VI.

Hostilities Begin

The Intolerable Acts had outraged the people of Boston, but they also provoked colonists outside of the city because of provisions limiting local government and placing the colony more directly under British authority. Farmers throughout Massachusetts armed themselves, practiced drills, and otherwise prepared for a confrontation with the British army occupying Boston. The stage was set for the outbreak of hostilities, which began on April 19, 1775. General Thomas Gage, the royal governor of colonial Massachusetts, ordered British troops to march on the small towns of Lexington and Concord, not far from Boston. The soldiers were told to capture resistance leaders and destroy arms and supplies. A battle began when the British troops exchanged fire in Lexington with a small company of minutemen, the colonial volunteers who were prepared to fight at a moment’s notice. The Americans were defeated at Lexington, but won a victory at North Bridge in Concord. More importantly, the colonial troops inflicted heavy casualties on the British as they returned to Boston. See also Lexington, Battle of; Concord, Battle of.

The First Continental Congress had made provisions to meet again in May 1775 if the king did not address colonial grievances. When the Second Continental Congress convened as scheduled, American militia had surrounded Boston, and a full-scale war loomed. The delegates assumed the responsibilities of a provisional government, including the tasks of printing money and creating the Continental Army, but they still hesitated to make the final move toward independence. In July, they sent one last plea to the king, often called the Olive Branch Petition, asking him to repeal the hated laws. Soon thereafter they also issued a “Declaration of the causes and necessity for taking up arms,” explaining the reasons for their actions and promising to stop fighting as soon as the British government met their demands. But King George III ignored their appeals; in August 1775 he issued a proclamation declaring the colonies to be in a state of rebellion and ordering all of his officers and loyal subjects to suppress the revolt 'and bring the traitors to justice.' During the following year, the Continental Congress edged toward the Declaration of Independence.