The beginning of the American Revolution
The next step in organizing a revolution was to keep the unity and to obtain the cooperation of the thirteen colonies. A few years back Adams had formed Committees of Correspondence by which all towns in Massachusetts maintained open communication. Dabney Carr of Virginia proposed that inter-colonial committees should be formed and that they should be brought together in one location. For this purpose the First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia between September and October of 1774, it created the first independent revolutionary government.
The Congress was attended by delegates of 12 colonies; the only one that did not attend was Georgia. Supported by the Massachusetts House SA attended the First Continental Congress accompanied by his cousin John Adams, Thomas Cushing and Robert Treat Paine. Samuel was mostly noted for his oratory skills and as passionate supporter of independence. Here the attendees decided to boycott British goods until the “Coercive Acts” were repealed.
When SA returned to Massachusetts, he joined the Massachusetts Provincial Government and immediately joined forces to form and arm militiamen. By April 1775 the crown offered a reward to anyone who could capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Soon after Thomas Gage, the governor, issued an order to capture them as they were the main instigators of the revolution. SA and Hancock who resided in Boston had to find a place to hide in Lexington from where they managed the provincial government affairs. On the night of April 18, Paul Revere went on his famous ride to warn both patriots that the British were coming to arrest them and on his way he also warned the residents that they were coming to confiscate their ammunition. That night one single shot was fired on the Lexington Green marking the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
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