AcademyTrack VIII
1770 to 1775: From Boston to the Continental Army
From the Massacre through the Army, with the date on every claim.
The Boston Massacre and the Rule of Law12 minPartial Repeal and the Tea Principle12 minGaspee and the Committees of Correspondence12 minTea Party and the Coercive Acts14 minFirst Continental Congress13 minMilitia, Minutemen, and the Contest for Powder13 minLexington, Concord, and the Siege13 minCongress Builds an Army13 minBunker Hill and the Case for Taking Up Arms14 min
Commonly Confused Facts
- The Boston Massacre was 5 March 1770. The Tea Party was 16 December 1773. They were not the same night.
- Five people were killed on 5 March 1770. Crispus Attucks was one of them, not the only one.
- Captain Preston was acquitted on 30 October 1770. In the soldiers' trial, six were acquitted and two were convicted of manslaughter, not murder.
- The repeal assented to on 12 April 1770 kept the tea duty. The Tea Act of 10 May 1773 did not create that duty. The argument was consent, not the price.
- The battle of 17 June 1775 is called Bunker Hill. The redoubt stood on Breed's Hill.
- Who fired first on Lexington Green on 19 April 1775 is unknown. The day totals are not the same as the eight militia killed on the green.
- 14 June 1775, the resolve to raise ten companies of riflemen, is the date the Army marks as its birthday. Washington was chosen on 15 June, accepted on 16 June, and was commissioned on 19 June.
- Patrick Henry spoke on 23 March 1775. The familiar wording was reconstructed in 1817. It is not a transcript from that day.
- The Declaration on Taking Up Arms is 6 July 1775. The Olive Branch Petition was entered on 8 July 1775. They belong to the same week.
- The King's proclamation of rebellion is 23 August 1775, after Bunker Hill, not before Lexington.