Patriots and Loyalist Disagree

Most colonies supported the Continental Congress and English boycotts, but the minority preferred the English rules. The ones who preferred them were called Loyalists. The Loyalists favored law and order, but were afraid of the Patriots. They viewed the Patriots as illegal and brutal.

Although many Loyalist opposed taxes, they still believed they had to follow the king and Parliament orders. They feared that the resistance would lead to a deadly and destructive war in which Britain would win. During the summer of 1774, two old friends which were lawyers got together to discuss the crisis. One was John Adams and the other Jonathan Sewell. Sewell, who was a loyalist, warned Adams that England wasn’t going to change and Adams replied that whatever happened he was going to die or survive with his country.

Loyalism also appealed to Native Americans and enslaved people. The Indians wanted British help to keep out the settlers from moving west. They hoped English would keep that. Enslaved people owned by the Patriots leaders supported loyalism because; they saw British as true champion of liberty. Loyalist opposed the Patriots causes because; they feared British would win the war, also because the Patriots didn’t allow free speech, Patriots banned their newspaper, they dislike Militia Draft and Oath of Allegiance and of course didn’t like tarring and feathering the Patriots did.

George Washington

George Washington was an American general and commander in chief of the colonial armies in the American Revolution and subsequently first president of the United States. The Continental Congress named Washington the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, after which he led the British out of Boston in 1776. Washington was then driven out of New York City, Long Island and into New Jersey. On Christmas Day, 1776, Washington led a surprise attack on Trenton New Jersey, swinging the war back in the favor of the revolutionaries. Even though the moral increase of the victories, the harsh winter led to a large reduction in the size of Washington's army to number low as a thousand. American victory was despite the brilliancy of the victories not sure at this stage. Washington set about a reorganization of the army in response with both a carrot and sticks method (a carrot of promise of monetary reward for three-year land for joining for the duration of the war, a stick of increasing punishment from 39 to 100 lashes in order to discourage abandonment). This was helpful and numbers quickly increased again to ten thousand under Washington's direct command. Washington continued to battle successfully against the British, losing some battles but remaining an useful leader throughout, until he helped stopped the British attempts to control the Revolution by joining American and French forces in Yorktown Virginia and successfully negotiating a surrender. After resigning as Commander in Chief, Washington controlled over the American Constitutional Congress in 1787. Washington’s presence, more than his participation, was enough to encourage the Congress forward,

The Second Continental Congress

The delegates of all 13 colonies assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775 for the Second Continental Congress. Those present included Sam Adams, Patrick Henry, John Hancock John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. Some wanted to declare America independent immediately; some wanted to avoid war at all costs. The Response of Congress was double. While giving peace a final try, Congress established a Continental army and appointed George Washington as commander in chief. Armed volunteers from the middle and southern colonies marched north to meet the Patriots and help them. In July 1775, after 3 months of shots, the only signal was the beginning of the war.  Congress sent an “Olive Branch Petition” to the king and not the Parliament. But the king refused it and instead sent more troops.

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams was born in Sept. 27, 1722 in Boston. He graduated in 1743 from Harvard College with a Master of Arts degree. After college he went to private business, and in this period he was participant in Boston town meetings. When his business failed in 1764 Samuel entered politics full-time, and was elected to the Massachusetts legislature. It was there that he proposed a continental congress. He was a leading promoter of republicanism and a good friend of Tom Paine. In 1774, he was chosen to be a member of the provincial council during the disaster in Boston. He was then chosen as a representative to the Continental Congress, where he was most distinguished for his oratory skills. In 1776, as a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence. Adams retired from the Congress in 1781 and returned to Massachusetts to become a leading member of that state's convention to form a constitution. In 1789 he was appointed lieutenant governor of the state. In 1794 he was elected Governor, and was re-elected annually until 1797 when he retired for health reasons. He died in the morning of October 2, 1803.

Patrick Henry

  Patrick Henry was born in May 29 of 1736 in Virginia. He was a lawyer, politician. He was the most celebrated orator of the American Revolution. He got fame in 1763 after begging in the Parsons' Cause, a case in which he defended the right of the colony to fix the price of the tobacco. When Henry went to the House of Burgesses in 1765, he enters successfully. After the Stamp Act he introduced a set of radical resolutions saying the British Parliament's taking by force the powers of the colonial legislature, which levied the taxes. He supported the resolves with a speech. They circulated throughout the colonies and this resolves made Henry famous. For ten years Henry used his voice and wide support to lead the anti-British movement in the Virginia legislature. During the crisis caused by the Boston Tea Party Henry was at the top of his career. He traveled with George Washington and others to Philadelphia as representatives from Virginia to the First Continental Congress. Henry urged the colonists to write in firm resistance toward Britain. Henry said. "I am not a Virginian, but an American."

Elected to the first Virginia Revolutionary Convention in March 1775, Henry made one of the most famous speeches in American history. Trying to get support to arm the colony. The representatives were affected by Henry's powerful speech and Virginia rushed down the road to independence. He commanded the state's regular forces in Virginia for six months, but he decided that he was not good for a military role. At the Virginia Convention, Henry supported the call for independence that led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence by Congress. In that same year, Henry was elected as the first governor of Virginia.

Intolerable Acts

 

  Sailors and clock workers lost their jobs. Stores closed because they lack of goods. British boycott the colonies. In addition they close the ports so there were no imported goods and the colonists had to house the troops. Administration of Justice Act let the troops go to trial in England when they killed colonists because in America there would be no justice. The Quebec Act extended the southern border of Canada and the colonist had already settled there and now they lost their land.

    The colonist called all this acts intolerable:
       -March 31 1774: Boston Port Act
       -June 22 1774: Quartering Act
       -May 20 1774: Administration of Justice Act
       -June 2 1774 Quebec Act
       -May 20 1774: Massachusetts Government Act
   In rural Massachusetts people reacted to the British with violence to all these acts. They were armed with clubs to force the courts of law to shut down. They also assaulted anyone who accept a job to work for the government and again they use tarring and feathering.

The Stamp Act

  

 On February 6th, 1765 George Grenville came up in Parliament to offer the fifty-five resolutions of his Stamp Bill. The bill was passed on February 17, approved by the Lords on March 8th and two weeks later ordered in effect by the King. The Stamp Act was Parliament's first serious tried to defend governmental authority over the colonies.

  The Stamp Act required the colonist to pay tax on anything that was printed. For example: newspaper, books, court documents, contracts and land deeds. The colonists protested about Stamp Act because they claimed that it threaten their liberty and property. They also thought if they accept that Act they would have to accept more. Colonist arguments puzzled the British because colonies wanted representation and the British saw it as selfish because most British pay taxes and couldn't vote. That’s why the colonies were known as "Selfish and Narrow-Minded".

    Colonist protested in three ways: 

-the intellectual protest: wrote pamphlets, gave speeches, sermons and resolutions.

-economic boycotts: the women started to make their own cloth and no importation agreements.

-in violent intimidation: they started to destroy houses and the tarring and feathering to tax collectors.

 All these ways combined to back down the British, which later on they accomplished. The Parliament repel the Stamp Act in 1766.