Questions to Focus Inquiry: Blows Must Decide

These questions will help focus your attention during the video. The answers will generate thoughts and feelings that are critical to comprehending this era and what the people thought, felt and did.

1. What words would appropriately describe the reactions of Parliament to the dumping of the tea into Boston's harbor?

2. The colonies decided to organize a Continental Congress in fall of 1774 and invited representatives from all the colonies to participate. Why did they want to form this congress?

3. How did John Adams think American society should be organized differently than Britain's traditional social system?

4. What were at least four major results of the fall 1774 meeting of the Continental Congress?

5. Parliament and King George III probably felt betrayed by the decisions of the First Continental Congress. Explain at least three causes for their sense of betrayal.

6. Describe King George III's attitudes towards the colonists who continued to resist Parliament's and royal officials' authority.

7. Why did King George III viewed the situation in the colonies as a rebellion?

8. What were at least three major consequences of the events that took place in and around Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775?

9. The Continental Congress decided to form a standing army that would represent the united colonies. Explain why they formed this army.
10. Define the term olive branch.

11. What were at least three ideas that Thomas Paine expressed in his pamphlet Common Sense?

12. Given the situation in 1776, what specific actions were required for the colonies to be independent of Britain?

13. John Adams believed that Americans would celebrate July 2, 1776, as their "day of deliverance." What was the major reason why he believed this date was so important?

Student Resource 2-B

Context and Overview: Blows Must Decide

The description below is an overview of the video entitled "Blows Must Decide." It follows the story in the video, but expands the context and focuses on the general moods and attitudes of the men and women involved in these events.

For three years after the verdicts of the soldiers in the Boston Massacre case in December 1770, the situation in the colonies was very quiet. Few protests had occurred against the royal government. Only the destruction of the royal revenue ship, the Gaspee, in June 1772 interrupted the calm between the colonies and Parliament.

In December 1773, Parliament, King George III and nearly all the people of England were waiting for the good news regarding the selling of tea in the colonies. The ships had arrived in mid- to late November. If all went according to plan, the colonists would buy the tea at the lowest price in the entire empire. At the same time they would be paying a very low tax. Paying the tax would also represent the colonists' willingness to contribute to the bills of the empire and follow the laws passed by Parliament. What they did not know in late December was that on December 16 something had already happened that they would not like.

In January 1774, Parliament and King George III heard the news of the Boston Tea Party. They were very upset. They could think of no justifiable reason for anyone to dump that supply of tea into Boston Harbor. To them, what happened in Boston was a total defiance of the authority of the British state. Both Parliament and the king were tired of trying to appease the colonists. It seemed as though nothing they could do would satisfy the rebels in Massachusetts. They agreed that very stern measures were needed--and needed immediately. Parliament passed a series of acts, referred to as the Coercive Acts (called the Intolerable Acts by the colonists). These acts included the closing of Boston harbor and restrictions on all public meetings. More troops were sent to enforce the law and to restore order. Parliament wanted the colonists to know that it was the highest legal authority for the empire. Parliament would no longer tolerate the illegal activities of the colonists.

People in all thirteen colonies were horrified by these restrictions. Again they thought that if Parliament could do these things to one colony, it could do them in any colony. Representatives from all the colonies met in Philadelphia in September 1774. They called themselves the Continental Congress. This congress had no legal authority, but it was charged with deciding what response the colonies should have to the latest actions by Parliament. The emphasis was on unity. They wanted all the colonies work together as a single body rather than each colony operating independently. Its members decided to alert the people to arm themselves and prepare for the defense of their colony. They petitioned the king to find a way to settle the disagreements between Parliament and the protesting colonists. Another petition proclaimed the loyalty of the colonists to King George III. These delegates were aware that most of the colonists had either remained silent or had expressed their loyalty to England and the king.

King George III rejected the petitions in part because the colonists professed their loyalty while simultaneously arming themselves. Both Parliament and King George III felt betrayed by the protesting colonists. They viewed what was happening in the colonies as a rebellion within the family. They did not want to fight a war against their fellow citizens. They did, however, want to stop the situation from getting any worse. They ordered General Thomas Gage, commander of the Royal Army, sent to Massachusetts to capture the leaders of the rebellion and to limit the opposition. When Gage heard of a store of munitions in Concord, a half-day walk from Boston, he sent 700 soldiers to capture it. Paul Revere and over forty-five others warned the countryside of the march to Concord. The militia of Lexington confronted the regulars on April 19, 1775. Almost immediately a shot was fired from an unknown source. When the regulars opened fire, the militia fired back. Order was quickly restored. The regulars moved on to Concord and then back to Boston. Scores of people on both sides were dead or wounded. The damage had been done. The exchange of words and ideas had become an exchange of bullets. That same evening armed colonists began the encirclement of Boston. They dug trenches and prepared themselves for a long stay. In their minds, the regulars had to be restricted from ever leaving Boston. They also wanted revenge for Lexington and Concord.

People throughout the colonies and England were shocked by the bloodshed. British troops had fired on British citizens. They also heard that the militia of these citizens appeared to be ready to fire upon those same troops. The attitudes of millions of people were immediately affected by the news of this event. The fighting, bloodshed and deaths meant that people on both sides had to take the situation much more seriously than they had. At the same time, more people hoped that something could be done to prevent further fighting.

It took but a few seconds that morning to change the thinking of the leaders on both sides of the issues. Many hoped that both sides could reconcile their differences, but a reconciliation would take time, willingness and skill. In the meantime, General Gage ordered his troops to capture Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill across the harbor from Boston. His troops finally drove out the colonists but at very heavy cost in lives and wounded. Defeating the colonists would not be as easy as he had thought.

Leaders of the protesting colonists acted quickly to decide what to do. In May 1775, a second Continental Congress was assembled. The delegates from all thirteen colonies agreed to work together as the united colonies. This was an illegal group that took it upon itself to manage the responses of the colonies. They organized a Continental army and picked George Washington to command it. They also petitioned the king to find a way to stop the situation from getting any worse. The petition failed. When King George III read their petition for reconciliation in September 1775, he also heard about the slaughter of his troops at Bunker Hill and of plans by the colonists to invade Canada. King George III declared the colonies enemies. It was almost as if he said, "If they want a war, I'll give them one!"

Meanwhile the attitudes of many colonists changed. They feared the consequences if they continued to live under the rule of Parliament. All were uncertain about their chances of winning a war against the king's forces. There was a great deal of uncertainty as to what the colonists should do next. In this environment of uncertainty, Thomas Paine published Common Sense. In his pamphlet of January 1776, he made a very readable and persuasive argument for the colonies to do what was necessary to be independent from Britain. He stated that the colonists had the power to "begin the world anew." He also advocated that, once independent, the people form a new system of government that preserved the rights of all men. Within months over 100,000 copies were printed and read. Suddenly the matter of independence was a publicly discussed issue in every community. More and more people became convinced that the colonies had to free themselves from rule by Britain; they had to be independent.

Six months later, the Continental Congress formally began discussion on the issue of independence. On July 2, 1776, they voted to sever all ties with Britain. Two days later they approved a document that stated the reasons why they had voted the colonies independent. This document immediately began to be called the Declaration of Independence, even though those words were contained nowhere in it. Once the decision was made for independence, the military struggle became the war to remain independent. We call this war the American Revolutionary War.

The colonists did not desire independence because they knew what form of government they wanted. They did not seem to want to be independent because they did not want a king or the Parliament. They wanted to be free of the particular people in the Parliament at the time and of King George III; they thought that both had acted tyrannically. Once they voted for independence, they then had the task of deciding what form of government they wanted. Even the most active and dedicated leaders were uncertain about what their government would be like. At the same time each colony insisted that it was an independent nation. They would unite and cooperate in the war against Britain. This did not mean each colony-now- nation would give up its sovereignty easily or hurriedly.

Questions:

1. What words would best describe the mood of Parliament and King George III during December 1773?

2. Imagine that you were King George III and you had just received news of the Boston Tea Party. What would you now think of the citizens of Boston?
3. Imagine you were in the First Continental Congress and had to decide how to respond to the situation in Boston after the Coercive Acts. What are three actions you would have proposed this congress take immediately to respond to these acts?

4. George Washington was selected as the General of the Continental army. What were at least three major reasons why he was chosen?

5. George Washington found an unusual army on his arrival in Cambridge as general. What were the major characteristics of that army?

6. What are at least three major reasons why the Olive Branch Petition was not accepted by King George III?

7. The ideas in Common Sense focused on the colonies being independent of Britain. What effects did these ideas have on the attitudes of the colonists toward independence?
8. What is a definition of independence? Does the definition depend upon a particular context?

9. Given the situation in 1776, what did it mean for the colonies to become independent of Britain?

10. What was the primary purpose of the document we know today as the Declaration of Independence?

11. What were three of the important ideas that were included in the Declaration of Independence??

Student Resources 2-C

Noteworthy Quotations: Blows Must Decide

This exercise provides quotations illustrative of the various moods and feelings after the outbreak of the war to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. You should be able to interpret each quotation in the context of the person and situation within which the words were stated.

"If you could close the port of Boston, you could close the port of New York, or Philadelphia. If you could undo the Massachusetts Charter, you could undo any of the charters. Any of the colonists could have their rights taken away. This was simply intolerable as far as the Americans were concerned, that these Coercive Acts could apply to them as easily as they had applied to Massachusetts."

-- Historian Gordon S. Wood, 1996, in remarks about the meaning of the Parliament's passing the Coercive Acts in 1774

"I muse, I mope, I ruminate. What's about to happen is almost too big for my grasp. We don't have men fit for these times. We lack education, experience in the world, money, everything. I feel an unutterable anxiety. God grant us wisdom and strength in the coming months."

-- John Adams's view of the situation during the First Continental Congress, Fall 1774

"I am discovering that this continent is a vast unwieldy machine. We are thirteen colonies--strangers--largely unacquainted with each other, now rushing together in one great mass. It's not surprising that we are jealous of each other's designs--fearful, timid, skittish."

-- John Adams analyzing the delegates at the congress and the colonies from which they came, Fall 1774

"To his majesty King George III! . . . May the sword of the parent never be stained with the blood of his children."

-- Toast of loyalty to England and King George III by members of the First Continental Congress after their meetings in the fall of 1774

"If the rabble in Boston is committed to open rebellion, then the king's honor, and the safety of the empire, require that force be met with force. They are a disorganized mob which cannot present a very great opposition to our regular troops. Perhaps it is better to bring on a small conflict now, rather than later, when a rebellious spirit has had a chance to ripen."

-- King George III in January 1775 upon hearing the Continental Congress's decision for colonists to arm themselves

"The people here are ripe for revolt. I hear nothing but oaths against England and her friends. The king is cursed in public. Everywhere the talk is of raising men and of war. At dinner I had a long argument with Mr. Jackson about the cause of these troubles. I got the better of him, but I now realize that he was just trying to draw out my opinions. Now they all suspect me of being what they call a Tory spy. They watch my every move, and I'm threatened with tar and feathers, and the Devil knows what else."

-- Nicholas Cresswell, an English traveler, in assessing the situation in the colonies as they prepared to resist the Coercive Acts

"Even the women had rifles! The enthusiastic zeal with which those people have behaved must convince every reasonable man what a difficult and unpleasant task we have before us. Arms will never enforce obedience, and only God in His infinite mercy can restore peace to this country again."

-- Remarks by a Crown soldier after the return from Lexington and Concord, April 1775

"Certainly he had served in the military. His defeat at Fort Necessity began the French and Indian War for all practical purposes. He was there at Braddock's defeat, 1755. [But] he'd never commanded a successful operation of a major scale. He had military experience, yes, but it's a measure of how little successful large-scale military experience the Americans had, at least in terms of command, that he looked relatively qualified for this position."

-- Historian Pauline Maier's 1996 statement as to why Washington was likely chosen as General of the Continental army in May 1775

"The British charged up Bunker Hill really in defiance of their own military theory. As we know, their soldiers fought best on level surfaces, where they could maneuver into lines three deep and fire in volley. They never had that opportunity when they were charging up Bunker Hill. I have a feeling had they not been opposed by provincials whom they didn't respect, they never would have attempted that charge, which resulted in such terrible carnage during their first two efforts to ascend the hill."

-- Historian Don Higginbotham's 1996 statement describing the effort of the Crown army to capture Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill, 1775

"We have an excellent king. England is a generous, sensible, and humane nation, to whom we can bring our complaints. Artful men may be deceiving them, making them angry at us, but I cannot believe that they are cruel or unjust. Let us behave like dutiful children who have received undeserved blows from a beloved parent. Let us complain to our parent, but let our complaints speak in a language of affection and veneration."

-- John Dickinson during the Second Continental Congress, advocating that the colonists stop their resistance

"Well, the die is now cast. These New England governments are in a state of rebellion. Good. I am not sorry. The lines have been drawn. Now blows must decide whether they're to be our subjects or independent."

-- King George III's response to the news that the colonists were preparing to invade Canada, August 1775

"It's surprising, but nothing will clear up our situation so quickly, so efficiently, as an open and determined declaration for independence. Until this happens, we are like that man who puts off some unpleasant business day after day. He know it has to be done, he hates to start doing it, he wishes it were all over, and he's haunted by the fact that he knows he has no other choice. The blood of those already killed cries out for it. It is time to part."

-- Thomas Paine in Common Sense, August 1775

"We have it in our power to begin the world anew. It is the opportunity to bring forward a new system of government in which the rights of all men should be preserved, that gives value to independence. O ye that love mankind! Ye that dares oppose not only the tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth! America shall make a stand, not for herself alone, but for the world."

-- Thomas Paine in Common Sense, August 1775

"I see my job as trying to bring together and harmonize a variety of different opinions. We are putting before all of mankind, in words that are both simple and firm, a justification for the stand that we're being forced to take."

-- Thomas Jefferson, commenting on how he perceived his task in writing the document that became known as the Declaration of Independence?, July 1776

"Yesterday the greatest question which was ever debated in America was decided, a greater perhaps than ever was or will be decided among men. The second day of July 1776 ought to be commemorated by succeeding generations as the day of deliverance. It ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows and games, sports, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

-- Diary entry of John Adams, July 3, 1776