On March 5, 1770, British soldiers fired into a crowd of republican protestors, killing several civilians. The incident galvanized anti-British sentiments and led to what was effectively a mass demonstration as the people of the city marched through the streets to attend the funerals. Thousands attended, including thousands of women.  

On December 16, 1773, American protesters gathered at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston to rally against Britain’s Tea Act. They took 342 chests of tea from the British East India Company and threw them into the sea in one of the first significant protests against British dominion. The protest served as a rallying point for patriots and contributed to the revolutionary fervor that produced the Continental Congress in 1774.

The American colonies had long been under British rule. However, Americans were growing frustrated with Britain’s increasingly harsh taxation and their lack of political representation, leading to talk of revolution and independence. In 1774, the first Continental Congress gathered, with delegates from the Thirteen Colonies discussing how to respond to imperial taxation. Although the Congress’s initial aim was to repair relations between the colonies and Britain, its focus on the rights of the colonists meant that it was in many respects the first step towards an independent America.