What happened at the 1st Continental Congress?
Lexington/Concord
Be a good human
January 20, 2021
The Tea Act & The Intolerable Acts
Lord North
New Prime Minister, 1770
Enacted policies to keep colonies quiet
Passed Tea Act
Led to Boston Tea Party
One of the earliest �organized political efforts �by women (1774, Edenton,�North Carolina)
London officials wanted colonists to pay for the tea party
Some believed stricter laws would unite colonies
1774: Coercive Acts (or Intolerable Acts)
Used as punishment
First one closed Boston’s port
Others enacted royal� governor in Massachusetts� and more rules about � quarantining soldiers
The Quebec Act
Expanded Quebec province south into the Ohio River and east to the Mississippi River
Britain won French territory�after the French & Indian�War
Settlers there were used� to French law
French Catholics now guaranteed rights
Colonists alarmed
Thought the act would limit chances of settling western frontier
The First Continental Congress
Intolerable Acts unified colonies
Many sent food and money to Massachusetts
Boycotted
September 1774: Philadelphia delegates met
Agreed that each colony would�have 1 vote regardless of size
All colonies agreed Parliament had too much control
Congress issued Declaration of Rights
Protest Great Britain’s actions
Accepted Parliament’s right to regulate trade
Removal of British troops
Repeal taxes & Intolerable Acts
Further boycotts
Not to import or use British goods
Stop most exports to Britain
Minutemen Colonial soldiers who would be
ready to resist a British attack with short
notice
Continental Congress met again in spring
Would decide on any further action
Lexington & Concord
The Battles of Lexington & Concord
War began before Continental Congress met
Colonists drilled in village commons
General Thomas Gage (British�commander) became more hostile �to colonists
Had officers survey countryside
Marched troops - intimidation
April 1775
King George III ordered Gage to�arrest colonial leaders
Specifically wanted Samuel�Adams & John Hancock
Capture gunpowder - stored in Concord
Surprise attack: April 18, 1775
700 troops crossed Charles River for Concord
Spreading the Alarm
Colonial leaders knew something was brewing
Secret alarm raiders had been set up to warn minutemen
About 30 men who would ride along �countryside warning others about �action taken by British
Minutemen were ready for conflict
Paul Revere
Most famous of those riders
Silversmith, engraver, Sons of Liberty member
Warned Adams and Hancock in Lexington
Outran 2 British guards,�warned everyone en�route to Lexington
Any social media, really
William Dawes started in Lexington (Revere learned of the news with him)
After meeting in Lexington, warned�Hancock and Adams
Went to Concord, joined by Dr. Samuel Prescott
British surrounded them, held Revere
Dawes and Prescott went to Concord
Upon getting to Concord, British troops heard the guns
Let Revere free, went back to �Hancock and Adams
Lexington & Concord
Alarm bells rang, 700 British troops were noisy
Minutemen waited quite some time, some left
70 were left, realized they were outnumbered, captain ordered them to leave
Several accounts - one stating�British troops charged
In the chaos, someone fired a shot
More shots fired
8 colonists died, more wounded
British went to Concord
Met hundreds of minutemen
Used or hid gunpowder
More shots fired, British retreated to Boston
Colonists hid and fired on them
The shot heard ‘round the world
Ralph Waldo Emerson
July 4, 1837: Wrote a poem dedicated to a monument for Concord
Grandfather fought there
“Here once the embattled farmers stood / �And fired the shot heard ’round the world.”
Right Now
On Google Classroom, there’s an assignment about Lexington and Concord.
That’s due Friday, January 22.
I’m giving you the rest of this period to start it.
If you work together, let me know who you worked with.