Tea Act contribution to the Revolutionary War Consequences of the Tea Act Despite the economic benefit to end consumers of tea, the Tea Act damaged the position of independent shippers, smugglers and local shopkeepers. John Hancock was a well known tea smuggler whose tea inventory was seized by custom officials. Colonists showed their opposition to the Tea Act through the Boston Tea Party and other uprisings throughout the colonies.
The total number of the former provided by quotas from the states throughout the conflict wasmen, and the militias totaledAt any given time, however, the American forces seldom numbered over 20,; in there were only about 29, insurgents under arms throughout the country.
The war was therefore one fought by small field armies. Militias, poorly disciplined and with elected officers, were summoned for periods usually not exceeding three months.
The terms of Continental Army service were only gradually increased from one to three years, and not even bounties and the offer of land kept the army up to strength. Since it numbered only about 42, heavy recruiting programs were introduced.
Many of the enlisted men were farm boys, as were most of the Americans. Others were unemployed persons from the urban slums.
Still others joined the army to escape fines or imprisonment. The great majority became efficient soldiers as a result of sound training and ferocious discipline.
The officers were drawn largely from the gentry and the aristocracy and obtained their commissions and promotions by purchase. Though they received no formal training, they were not so dependent on a book knowledge of military tactics as were many of the Americans.
British generals, however, tended toward a lack of imagination and initiativewhile those who demonstrated such qualities often were rash.
Because troops were few and conscription unknown, the British government, following a traditional policy, purchased about 30, troops from various German princes. The Lensgreve landgrave of Hesse furnished approximately three-fifths of that total.
Few acts by the crown roused so much antagonism in America as that use of foreign mercenaries. After the Boston Tea Party December 16,Parliament responded with the Intolerable Actsa series of punitive measures that were intended to cow the restive population into obedience.
Thomas Gagethe commander of all British troops in North America. William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouthsecretary of state for the colonies, advised Gage that American Revolution: Library of Congress, Washington, D. LC-USZC the violence committed by those, who have taken up arms in Massachusetts, have appeared to me as the acts of a rude rabble, without plan, without concert, without conduct.
From London, Dartmouth concluded that a small force now, if put to the test, would be able to conquer them, with greater probability of success, than might be expected of a larger army, if the people should be suffered to form themselves upon a more regular plan.
Gage, for his part, felt that no fewer than 20, troops would be adequate for such an endeavour, but he acted with the forces he had at hand. Beginning in the late summer ofGage attempted to suppress the warlike preparations throughout New England by seizing stores of weapons and powder.When the British suddenly stiffened enforcement of the law, the colonists resented it.
The British used naval patrols and royal inspectors to search colonial warehouses and even private residences, thus angering the colonists further. The British even offered to share the taxes with any citizen who reported friends or neighbors who were smuggling.
- In March, King George III signs a bill repealing the Stamp Act after much debate in the English Parliament, which included an appearance by Ben Franklin arguing for repeal and warning of a possible revolution in the American colonies if the Stamp Act was enforced by the British military.
French involvement in the American Revolutionary War began in , when France, a rival of the British Empire, secretly shipped supplies to the Continental Army. A Treaty of Alliance in soon followed, which led to shipments of money and matériel to the United States.
Canada and the American Revolution. Reflections. Canada and the American Revolution. By Dr. Holly A. Mayer. There were twenty British North American colonies or provinces in , so why did only thirteen of those colonies declare independence that year or confirm it by war and treaty in ?
It benefitted from the Quebec Act of , from. A timeline of the American Revolution from - Angered by the Tea Acts, American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians dump £9, of East India Company tea into the Boston harbour.
First engagements of the Revolutionary War between British troops and the Minutemen, who had been warned of the attack by Paul Revere.
Contribution of the Tea Act to the Revolutionary War The reaction to the Tea Act that led to the Boston Tea Party (see Tea Act crisis) united all parties in Britain against American extremists.
British parliament was united in passing the Intolerable Acts also known as Coercive Acts as a retribution for the uprising and violence of the Boston.