Benedict Arnold develops a plan to capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York in order to get cannon for Boston. Before leaving for Massachusetts, he tells several men in his home colony of Connecticut about his plan. These Connecticut men organize a force with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, who live only a few miles from the fort. Arnold, unaware of this plan, gets approval from the Massachusetts army to raise a force in Western Massachusetts to attack the fort. Upon learning that Allen is ...
Aug 26, 2018•27 min•Ep. 59
For most of the colonial period, slavery is surprisingly uncontroversial. As the American Revolution begins, colonists start to question the institution of slavery In the north, broad acceptance of slavery evaporates quickly after patriots demand that all men are born basic rights to liberty. Even in the north, slavery would not end for many more years though. In the south, where slave are much more critical to the economy, colonists prove unwilling to bend on the issue. Many in the deep south s...
Aug 19, 2018•29 min•Ep. 58
As the Siege of Boston opens in 1775, this episode takes a look at the command structure and life as a British Regular, and compares that to the Provincial army of militiamen around Boston. Visit my site at https://blog.AmRevPodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sources on this topic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 12, 2018•28 min•Ep. 57
The Siege of Boston begins as soon as the regulars retreat back to Boston following the battles at Lexington and Concord. The New England Provincial army springs up overnight from minutemen and militia units throughout New England. In the days that follow, Patriots and regulars record their accounts of the battles. The Patriots rush their accounts across the continent and over to London, spreading their version of events first. Word of the fighting encourages Patriots across the continent that i...
Aug 05, 2018•28 min•Ep. 56
By the afternoon of April 19, 1775, having completed his search and destroy mission to Concord. Lt. Col. Smith finds himself facing a twenty mile gauntlet back to Boston. Thousands of angry militia stand ready to attack. His men are exhausted and running low on ammunition. His column barely makes it back to Lexington, where Lord Percy's relief column saves them from surrender. The combined force then faces its own running battle before finally returning to the safety of Charlestown. The regulars...
Jul 29, 2018•25 min•Ep. 55
On the evening of April 18, 1775, Lt. Col. Smith leaves Boston via Charlestown. His goal is to seize and destroy munitions in Concord. Delays prevent his force from leaving Charlestown before Paul Revere and other riders alert the countryside. At around dawn on April 19, the regulars confront a group of militia on Lexington Green. The regulars at Lexington are an advance company led by a young Lieutenant. They fire on the militia before the main column arrives. When Col. Smith arrives, he stops ...
Jul 22, 2018•21 min•Ep. 54
As Gen. Gage prepares to deploy a brigade of regulars to Concord, the Patriots activate their warning system. Joseph Warren deploys William Dawes and Paul Revere to alert countryside. The riders alert the militia and reach Lexington, while avoiding British patrols. They warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock at Lexington before continuing their ride. On the road to Concord, a British patrol captures Revere. Dawes gets thrown from his horse during his escape. But a third rider, Samuel Prescott, compl...
Jul 15, 2018•21 min•Ep. 53
In February 1775, Gage attempts to grab a cache of Patriot cannon in Salem. Col. Alexander Leslie leads a regiment of regulars on what is supposed to be a surprise sail up the coast and a fast dash to Salem to grab the guns. Alert patriots run ahead of the soldiers and remove the weapons before the regulars arrive. After a brief standoff, the regulars return to Boston empty handed. A few weeks later, Boston commemorates the 5th anniversary of the Boston Massacre. Interaction with soldiers leads ...
Jul 08, 2018•22 min•Ep. 52
By the end of 1774 Britain had banned all munitions imports to the colonies. After fearing that the British Navy might seize munitions at Fort William and Mary in New Hampshire. Paul Revere rides from Boston to alert the local militia. The militia attack the fort the following day. There is an exchange of gunfire, but no one is killed. The militia quickly capture the small garrison, remove the gunpowder, and then release their prisoners to take control of the fort again. The following day, more ...
Jul 01, 2018•21 min•Ep. 51
In late 1774, Prime Minister North calls for early elections. This results in a solid majority in favor of getting tough on the colonies. In reaction to the First Continental Congress' call for economic boycotts, Parliament bans all colonial trade with any country other the Britain. It also passes the "Conciliatory Proposition," allowing colonies to raise taxes in whatever form they like, as long as they come up with as much money as Parliament wants. The Ministry informs Gen. Gage that he is no...
Jun 24, 2018•22 min•Ep. 50
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 creates a civilian Committee of Safety to run its military. One of the Committee members, Benjamin C...
Jun 17, 2018•22 min•Ep. 49
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. The summer of 1774, brought news of more of London's Coercive Acts. When Congress convened in Septem...
Jun 10, 2018•22 min•Ep. 48
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 Meeting under Joseph Warren produces a series of resolves on how to handle the current crisis. The ...
Jun 03, 2018•20 min•Ep. 47
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. The militia eventually go home after learning that no one was killed. But the event reinforces Gen. G...
May 27, 2018•22 min•Ep. 46
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 his soldiers could be overwhelmed by the shear numbers of armed militia. He is shocked by the colonis...
May 20, 2018•22 min•Ep. 45
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 the Ohio River. Visit my site, https://blog.amrevpodcast.com for more text, pictures, maps, and sour...
May 13, 2018•21 min•Ep. 44
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 soon finds himself behind barricades in Boston, having lost control of the rest of the colony. The P...
May 06, 2018•21 min•Ep. 43
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 of Justice Acts takes away the colony's right to try soldiers or other officials for murder. The Quar...
Apr 29, 2018•21 min•Ep. 42
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 anyone to sell or possess tea. The immediate reaction in London is that this is completely unaccepta...
Apr 22, 2018•21 min•Ep. 41
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 after they learn about the terms. Officials think they have beaten the protesters. Once the ships ente...
Apr 15, 2018•21 min•Ep. 40
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 through expensive middlemen. The result would be a massive drop in the price of tea. With all duties...
Apr 08, 2018•21 min•Ep. 39
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 militia that becomes the Green Mountain Boys. Ethan Allen becomes the best known leader of the group, ...
Apr 01, 2018•21 min•Ep. 38
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 up a new colony in western lands, reserved by the King for native American tribes. The attempted land...
Mar 25, 2018•22 min•Ep. 37
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 sandbar in Naragansett Bay. That night, locals rowed out to the ship, shot Dudingston, removed the crew,...
Mar 18, 2018•21 min•Ep. 36
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 sources, please visit my site at AmRevPodcast.Blogspot.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...
Mar 11, 2018•22 min•Ep. 35
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 patriot lawyers, represents the British soldiers. A jury acquits Captain Preston and five of the seven s...
Mar 04, 2018•22 min•Ep. 34
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, killing a young boy. A few weeks later, a British soldier on guard at the Customs House strikes a b...
Feb 25, 2018•21 min•Ep. 33
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 thousands of soldiers and civilians. Dozens are wounded. Both Sears and Alexandar McDougall who gets ...
Feb 18, 2018•21 min•Ep. 32
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 hero of the fight for liberty. As the sides harden between Parliament and the colonies. Prime Minister...
Feb 11, 2018•22 min•Ep. 31
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 make the occupation as difficult as possible. The Navy attempts to impress (force) local sailors into t...
Feb 04, 2018•21 min•Ep. 30
