It's December 8th, 1774. American Independence is 574 days away. 

 

In the town of Providence, Rhode Island a local newspaper called the Providence Gazette has just published news of an order given by King George III to his Privy Council back on October 19th.

 

The intention of the order was clear: the British King was cutting off all imports of gunpowder, arms, and ammunition to America. 

 

As news of this order quickly spread across the colonies. It set off a chain reaction of events that would cascade like a series of falling dominos over the next 5th months, all leading to the moment from which there would be no return, the exchange of gunfire between British Regulars and Patriot militia forces in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19th, 1775 that marked the official start of the American Revolution.

 

Last week in our December episode I followed the choice of British leaders Lord North and Lord Dartmouth to use the winter break in parliament as a chance to engage in fascinating but ultimately doomed efforts at diplomacy, all while they failed to prepare the empire for the way that lay ahead. For this month’s story I’m returning to the colonies to cover some similar ground as last month, but from the American perspective. This will be sort of a double month episode, covering the events that stretch across the winter months of December 1774 and January 1775.

 

Sources:

1774: The Long Year of Revolution by Mary Beth Norton

 

Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution by Woody Holton

 

American Insurgents, American Patriots by T.H. Breen

 

The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III by Andrew Roberts

 

The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire by Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy

 

Those Damned Rebels: The American Revolution As Seen Through British Eyes by Michael Pearson

An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America Paperback by Nick Bunker

 

The Howe Dynasty: The Untold Story of a Military Family and the Women Behind Britain's Wars for America Hardcover by Julie Flavell