up with sufficient money to quarter the soldiers, British Regulars destroy the Liberty Pole. Isaac Sears, a leader in the local Sons of Liberty Chapter tries to make a citizen's arrest of several soldiers a few days later. Both sides quickly escalate the event into a massive street brawl involving t...

Radical John Wilkes returns from France in 1768 to face the charges for seditious libel. He would spend the next two years in prison, during which time he would be elected to Parliament, which refused to seat him, as well as other goverment positions. As much as the King and Parliament hated Wilkes, the people of England loved him as a defender of liberty. The colonists also took up Wilkes as a he...

 With officials in Boston unable to control the people and enforce the law, Secretary of State Hillsborough decides enough is enough and orders four regiments of British regulars to occupy the town. Radical colonists debate resisting the troops by force of arms, but decide in the end to back down. Instead, they simply send protests to London. Locals harass the soldiers at every opportunity, and ma...

The American Board of Customs arrives in Boston in 1767 ready to enforce the new Townshend duties. With the backing of the British Navy, the Board tries to show who is boss by seizing a ship belonging to the wealthiest merchant in Boston and a leader of the tax protests, John Hancock. The seizure of Hancock's ship Liberty results in a riot and the beatings of several customs officials. The Board l...

Following passage of the Towshend Acts in 1767, the colonists are unsure how to respond. These are import tariffs, not taxes, which was the line they drew over the earlier Stamp Act. They don't want to pay but have trouble articulating a good argument that everyone accepts. John Dickinson writes a series of 12 letters, purportedly from "a farmer in Pennsylvania" explaining why these new laws are j...

Prime Minister William Pitt's illness prevents him from running his administration. The Duke of Grafton becomes acting Prime Minister for over a year and eventually take the office officially when Pitt resigns in 1768. Although Grafton is a moderate on colonial issues, he moves hardliners like Lord North and the Earl of Hillsborough into his cabinet. The Ministry also adds to the Townshend Acts by...

William Pitt, champion of colonial rights, finally becomes Prime Minister in 1766. Illness however, keeps him from active participation in the government. His Lord of the Exchequer Charles Townsend tries to boost revenue by increasing tariffs on a wide variety of colonial imports. While avoiding direct taxes, the new laws are designed to extract money from the colonies as well as increase enforcem...

Following the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766, colonial protests stopped and trade resumed. Parliament is not happy about the pushback and seems determined to find a way to put the colonies in their place. The colonies are unhappy about the Declaratory Act and Parliament's assertion of complete tax authority over the colonies, despite a lack of colonial representation in Parilament. The colonists...