of his Majesty's subjects may be carried on without interrup-
tion." This only stiffened the resistance of the Massachusetts
Patriots, who were already in a fighting mood and at every
turn were checking General Gage, who had been made gover-
nor of Massachusetts and had been placed in complete com-
mand at Boston. But the authority of Gage and his new
royal government received no recognition outside of the town.
The colony at large recognized the authority of a provincial
congress which was organized by the Patriots in utter defiance
of the orders of Gage, and which held its first meeting at
Salem in October,
1774. This revo-
lutionary body un-

dertook the organi

zation of an army, and before the winter of 1774-75 had passed eastern Massachusetts was bristling with men carrying muskets.

Gage, who deter

mined that the pro

vincials must be

Boston and vicinity.

Concord

disarmed and their munitions of war destroyed, sent, on April 19, 1775, a detachment of troops to destroy the military stores Lexington at Concord and to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock at and Lexington. The expedition was a wretched failure. At Concord the British troops met such a sturdy resistance from the rustic militia that their officers determined it would be best to return to Boston at once. On the way back they were peppered from behind houses and trees and stone fences with such deadly results that by the time they reached Boston they had lost in killed and wounded nearly three hundred of their number.

Everybody knew that a bloody struggle had now begun, and

The
Patriots
Capture

wherever a blow could be given it was dealt. In a few weeks after the Concord affair, Benedict Arnold, convinced that the Patriots ought to have possession of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, collected a few troops and straightway marched against Two Forts these forts. Their capture had also been planned by Ethan Allen, a dashing leader of the Green Mountain Boys of VerUnder the leadership of Allen, Ticonderoga was surprised, and as the fort had but a handful of men it was compelled (May 10, 1775) to surrender. The capture of Crown Point quickly followed.1

The Colonies

in Revolt

The Opposition of the

Loyalists

Even swifter than the military movements of the Patriots was their political activity. The news of Lexington and Concord was carried by swift relays of heralds from one end of the land to the other, and by the middle of 1775 all the colonies were seething with the spirit of revolt. In colony after colony the legislature passed into the control of the Patriots, and the royal governor, the representative of British sovereignty, was forbidden to exercise his functions. In some of the colonies the governor was forcibly ejected from his office. This was the case in Virginia, where the banished governor took refuge on a British man-of-war at Yorktown and undertook to govern his province from his place on the water, but his proclamations were disregarded and laughed at. In New York, also, the royal governor fled to the water and from the refuge of a ship vainly endeavored to govern his rebellious people. And so it was in every colony at the end of 1775: outside the beleaguered town of Boston the power of government was everywhere wielded by Patriots.

THE SUPPRESSION OF THE LOYALISTS

But the Patriots did not everywhere have smooth sailing. In some of the colonies they were strongly opposed by the Loyalists, who by 1775 had come to believe that the Patriots.

1 Later in the year Richard Montgomery and Arnold led two coöperating expe ditions against Quebec, Montgomery advancing by way of Lake Champlain and Arnold through the Maine wilderness. The two expeditions joined in the valley of the St. Lawrence and laid siege to Quebec but failed to capture it.

were downright rebels and that their conduct should no longer
be tolerated. In some places, as in New York and Pennsyl-
vania, the Loyalists were very numerous, and they had it
in their power to do much harm to the Patriot cause. They
could keep the British informed of the movements of the
Patriot forces; they could supply the British troops with pro-
visions; they could enlist in the British regiments. They
could do these things and did do them as far as they dared.
But the Patriots saw that the Loyalists would be a most dan-
gerous foe, and at the outset they undertook to suppress and
crush the Loyalist party completely. In order to do this they
resorted to measures of utmost severity. One of the first
things they did was to disarm the Loyalists. They entered
the homes of Loyalists and seized all the weapons and ammuni-
tion they could find. This disarming, systematic and thorough,
was a most important step, for without their guns the Loyalists
could offer but a lame and impotent resistance.
Patriots did not stop with the disarming of their opponents;
they subjected them to a reign of terror. The Loyalists were
"ridden and tossed on fence rails; were gagged and bound for
days at a time; pelted with stones; fastened in rooms where
there was a fire with the chimney stopped on top. Their homes
and shops were burned; they were compelled to pay the guards
who watched them in their homes." Such treatment was viola-
tive of every principle of civil liberty, but the Patriots justified
their conduct on the ground that an American Loyalist was as
dangerous as a British soldier and had to be dealt with as
severely.

THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

But the

The

Treat

ment

of the Loyalists

Meeting

of the

Second

nental

The Loyalists were strongly opposed to the meeting of a The second Congress, but they were terrorized, outvoted, and otherwise beaten down in their opposition. All the colonies were Conti successful in sending delegates to the Second Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia, May 10, 1775-the natal day of the United States, for with the assembling of this Congress the American government had its beginning. At that moment

The

Meas-
ures
of the
Congress

the colonies and England were in a state of actual warfare. The Concord affair had occurred only a few weeks before, and on the very day upon which the Congress met Ticonderoga fell into the hands of the Patriots. Not only was war in progress but civil government in the colonies was in the utmost confusion because of the ejection of the royal governors and the substitution of a new authority in their stead.

In this chaotic state of affairs the eyes of the country turned to the Congress at Philadelphia. The provincial congress of Massachusetts sought advice "respecting taking up and exercising the powers of civil government" and pledged its submission to such advice as might be given. Here was a grave question indeed. The provincial congress of Massachusetts was an extra-legal revolutionary body acting in open defiance of Parliament; was it to be recognized as a lawful body? The Continental Congress, after considering the question carefully, decided that no obedience was due to the act that (p. 119) changed the government of Massachusetts, and that the provincial congress had the right to organize a new assembly. The Congress was also expected to deal with the military situation, and it did not shrink from the task. It adopted as its own the troops that had gathered around Boston, and provided for this new Continental Army a full staff of officers. But since the army had to be equipped and supported, it was necessary for Congress to deal with certain questions of finance. For the purchase of powder six thousand pounds sterling were borrowed, and thus a national debt was incurred. To meet other expenses, two million dollars in paper money was issued. Thus in a businesslike way Congress dealt with the various questions that came up before it. It was to be sure a body without legal authority, and it possessed only such powers as it chose to assume, yet it had the confidence and support of the Patriot

2

2 As the Revolution advanced, issues of paper money became larger and more frequent, and by 1779 more than $200,000,000 of paper currency was in circulation. In addition to this sum, about $200,000,000 of paper money was issued upon the authority of the individual States. At first the paper money was accepted willingly and circulated freely at its face value, but in 1777 it began to decline in value, and by 1779 eight dollars in paper money was worth only one dollar in silver. Congress enacted that the man who refused to accept the Continental paper was an enemy of his country. People, however, would not receive it. It continued to depreciate in value until it became absolutely worthless" not worth a Continental."

party, and it felt that it could act as a duly authorized government is accustomed to act. Besides providing for the organization and support of the army, the Second Continental Congress at its first session put itself into communication with foreign nations; it assumed the management of the post-office, and it created a department of Indian affairs. Thus it gave form and direction to the scattered and unorganized forces of the colonies and laid the foundation of a central government.

BUNKER HILL; THE EVACUATION OF BOSTON

ton

The most important thing done by the Congress at its first session was to elect George Washington commander-in-chief George of the Continental Army. The man chosen as the head of the Washingnewly organized army was a member of the Congress and was present in his uniform. He belonged to the moderates, but as he felt that there was now no hope save in arms, he accepted the command. The destinies of the Revolution were now transferred from the hands of Samuel Adams to those of George Washington.

The commander-in-chief hurried northward to the scene of his duties, but before he reached Boston great things had happened there. After the fighting at Lexington and Concord the British garrison at Boston was quickly besieged by swarms of colonial troops. In June the red coats were compelled to meet the Americans in a pitched battle on Breed's Hill3 (Bunker Hill). The British won the hill and held it, but a few victories of this kind would have resulted in the complete destruction of their army, for they lost more than a thousand men, while the Americans lost less than five hundred. "In the eight years of the Revolution," says F. V. Greene, "there was no battle more bloody, none more important. The Americans without proper organization, equipment, or supplies, had fought the best regular troops of Europe and had repulsed them until their ammunition had given out. All the advantages of victory were on their side."

The Americans, preparing for the battle at night, mistook Breed's Hill for Bunker Hill, which they had intended to fortify and which gave its name to the battle.