were the founding fathers terrorists?
1765 - In July, the Sons of Liberty, an underground organization opposed to the Stamp Act, is formed in a number of colonial towns. Its members use violence and intimidation to eventually force all of the British stamp agents to resign and also stop many American Merchants from ordering British trade goods.
1765 - August 26, a mob in Boston attacks the home of Thomas Hutchinson, Chief Justice of Massachusetts, as Hutchinson and his family narrowly escape.
1765 - On November 1, most daily business and legal transactions in the colonies cease as The Stamp Act goes into effect with nearly all of the colonists refusing to use the stamps. In New York City, violence breaks out as a mob burns the royal governor in effigy, harasses British troops, then loots houses.
1766 - In January, the New York assembly refuses to completely comply with Gen. Gage's request to enforce the Quartering Act.
1766 - In August, violence breaks out in New York between British soldiers and armed Colonists, including Sons of Liberty members. The violence erupts as a result of the continuing refusal of New York colonists to comply with the Quartering Act. In December, the New York legislature is suspended by the English Crown after once again voting to refuse to comply with the Act.
1768 - In February, Samuel Adams of Massachusetts writes a Circular Letter opposing taxation without representation and calling for the colonists to unite in their actions against the British government.
1770 - Violence erupts in January between members of the Sons of Liberty in New York and 40 British soldiers over the posting of broadsheets by the British. Several men are seriously wounded.
1772 - In June, a British customs schooner, the Gaspee, runs aground off Rhode Island in Narragansett Bay. Colonists from Providence row out to the schooner and attack it, set the British crew ashore, then burn the ship. In September, a 500 pound reward is offered by the English Crown for the capture of those colonists, who would then be sent to England for trial. The announcement that they would be sent to England further upsets many American colonists.
Is formed in a number of colonial towns. Its members use violence and intimidation to eventually force all of the British stamp agents to resign and also stop many American Merchants from ordering British trade goods.
1772 - In November, a Boston town meeting assembles, called by Sam Adams. During the
meeting, a 21 member committee of correspondence is appointed to communicate with
other towns and colonies. A few weeks later, the town meeting endorses three radical
proclamations asserting the rights of the colonies to self-rule.
December 16, 1773 - About 8000 Bostonians gather to hear Sam Adams tell them Royal
Governor Hutchinson has repeated his command not to allow the ships out of the harbor
until the tea taxes are paid. That night, the Boston Tea Party occurs as colonial activists
disguise themselves as Mohawk Indians then board the ships and dump all 342 containers
of tea into the harbor.
1774 - September 5 to October 26, the First Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia
with 56 delegates, representing every colony, except Georgia. Attendants include Patrick
Henry, George Washington, Sam Adams and John Hancock.
On September 17, the Congress declares its opposition to the Coercive Acts, saying they are
"not to be obeyed," and also promotes the formation of local militia units.
On October 14, a Declaration and Resolves is adopted that opposes the Coercive Acts, the Quebec Act, and other measure taken by the British that undermine self-rule. The rights of the colonists are asserted, including the rights to "life, liberty and property." On October 20, the Congress adopts the Continental Association in which delegates agree to a boycott of English imports, affect an embargo of exports to Britain, and discontinue the slave trade.
At dawn on April 19 about 70 armed Massachusetts militiamen stand face to face on
Lexington Green with the British advance guard. An unordered 'shot heard around the world' begins the American Revolution. A volley of British rifle fire followed by a charge with bayonets leave eight Americans dead and ten wounded. The British regroup and head for the depot in Concord, destroying the colonists' weapons and supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, a British platoon is attacked by militiamen, with 14 casualties.
April 23, 1775 - The Provincial Congress in Massachusetts orders 13,600 American soldiers
to be mobilized. Colonial volunteers from all over New England assemble and head for Boston, then establish camps around the city and begin a year long siege of British-held .Boston
May 10, 1775 - American forces led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York. The fort contains a much needed supply of military equipment to Boston by including cannons which are then hauled by ox teams.
Your Founding Fathers…my Founding Fathers were involved in acts of terrorism against British (unintelligible) because they systematically had British officials assassinated. The guys who we call our Founding Fathers…George Washington, signed death orders, on members of the British government.
On April 19, 1775, 700 British troops reached Concord, Massachusetts, to disarm the American colonists who were preparing to start an insurrection. When the British ordered them to disperse, the colonists fired back at the British soldiers. This “shot heard ‘round the world’” heralded the start of an insurrection against Britain, the greatest Western power of its time. And when it ended, victorious, in 1783, the colonists had gained their objective. They had established a sovereign, yet slave-holding republic, the United States of America.
British General Thomas Gage called Adams and his compatriots “arch-rebels” who were to blame for the commencement of the Revolution.