rotted while awaiting buyers. A private consignment sent to Annapolis was burned in the harbor.

The Tea Ships at Boston.-In Boston the British officials refused to let the ships return. The citizens determined that the tea should not be landed. A guard watched the ships day and night. Samuel Adams was the leading spirit

on this occasion. Town-meetings were held, and the owner of the ships was ordered to take them away. But the collector refused a clearance to the ships and the governor a pass to the captain. Nineteen days passed. On the twentieth the law permitted the custom-house officers to seize the vessels and unload them by force.

The Boston Tea-Party.-On that day, December 16, 1773, a great town-meeting was held. It was decided that the tea should not be landed. Evening had fallen when Samuel Adams rose and said, "This meeting can do nothing more to save the country."

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As though this were a signal, a party of citizens disguised as Indians gave a war-whoop at the door and rushed down the street toward the wharf. Boarding the vessels, they hoisted up the tea

1 Samuel Adams, the leader of the Boston populace in the cause of liberty, was born in that city in 1722. He was devoted to liberty even as a student at Harvard College. He was always poor, but could not be bought. When General Gage offered pardon to the Americans, Samuel Adams and John Hancock were excepted. He proposed the Congress of 1774 and became one of its members. Independence throughout had in him a persistent advocate. He died in 1803.

chests, three hundred and forty-two in all, broke them open, and poured their contents into the harbor. In two hours' time the work was over and the Boston tea-party at an end. The tea which the colonists were to have been forced to drink had gone to feed the fishes.

Acts in Retaliation.-When the news of this act of violence came to England the king and his ministers were bitterly incensed. Instead of taking warning and drawing back before it was too late, they proceeded to new acts of oppression, driving the wedge of separation deeper and deeper.

Five acts were passed in 1774, which became known as the "Intolerable Acts."

1. The Boston Port Bill declared that no ships should be allowed to enter or leave the port until the lost tea had been paid for.

2. The Transportation Bill allowed soldiers or officials who might commit murder in quelling resistance to the law to be sent to England or Nova Scotia for trial.

3. The Massachusetts Bill practically revoked the charter, putting all power into the governor's hands.

4. Another bill legalized the quartering of troops on the colonists.

5. The Quebec Act extended the government of Canada over the country west of the Alleghanies.

All these acts were intended to bring the colonists more directly under control of the king. Their ultimate effect was to drive them into revolution.

Effect of the Boston Port Bill.-The closing of the port of Boston caused much distress. Business, was stopped, men were dismissed, food grew scarce. Aid and sympathy came from all quarters. Marblehead and Salem offered Boston the use of their wharves. Wheat, rice, and other

food were contributed freely. Money was donated. The whole country sympathized with Boston in her trouble and sustained her in her resistance.1

Committees of Correspondence.-In 1772 it had been ordered that the judges should thenceforth be paid by the crown. The judges were threatened by the colonists with impeachment if they dared accept a penny from the king. As the assembly had been dissolved, Samuel Adams devised a plan of government without legislation. Each town appointed a committee to confer with committees from other towns. ence."

These were called "Committees of CorrespondWhen they all met they would form a "Provincial Congress." In this way goverment went on.

In the spring of 1773, Dabney Carr, of Virginia, proposed and arranged for Committees of Correspondence between the colonies. This was another step in advance. A single step further would yield a Continental Congress. That step was taken in the following year.

2. THE COLONIES IN REBELLION.

Soldiers in Boston Again.-If the real purpose of George III. had been to drive the colonies to rebellion, he could not have taken surer methods or been more successful. By 1774 he had gone too far to draw back. The colonists had become rebels at heart. Little was now needed to make them rebels in act. The next step was soon taken. Boston was once more filled with soldiers. General Gage had been

1 South Carolina sent two hundred barrels of rice. North Carolina contributed nearly ten thousand dollars in money. A town in Massachusetts donated two hundred and fifty sheep. Grain, flour, cattle, fish, and other supplies came from elsewhere. The whole country looked upon Boston as a martyr to the cause of liberty.

sent back there with four regiments and batteries of artillery. He was to sustain the Boston Port Bill and keep the people in order. To increase his authority he was made governor of Massachusetts, though no patriotic citizen ever recognized him as such.

The First Continental Congress.-America was in the mood to resist to the bitter end. Preparation for resistance took two forms, civil and military. The holding of a general congress was proposed in Virginia and approved in other colonies. On June 17, 1774, Samuel Adams rose in the General Court at Salem and proposed that a Continental Congress should be called, to meet in Philadelphia on September 1. His motion was adopted and five delegates were chosen. Two days earlier, Rhode Island had taken similar action.

ernor.

The other colonies, except Georgia, chose delegates. The Georgia assembly was prevented from doing so by the govThis Congress, composed of fifty-five delegates, met at Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, its sessions being held in Carpenters' Hall. Among the delegates were George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Richard Henry Lee, from Virginia; Samuel Adams and John Adams, from Massachusetts; John Jay, from New York; and able men from the other colonies. Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was chosen president.

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Acts of the First Congress.-This body continued in

Carpenters' Hall was built in 1724 by the Carpenters' Company, composed of architects and builders. After being used by the Continental Congress it was employed for State purposes and as a hospital for sick soldiers. In later days it was used at times by the Philadelphia Library, the Bank of Pennsylvania, and the Land Office of the United States. It is still in excellent preservation, and is maintained for its historical interest.

session until October 26, 1774. There was nothing revolutionary or disloyal in its actions. It professed loyalty to the king, but petitioned him to redress the wrongs of the colonies. Addresses were sent to the people of Great Britain, Canada, and the colonies, and a declaration of rights was drawn up, with an agreement to stop all trade with Great Britain and to put an end to the slave-trade. Representation in Parliament was not asked for. It was not wanted. What the Congress demanded was the right to make all laws (except those relating to foreign commerce) and to levy all taxes in the colonial assemblies. This action taken, the Congress adjourned, having first provided for another Congress, to meet May 10, 1775.

The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.-To replace the assembly a "Provincial Congress," which grew out of the "Committees of Correspondence," met in October, 1774. John Hancock was at its head. Its proceedings were distinctly warlike. A Committee of Safety was appointed, with power to call out the militia. Provision was made for the collection of military stores. The other colonies followed in the same spirit. Patrick Henry, in March, 1775, spoke the general sentiment, when he told the Virginia convention that they must fight, and uttered these ringing words: "As for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

In

The Existence of Rebellion. The time had come. February, 1775, Parliament declared that rebellion existed in Massachusetts, and a fleet and several thousand additional troops were ordered to Boston for its suppression. America was on the verge of war.

The Minute-Men.-There was some warrant for the declaration that Massachusetts was in rebellion. Throughout the colony the people were organizing and drilling. Twelve