lage of Samuel Adams, grew more
radical in its demands. In 1772 the committee of Boston issued a
statement of grievances, adding, as new complaints, the sending of
persons to England for trial, restraints upon colonial manufacturers,
and a rumored plan to establish bishops over America. This statement was
approved by all the colonies, and was sent to Franklin in London. The
country as a whole, however, was weary of the strife, and would gladly
have returned to the old cordial relations with the mother-land.

[Illustration: Scene in the square of Boston. On the left a crowd of
citizens, several of which are wounded. On the right a squad of
soldiers, surrounded by gunsmoke, firing at the crowd.]
The Boston Massacre.
From an Engraving by Paul Revere.

[1773]

But George III. could not rest without asserting his supremacy over
America. He made an arrangement with the East India Company by which tea
could be bought in America, spite of the hated tax, cheaper than in
England. Then, at the king's instigation, large shipments of tea were
made to America. The colonists saw through the cunning attempt, and the
tide of resistance rose higher than ever. At New York and Philadelphia
the tea-ships were forced to put to sea again without unlading. At
Charleston the tea was stored in damp cellars and soon spoiled. At
Boston there was a deadlock; the people would not let the tea be landed;
the governor would not let the ships sail without unlading. On the
evening of December 16, 1773, the tax falling due on the next day, a
party of fifty citizens, disguised as Indians, boarded the ships, and
threw three hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the harbor.

[1774]

The Boston tea-party aroused all the blind obstinacy of George III.
"Blows must decide," he exclaimed; "the guilty rebels are to be forced
to submission," The king's anger led to the Boston Port Bill, which was
passed the next year, and closed Boston harbor to all commerce. Changes
were also made in the government of Massachusetts, rendering it almost
entirely independent of the people. Town meetings were forbidden except
for elections. Poor Massachusetts, her liberties curtailed, her commerce
ruined, appealed to her sister colonies for support, and they responded
right heartily. In three weeks from the news of the Port Bill all the
colonies had made the cause of Massachusetts their own. Expressions of
sympathy and liberal gifts of money and provisions poured into Bo