Colonists

Boston Massacre

Revolutionaries

Farmers

The colonists star as the heroes of Causes and Effects of the Revolutionary War as they fight for their liberty against British tyranny. The English 13 colonies during the 18th century saw large waves of immigration from across the United Kingdom and Europe. While much of the colonists were originally English, the diverse population and distance from the mainland eventually lead to the creation of a new identity. These colonists would begin to realize this following the French and Indian War as militia men developed a disdain for British regular soldiers. Events following the war lead the colonists to push for greater representation in the empire, and later independence.

## In the video

The colonists are shown throughout the video at first as regular citizens facing subjugation from the redcoats, and later as revolutionaries in several groups being The Sons of Liberty and The Minutemen. They are initially content with their status of living, but as the video progresses their individual liberties become more and more infringed upon by the British crown. They become the most irate when the British increase taxes on the colonials leading to their attempt at receiving a seat in parliament so they may decide policies in their own lands. After being rejected by the crown, further escalation of events lead to more radical ideas. The colonists begin militarizing with militias of minutemen becoming ready to fight the British. Once combat began at Lexington, the Revolution had undeniably begun with the colonists soon deciding no longer to fight for representation, but for independence from the crown with their own government free of tyranny.

## Notable colonists

### Chief Whitepipe

This colonist appears in Causes and Effects of the Revolutionary War during the Proclamation of 1763 and the Boston Tea Party sections. Chief Whitpipe is merely a made up name he uses to pass by the British soldiers preventing him from entering the Ohio River Valley where he has built a homestead. This unpleasant encounter is what leads him later on to join the Sons of Liberty once he is forcibly removed from the land bringing him to Boston in search of work.

The section begins with a colonist attempting to cross into the river valley in order to get to land he had begun to build a homestead on. Two redcoats patrolling the area stop him and ask just what he is doing in these lands. The colonist attempts to explain to the soldiers that his home is in the valley to which the British officer informs him that land is now Indian territory and his home is the opposite direction. In an attempt to protest further the other soldier forcibly pushes him away with the two soldiers remarking about their disdain for the colonials. In the extended edition the camera then focuses on a Native performing a tribal dance in the background with his tomahawk.

The colonist pushed away is unsure what to do but he then suddenly comes up with a clever idea. He places a feather in his hat to display to serve as a Native American disguise in order to pass by the guards. Upon his return the soldiers question him once more to which he say fabricates the name Chief Whitepipe of the Cherocaucasians. The lower ranking redcoat is quite sure that the mans identity is a ruse telling asking if the officer can tell that this is simply the same man as before. The officer appears to almost be insulted that the soldier what suggest such a thing calling him a "daft turd" and stating that no self respecting British colonist would wear a feather. He then allows the man passage into the area wishing him well.

Once again he briefly appears as the Sons of Liberty are preparing for the Boston Tea Party. He comes up with the idea of placing a feather in the hat as a disguise stating "I've done this once before".

### The Sons of Liberty

While some attempted to rectify issues with Britain diplomatically, there were those who resorted to violence. In Boston the Sons of Liberty were formed by Sam Adams to take to the streets to protest British tyranny. They would attack British Merchants, Tar and Feather Tax Collectors, and harass British officials. They are shown in the video in the section following the proclamation when the British began to introduce more taxes. In order to pay off war time debts incurred during the French and Indian War, the British government decided to tax the American colonists at rates equivalent to those in England since the war started in their continent. To display this in the film an English government official is sitting at a desk pondering all sorts of taxes he could place on the colonists in order to generate revenue. The colonists were outraged with this since they were not treated to the same rights as mainland English citizens and did not even have a say in their taxes. In retaliation to this a group know as the Sons of Liberty formed in Boston to tar feather British traders as well as tax collectors. This can be seen when a mob of 3 Sons of Liberty go to the home of a tax collector tricking him to come outside by stating there was a carriage accident. As he opens the door he is grabbed, thrown to the ground, and beaten by the mob before being dragged to a public square. The men then Tar and Feather\* the official terribly torturing him by tickling him in the nose with a feather while taxes are still being made back in England.

The Sons of Liberty are seen again perpetrating the Boston Tea Party later in the film. After the Boston Massacre the British were smeared all across colonial press further worsening relations. Britain had also enacted more taxes with the most angering being the Tea Act, something the colonists held dear. In retaliation to this the colonists planned to damage British profits by throwing large amounts of tea into the harbor. In an attempt to hide their identities, the colonists are seen placing feathers in their hats as instructed by "Chief Whitepipe", who appeared earlier in the video. A British guard is shown falling asleep at his post while the colonists raid East India Company ships throwing large amounts of tea into the harbor. After the deed is performed two British soldiers are seen in awe of the destruction caused. While it is quite evident the act was performed by the Son's of Liberty in disguise as said by the lower ranking redcoat, the officer considers the idea ridiculous since all British people would never dare harm tea believing that Mohawk Indians performed the attack. The two then go to search for evidence as to find out specific individuals responsible with the officer soon found out he was wrong and quite possibly, daft.

### Boston massacre crowd

he Boston Massacre begins when a crowd of angry colonists began harassing British regulars guarding the old town house. The colonists were throwing objects and yelling obscenities at the redcoats causing concern for the soldiers present. One soldier calls for assistance prompting the redcoat officer to come out asking "What the bloody hell is going on here?" when he is then hit by what appears to be a plastic water bottle. This confuses both him and the audience since such a thing did not exist. When hit he is keenly aware of the potential danger of the situation telling his men to hold their fire. Among all the noise from the crowd one soldier mistook this order for "fire" and he shoots towards the crowd. He is then joined by the other British soldier to the officers disapproval. The first man shot was a free black man who worked at the Boston harbor by the name of Crispus Attucks. Upon his death he exclaims, "Me Crispus, has been slain!". The crowd is stunned into silence when another colonists resumes insulting the redcoats annoying the officer prompting him to then shoot the man. The remaining colonists disperse after this with one threatening to "tell". Despite further accentuating the situation the officer seems to not acknowledge this placing the blame on the other soldiers.

### The Minutemen

By 1775 the colonists had begun militarizing into militias know as *The Minutemen,*individuals who would be ready to fight at a minutes notice as described. Two prominent Sons of Liberty who helped organize this were Samuel Adams and John Hancock who had begun hiding in Concord, a town near Boston, to perform their operations to evade British interference. The minutemen had also begun storing their weapons cache in Concord in case the situation further developed. Upon the British discovering these offenses they decided to act with the orders given to John Pitcarin to lead a British army force of regulars to head to Concord in order to arrest Adams and Hancock as well as seize any Minutemen munitions. The minutemen were however prepared for this as once they heard of the British army preparing to move, they sent several riders in order to inform minutemen leaders to evade the area and prompting others to be prepared to fight.

One such man was the famed Paul Revere who opens up the section riding on his horse yelling "The regulars are coming the regulars are coming!". His horse can easily be mistaken for a man in a cat mask followed by another man banging two cups together to replicate the sound of hooves. Upon reaching Lexington the "horse" removes his mask yelling at the minutemen how the regulars are coming prompting them all to take up some weapons and be prepared to fight the British. Before reaching Concord the British would have to pass through the small town of Lexington which had a heavy minuteman presence. The Lexington minutemen answered the call to arms and formed a line blocking the road halting the British advance. Upon arriving a British lieutenant stands with his men and tells them to halt as he prepares to negotiate with the colonists to disperse. When saying hold your fire once again the British mishear this command and begin firing on the colonists in what is known as "the shot heard round the world". Several colonists are shot dead and others flea to go join their larger force of comrades at Concord.

On the march back to Boston after the British failed to catch their targets and the weapons were moved, the Minutemen begin their attack taking out British troops from the woods as they march on the road. The British unable to deal with this style of guerrilla warfare take heavy casualties. As shown in the film a small unit of soldiers come under fire and attempt to fight in similar tactics. The officer is displeased with this behavior insisting they form a firing line. As the line is formed with each order he gives one of his men are killed. After firing he examines that his unit has been wiped out, yet he gives the order to march and continues forward. In the extended addition more scenes of combat are shown with an exchange of casualties as the British take heavier losses and the colonists loot their ammunition. Another British squad is shown coming under fire with the officer deciding to pursue the colonists into the woods with the aim to make arrests. The colonists quickly flea and the redcoats attempt to stop this by firing upon them, only grazing a single minuteman. The British took heavy casualties and with the minutemen regrouping and planning to fight another day. After this encounter there was no question about it, a revolution had now begun.

### After the war

The effects section begins after American victory in the revolution displaying this as a group of colonists toss two British soldiers down some steps back across the ocean to Britain. The narrator states how now a new government was formed which uniquely did not have a king, only congress. In the scenes following the colonists are seen as they attempt to create their first constitution, The Articles of Confederation. To representatives say how the document should have no government tyranny and the states should have all the power which was accomplished by forming a very weak federal government with no head, only congress and a high level of independence for the states.

It was quite clear that the articles were ineffective as the narrator says that the states had more power than the national government creating disunity in the nation. The national government could not properly function as they had no power to tax, and the states were too independent as they printed their own money which they would not accept in other states, and each state created individual trade agreements with other nations. In order to combat this a stronger national government was created with 3 heads establishing a system of dual sovereignty between federal government and the states in a document know simply as the constitution. While some met this with praise, others feared the potential power this would give the government so as the scene shows a representative demands a guarantee of basic human rights that the government may never infringe on. This develops into the first 10 amendments of the Constitution know as the Bill of Rights to the delegates in the videos delight. The man writing the document says how he hopes that this one may last which it indeed does with the United States Constitution still existing today as the oldest national constitution still in use.

## Trivia

- Jack only had 3 hats for filming the video so many colonists are often seen without one when there are more than 3 in a shot at once.

-There also were not many non read coats, While Jack had a genuine colonial style shirt and vest on, everyone else seen in white simply wore a white dress shirt. In addition to this everyone is wearing khakis since wearing the tights are pretty wack.

Chief Whitepipe being denied of his landsThe Sons of Liberty fetch the tax collectorTar and feathering the collectorMoments before the Boston MassacreThe Boston Tea PartyAt the Lexington GreenMinutemen attack at ConcordWinning the warWriting the Constitution