Podcast – Boston Tea Party

Parliament had passed the Tea Act on May 10, 1773 to help the struggling East India Company compete with other tea importers. The legislation allowed the company to undersell their competition, including colonial tea smugglers. The company sent ships to Boston, New York, Charlestown, and Philadelphia in September 1773 with combined cargoes of over 500,000 pounds of tea. Tea importers in Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, under pressure from local patriot groups, refused the shipments. However, the Boston merchants allowed the ships to dock. Continue reading Podcast – Boston Tea Party

Podcast – Beginning of the Boston Impressments – Sparked the Knowles Riots

Commodore Charles Knowles anchored his ship, the HMS Cornwall, in Boston Harbor in mid-November 1747 to retrofit and re-supply it. British seamen worked under harsh discipline, thus many of the crew deserted while the ship lay at anchor. When the ship prepared to depart, the ship was short of crew, so Commodore Knowles sought to replenish his crew by impressing Bostonians into naval service. Continue reading Podcast – Beginning of the Boston Impressments – Sparked the Knowles Riots

Podcast – First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia

The crises with England had grown after Parliament passed the so-called Intolerable Acts. In an attempt to provide a united response to Parliament and get the Acts repealed, delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies on the Atlantic seaboard assembled in Philadelphia at Carpenter’s Hall. The last inter-colonial meeting had been the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. Continue reading Podcast – First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia

Stamp Act Riots – Stamp Distributor Andrew Oliver Hanged in Effigy

The British Parliament’s passage of the Stamp Act to pay for the French and Indian War in 1765 created massive protests in Britain’s North American colonies. Street protests broke out in many of the cities. The Crown had appointed Andrew Oliver to oversee the collection of the tax. Furious protesters hung Oliver in effigy during a protest on August 14, 1765. Continue reading Stamp Act Riots – Stamp Distributor Andrew Oliver Hanged in Effigy

First of the Hutchinson Letters Published

June 29, 1773 – First of the Hutchinson Letters Published
Leaking sensitive government documents is nothing new. Ben Franklin, in an attempt to soothe the heat of the growing American Revolution, ended up fanning the flames instead when he sent a packet of letters written by Boston Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson that he had acquired to colonial leaders. Continue reading First of the Hutchinson Letters Published