The British Army had sent troops to destroy weapons caches
that had been stored by Americans in anticipation of an armed clash with the British.
Word had gotten out and a group of "minutemen" attempted to stop the British. Shots were
fired, and the result was the Revolutionary War.
The
reasons, of course, are much more deeply rooted. Since the end of the Seven Years War
(French and Indian War) Parliament had attempted to exercise increased control over the
colonies, first by the Stamp Act, then the Declaratory Acts, asserting Parliament's
right to legislate for the colonies. Following the Boston Tea Party, which was viewed
with disfavor on both sides of the Atlantic, Parliament passed the "Coercive Acts,"
called the Intolerable Acts by the Colonists which essentially put much of New England
under military rule and closed the port of Boston to all shipping until the tea was paid
for. The various attempts by Parliament to control colonial affairs caused increasing
resentment and finally led to armed resistance at Lexington and
Concord.
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